The Walt Whitman Archive

When we discussed Walt Whitman's Live Oak, with Moss back on May 5, I promised to share a couple of online resources that I've found particularly illuminating regarding the poet, his works and his life. Chief among them is the Walt Whitman Archive, which offers one-stop shopping for scholarly discussion. But I also want to draw your attention to Whitman scholar Karen Karbiener--who, you'll recall, furnished the afterword in the illustrated edition of Live Oak we used. (Apologies for my tardiness in posting this.)

Queer Poets of Color

Today's selection from Poem-a-Day (a resource I've touted here before), Luther Hughes' "When Struck by Night," is powerful in its own right. It also triggered my (not always reliable) gaydar, and sure enough, it led me to Frontier Poetry and "Luther Hughes' 10 Poems by QPOC that Popped me in the Mouth and Told me to Watch What I ****ing Say in 2019." Check it out!

"After Francesco"

Back in 2004, our group discussed Brian Malloy's novel, The Year of Ice. He will be doing a virtual launch of his latest book, After Francesco, this Thursday, May 27, at 8 p.m. EDT. The writers appearing with him will include Christopher Bram, author of Gods and Monsters and Eminent Outlaws: The Gay Writers Who Changed America (both of which our group has also discussed), among many other works. The Zoom event, sponsored by Quatrefoil Library and Moon Palace Books, is free but requires advance registration.

Another queer poet to know: Kyle Carrero Lopez

The Atlantic recently featured a poem by Kyle Carrero Lopez titled "Black Erasure" in its daily newsletter to subscribers. As its title suggests, the poem pulls no punches but is also imbued with humor. The Cuban-American poet co-founded LEGACY: A Black Queer Production Collective and is the author of the chapbook Muscle Memory (winner of the 2020 PANK Books Book Contest), which will be published in June.

Happy 22nd Birthday to Us! 🌈

On May 11, 1999, Potomac Gay Men’s Book Group, the original incarnation of our intrepid band, met for the first time. And 22 years later, we’re still going strong!   

For a good overview of our illustrious history, here is the profile Metro Weekly published in conjunction with our big 20th-birthday bash at the D.C. Center. The Washington Blade also ran an article, but it's a bit cumbersome to get to; you have to click on the PDF file and scroll to p. 38. And, of course, there are various postings on the subject from the spring of 2019 on this blog (scroll down to "Older Posts," select 2019 and go from there).

Stephen Fry spills the tea!

English actor and comedian Stephen Fry was the subject of the May 2 New York Times Magazine's Talk feature. The whole interview is great fun, but the most delicious part for me was a story Fry tells about Gore Vidal. I don't want to steal the Times' thunder by recounting it here, but I'll say this much: It lends new meaning to the term "full service!"