Longfellow House: Homosexual Hub

A big tip of the hat to Ted Coltman for alerting me to this fascinating article from Atlas Obscura, "Preserving the LGBTQ Legacy of One of America's Most Historic Homes." It tells the story of Longfellow House, long occupied by members of the distinguished literary family in Cambridge, Massachusetts--several of whom were openly gay (or, more precisely, as openly gay as one could be in 19th-century Boston). Well worth reading!

Six Queer Writers, 25 Key Books

This article from the latest New York Times' T Magazine features the results of a panel discussion in which six LGBTQ authors--Edmund White, Roxane Gay, James lames, Lisa Kron, Thomas Page McBee and Neel Mukherjee--gathered over Zoom last month to hash out a list of the "25 Most Influential Works of Queer Literature." Our merry band has discussed about a third of the selections over the years, as well as several others referenced during the writers' conversation.

Allergic to Kisses?

Last November, when we discussed Douglas Stuart's Shuggie Bain, several of us expressed interest in reading his latest novel, Young Mungo. In today's edition of his weekly Book Club newsletter (which I highly recommend signing up for even if you're not a Washington Post subscriber; it's free), critic Ron Charles cites it, along with a "straight" novel, as examples of the apparent squeamishness of American publishers when it comes to depicting kisses on book covers. (Apologies for being unable to manipulate the images from the newsletter to fit this space, which is why the Stateside cover of Young Mungo is inadvertently cut off below.) Not that you're missing that much; as Charles observes, "The U.K. cover  shows a couple of young men mashing their mouths together, while the U.S. cover shows a teenager alone, partially submerged in water. So much for young love..." 

Pride Month poetry, Part I

In honor of Pride Month, the American Academy of Poetry's Poem-a-Day newsletters has compiled the following poems.  Enjoy!

Recitative                                                    by Hart Crane

Sappho                                                        by Sara Teasdale

Sappho for Everybody                                by Maxe Crandall

Drought Essay                                            by Isabel Neal

Walls                                                            by C.P. Cavafy

The Weather-Cock Points South                by Amy Lowell

Holly Says Sobriety Is Paying Attention    by Susan Landers

A Queerification                                      by Regie Cabico

My Son Wants to Know                          by Blas Falconer

Who His Biological Father Is

Pride Month poetry, Part II

Here are more selections in honor of Pride Month, courtesy of the American Academy of Poetry. Enjoy!

Poppy Song                                             by Elsa Gidlow

Black Parade                                           by Daniel Alejandro Holnes

Gay Marriage Poem                                by Jenny Johnson

Boy in a Stolen Evening Gown              by Saeed Jones

A Bridge on Account of Sex:                 by Joy Ladin

A Trans Woman Speaks to  Susan B. Anthony on the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment    

My Love                                                by Bruce Nugent

Born Frees                                             by Pamela Sneed

One Girl                                                by Sappho

Eek: A pansy bar!

Lee Levine was kind enough to share this hilarious YouTube clip depicting Hollywood's idea of a gay bar in the Village--presumably like the ones Fay and her friends frequent in A Scarlet Pansy (which we're discussing tonight). One of the first such scenes in a pre-Hays Code picture, it comes from "Call Her Savage," a Clara Bow movie that came out in 1932, the same year the novel was published. Start at the 1:49 mark (there's another clip that starts with the bar scene, but it has Spanish subtitles, which I found distracting). 

Space Camp!

Back in April, we discussed the first tranche of short stories in one of our new anthologies, Far Out: Recent Queer Science Fiction and Fantasy. (We'll return to it next month.) That, and the pervasive discussion of artificial intelligence going on, inspired Patrick Flynn to share this YouTube video, "What Is Camp? These Science Fiction Movies Explain." It examines the term by looking at four sci-fi camp classics airing on Turner Classic Movies this month: "Plan 9 from Outer Space" (1959), "Queen of Outer Space" (1958), "Barbarella" (1968) and "The Apple" (1980). Enjoy!