"Blood Brothers" en Español

Back on Oct. 19, we discussed Ernst Haffner's 1932 novel, Blood Brothers. During our chat, Mike Mazza was kind enough to share a link to the Spanish-language version, which I am belatedly posting here. If you compare the edition we used for the discussion, you'll notice a rather different tone between the two covers. 

Making the Invisible Visible

On Dec. 1, World AIDS Day, Rebel Santori Press will release Invisible History: The Collected Poems of Walta Borawski --edited by our very own Philip Clark and Michael Bronski, the poet's partner. As the press release notes, the collection "marks the return of a singular poet, Walta Borawski (1947-1994) for new generations to enjoy." Congratulations, Philip!

The book also kicks off the publisher's new imprint, The Library of Homosexual Congress, curated by Tom Cardemone and Sven Davisson, which is dedicated to preserving and promoting provocative works of gay literature, with a focus on the AIDS crisis.

 

Ite lista est: BookMen DC's 2023 reading list

NOTE: This list does not include books on the 2022 list that have not yet been scheduled, or our current anthology (Pages Passed from Hand to Hand).  Nor does it include the quarterly non-LGBTQ selections.

FICTION

A Scarlet Pansy by Robert Scully

Better Angel by Forman Brown (writing as Richard Meeker)

City of Night by John Rechy

Death Trick (A Donald Strachey Mystery) by Richard Lipez (writing as Richard Stevenson)

Fadeout (A Dave Brandstetter Novel) by Joseph Hansen

Gilgamesh: A New Translation of the Ancient Epic, translated from the Akkadian and with essays by Sophus Helle

Less Is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer

Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park

Midnight Cowboy by James Leo Herlihy

Queer by William S. Burroughs

Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown

The Gold Diggers by Paul Monette

The Kingdom of Sand by Andrew Holleran

NON-FICTION

Aspects of the Novel by E.M. Forster

Bad Gays: A Homosexual History by Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller

Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington by James Kerchick

What Is the Grass: Walt Whitman in My Life by Mark Doty

BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR

Oscar Wilde: A Life by Matthew Sturgis

Who Killed My Father by Edouard Louis

Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde

ANTHOLOGIES

Afterparties: Stories by Anthony Veasna So

Far Out: Recent Queer Science Fiction and Fantasy, edited by Paul Guran

Global Queer Plays: Seven LGBTQ+ Works from Around the World, by Danish Sheikh inter alia.

Happy Halloween!

Although I am a longtime subscriber to the New Yorker, I am hopelessly behind on reading it. Ditto for the  many items the magazine posts to its Culture Desk blog, such as this essay by Nell Stevens: "What Ghost Stories Taught me about My Queer Self." In it, Nell Stevens discussing growing up gay in England while "promoting homosexuality" was still illegal, and recalls the literary works that comforted her and inspired her eventual coming out--many of them horror and suspense stories. (Oh, well: At least I'm posting this before the witching hour!)

Back in June, Stevens published a novel, Briefly: A Delicious Life, whose setup sounds quite, well, delicious: "In 1473, 14-year-old Bianca dies in a hilltop monastery in Mallorca. Nearly 400 years later, when George Sand, her two children, and her lover Frederic Chopin arrive in the village, Bianca is still there. A spirited, funny, righteous ghost, she's been hanging around the monastery since her accidental death, spying on the monks and townspeople and keeping track of her descendants."

Who Killed My Father

While in London last month, I caught an International Theater Amsterdam production, in association with the Young Vic, of "Who Killed My Father," based on the Edouard Louis memoir that will be on our next reading list. (We discussed his first memoir, The End of Eddy, back in 2017.) The play is quite intense and very good. I believe the author originated the role himself.  

I agree with everything Arifa Akbar says in her review of the play in The Guardian, but would add one detail. In the midst of all the intensity, there is a moment of humor (in a banal sense, anyway) when Eddy talks about obsessively watching the film "Titanic" as a boy. While the film plays on the console television on the stage, he does an imitation of Leonardo DiCaprio (or is he doing Kate Winslet?) on the front of the ship. 

 

It's that time again!

I've already thanked my fellow Bookmen via e-mail, but I also want to share in this channel the news that the nominations for our 2023 reading list encompass 35 titles! The nominees break down to 19 novels, six non-fiction works, six memoirs, biographies and autobiographies, a poetry collection, and three anthologies (and a partridge in a pear tree...:-) Thanks to everyone who submitted titles--now, please vote!

"For everyone who tried on the slipper..."

Normally, when I share LGBTQ poetry from the Poem-a-Day Foundation here, I give you the title, author's name and a link for each poem. But something about today's featured selection by Ariana Brown, "For everyone who tried on the slipper before Cinderella," touched me so deeply that I've decided to share the full text here:

For everyone who tried on the slipper before Cinderella

Ariana Brown

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

after Anis Mojgani and Audre Lorde

For those making tea in the soft light of Saturday morning 
in the peaceful kitchen 
in the cool house 
For those with shrunken hearts still trying to love 
For those with large hearts trying to forget 
For those with terrors they cannot name 
upset stomachs and too tight pants 
For those who get cut off in traffic 
For those who spend all day making an elaborate meal 
that turns out mediocre 
For those who could not leave 
even when they knew they had to 
For those who never win the lottery 
or become famous 
For those getting groceries on Friday nights 

There is something you know 
about living 
that you guard with your life 
your one fragile, wonderful life 
wonder, as in, awe, 
as in, I had no idea I would be here now. 

For those who make plans and those who don’t 
For those driving across the country to a highway that knows them 
For the routes we take in the dark, trusting 
For the roads for the woods for the dead humming in prayer 
For an old record and a strong sun
For teeth bared to the wind 
a pulse in the chest 
a body making love to itself 

There is every reason to hate it here 
There is a list of things making it bearable: 
your friend’s shoulder Texas barbecue a new book 
a loud song a strong song a highway that knows you 
sweet tea an orange cat a helping hand 
an unforgettable dinner 

a laugh that escapes you and deflates you 
like a pink balloon left soft with room 
for goodness to take hold 

For those who have looked in the mirror and begged
For those with weak knees and an attitude
For those called “sensitive” or “too much” 
For those not called enough
For the times you needed and went without
For the photo of you as a child 
quietly icing cupcakes your hair a crackling thunderstorm

Love is coming. 
It’s on its way. 
Look—

Copyright © 2022 by Ariana Brown. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on October 14, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.