Book Buzz: March 2010
Author: John Morgan Wilson
February 28, 2010
Book Buzz is a monthly column of news and noteworthy tidbits from the LGBT writing and publishing community.
Five of this year’s six Alice B. Reader Appreciation Awards went to authors published by Bold Strokes Books. Kate Sweeney – who is published by Itaglio – joined BSB authors Catherine Friend and JM Redmann for the Alice B. Medal. The 2010 Lavender Certificate went to BSB authors D.L. Line, Colette Moody, and Carsen Taite. Congratulations all!
Speaking of BSB, the 4th Annual Bold Strokes Books Palm Springs Lesbian Book Festival is set for March 4-7. All sessions are free and open to the public. For details, click on events.
On the other coast, The Second Annual Rainbow Book Fair will take place on Saturday, March 27, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at City University of New York, Fifth Avenue and 34th Street. CUNY’s Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies hosts the event. Among the many writers on hand: Martin Duberman, Brad Gooch, Sarah Schulman, and Joan Schenkar. It’s all free. Details at rainbowbookfair.org.
Dwayne Raymond, author of Mornings with Mailer (HarperCollins), is back from a whirlwind tour for his memoir about serving as personal assistant to Norman Mailer in Provincetown and working with the acclaimed writer on his last four books. Media coverage has been strong, including a profile in OUT and a piece by Tom Junod for Esquire.
Lucy Jane Bledsoe’s short story “Girl with Boat,” published in Arts & Letters last year, has been nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize. Lucy also has new stories coming out in Shenandoah and Arts and Letters. Lucy will also teach a Masters Class at this year’s Saints & Sinners LGBT literary festival in New Orleans May 13-16, joining Bernard Cooper, Jim Grimsley, Michael Nava, Radclyffe, K.M. Soehnlein, Jess Wells, and Fiona Zeddie. S&S expects to have its online registration up and running by March 5 at www.sasfest.org/.
More about Michael Nava: the author of the Henry Rios mystery novels—winner of six Lambda Literary Awards before Michael ended the series in 2000—is running for the San Francisco Superior Court against a well-financed Republican. If Michael wins, he’ll be the first openly gay judge of color in San Francisco’s history. If you’d like to know more or to help, go to www.navaforjudge.com.
Dark Scribe Magazine recently announced the winners of the 3rd Annual Black Quill Awards in eight categories, honoring works of dark genre literature. Among the winners were books by two openly gay authors: The Haunted Heart and Other Tales (Lethe Press) by Jameson Currier, which won the Editors’ Choice for Best Dark Genre Fiction Collection; and Kelland (Casperian Books) by Paul G. Bens, Jr., honored with the Best Small Press Chill award.
Lethe Press publisher Steve Berman will be Guest of Honor at this year’s Gaylaxicon, the international LGBT science fiction, fantasy, horror, and comics convention, to be held in Montreal October 29-31.
Stefani Deoul is producing a new series, Haven, based on Stephen King’s short story, “The Colorado Kid,” for the SyFy Network in Halifax. But she’ll also be flying home to the U.S. to promote her debut novel, The Carousel, published by A&M Books. For details, check out A&M’s revamped website: www.aandmbooks.com.
While Michael Kearns is promoting The Drama of AIDS: My Lasting Connections with Two Plays That Survived the Plague (Heinemann), chronicling his twenty years as an actor, director and producer with Robert Chesley’s Jerker and James Carrroll Pickett’s Dream Man, he’s putting the finishing touches on an autobiography. Michael is also this month’s Book Buzz interview, which now runs separately from this column.
Robert Hofler’s Party Animals (Da Capo Press), his biography of legendary Hollywood producer and social butterfly Allan Carr, has landed excerpts in Out, Los Angeles, and Daily Variety, and a profile in the March Advocate. You can also view an Advocate.com video interview with Bob.
GBM Magazines is running a profile of author Thomas Glave (Our Caribbean, The Torturer’s Wife) by D. Kevin McNeir.
Susanna J. Sturgis has been busy, with a short essay, “Joanna Russ and the Feminist Press: Are There Still Too Many Trembling Sisters?,” posted on the Women’s Review of Books blog; a review of Farah Mendlesohn’s anthology of critical essays, On Joanna Russ, which appears in the print version of the January/February issue of Women’s Review of Books; and a new column, One Wired Sister, to debut on WRB’s Women = Books blog early next month.
Susanna also has an essay in the new issue of Trivia: Voices of Feminism, the first of two issues edited by Lise Weil and Betsy Warland on the theme “Are Lesbians Going Extinct?” Other contributors include Ruthann Robson, Elliott BatTzedek, Deborah Yaffe, Cynthia Rich, Jean Taylor, Dolores Klaich, Arleen Paré, Chris Fox, Esther Shannon, Natalie G., Em Williams, Seema Shah, Carolyn Gage, Elana Dykewomon, and Margie Adam.
Eric Gutierrez has a piece in THe Times of London on Tom Ford’s film adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s A Single Man, including Don Bachardy reacting to criticism that the movie is egregiously unfaithful to the novel. Read Eric’s article here.
Nick Nolan’s gay-themed novels, Strings Attached and Double Bound – ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year winners for 2006 and 2008, respectively – are being re-issued by AmazonEncore, the new publishing imprint of Amazon.com. Look for Strings Attached this month and Double Bound in June.
Pre-Stonewall, Jack Fritscher wrote what he believes is the first doctoral dissertation on gay playwright Tennessee Williams, then a controversial subject in academia. It’s now posted here. And Jack’s new homage to Williams, “The Fugitive Kindness,” is a finalist in the Saints & Sinners fiction contest.
Ellen Hart has signed a new contract with Bella Books to reissue four of her long out-of-print early novels in trade paperback – Robber’s Wine, Wicked Games, Hunting the Witch, and The Merchant of Venus.
El Museo del Barrio in New York City has hired Emanuel Xavier to curate its monthly spoken word poetry program, SPEAK UP! SPEAK OUT! Emanuel will also edit an anthology for El Museo del Barrio based on the series featuring noted Latino poets, to be published September by Rebel Satori Press. Rebel Satori will also publish Emanuel’s new poetry collection, If Jesus Were Gay & other poems, in the Spring.
Steven Reigns has a trailer for his latest poetry collection, Inheritance (Lethe Press).
If you’re reading this, you might have noticed the complete makeover of the Lambda Literary Foundation website by our new web editor, Antonio Gonzalez. Here are some key links for editorial submissions of essays, author interviews, and book reviews and round-ups. Click “Contribute” to find out how to participate.
Finally,
I’ve re-upped for a sixth year as a member of the West Hollywood Book Fair planning committee. The ninth annual book fair will be held this year on Sunday, September 26. Last year, more than 300 authors were involved in panels, readings, and workshops. Writers who live in the area or who might be in town that weekend can learn more here.
Over the years, I’ve compiled a list of writer’s organizations of all kinds, which I update from time to time and distribute among students, fellow writers, etc. If you’d like to see it or reprint it for your own use, here’s the direct link on my UCLA Extension instructor site. If you’d like to add organizations to the list, LGBT or otherwise, please send me the full, formal name of the group and its current web link to jmwwriter@aol.com. Thanks!
——
Book Buzz is a monthly column of news and noteworthy tidbits from the LGBT writing and publishing community. Book release announcements (pub dates) will continue to be covered elsewhere while Book Buzz looks for a different “angle” – an award, milestone, notable reissue, film deal, rave review, event of national interest, etc. Submit your brief item to John Morgan Wilson at jmwwriter@aol.com. No attachments please.
