Some LGBTQ+ poetry to enjoy, Part 1
The American Academy of Poetry's Poem-a-Day newsletter has featured even more LGBTQ+ poetry than usual (not all by LGBTQ+ poets, I should note) so far this winter, so I'm playing catchup here. These poems were disseminated in November and December; the post immediately below this one will bring us up to date. Enjoy!
Madagascar [Opus 104] by Witter Bynner
To My Daughter's Dead Name by Lance Larson
Egg Tooth by Benjamin Garcia
Jessica McClure, After the Well by Elizabeth Lindsey Rogers
Dock Rats by Marianne Moore
Gender Euphoria and the Superbloom by Jennifer Huang
The Sign as You Leave the Artists' Colony Says "The New World" by Aliki Barnstone
Le Jardin des Tuileries by Oscar Wilde
Megaloceros by J. Bailey Hutchison
Tuesday, February 17, 2026
Some LBGTQ+ poetry to enjoy, Part 2
As promised, here is LGBTQ+ poetry featured in the American Academy of Poetry's Poem-a-Day newsletter in January and February. Enjoy!
II [Doom is dark and deeper than any sea-dingle.] by W.H. Auden
Queer Trivia Night by Jenny Johnson
The Teeth on My Wrist by Elizabeth Bradfield
Alternate Endings to Shania Twain’s “That Don’t Impress Me Much” Music Video by Canese Jarboe
Memory Poem by Marlanda Dekine
Sun Song by Langston Hughes
[I seek and desire] by Sappho
Bright Bindings by Countee Cullen
Lessons at the Legendary Institute for Yarn Spinning by igoberto González
II [Doom is dark and deeper than any sea-dingle.] by W.H. Auden
Queer Trivia Night by Jenny Johnson
The Teeth on My Wrist by Elizabeth Bradfield
Alternate Endings to Shania Twain’s “That Don’t Impress Me Much” Music Video by Canese Jarboe
Memory Poem by Marlanda Dekine
Sun Song by Langston Hughes
[I seek and desire] by Sappho
Bright Bindings by Countee Cullen
Lessons at the Legendary Institute for Yarn Spinning by igoberto González
Sunday, February 8, 2026
More by/about Vito Russo
Here are the books by and about Vito Russo that Philip Clark mentioned during Wednesday night's meeting.
Michael Schiavi's biography of Russo: Celluloid Activist: The Life and Times of Vito Russo
Vito Russo's writings beyond The Celluloid Closet:
Out Spoken, Reel One:
Out Spoken, Reel Two:
Philip notes: "Sorry for the awful links from the awful Amazon, but they're the easiest ways to send info about these books. The two Out Spoken books are companions to an HBO documentary called "Vito."
Many thanks, Philip!
Michael Schiavi's biography of Russo: Celluloid Activist: The Life and Times of Vito Russo
Vito Russo's writings beyond The Celluloid Closet:
Out Spoken, Reel One:
Out Spoken, Reel Two:
Philip notes: "Sorry for the awful links from the awful Amazon, but they're the easiest ways to send info about these books. The two Out Spoken books are companions to an HBO documentary called "Vito."
Many thanks, Philip!
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
Some "Picnic" tidbits
A tip of the hat to Lee Levine, who advises that Turner Movie Classics will screen the movie version of William Inge's Picnic (the play we'll discuss via Zoom on Feb. 25) this Thursday, Feb. 5, at 8:30 p.m.
Lee, our movie maven, notes: "'Picnic' was nominated for six Oscars and won two. (Not for William Holden's chest, heh heh.) Having seen both the movie and play, I can attest that it depends upon the staging as to which medium stresses more the homoerotic elements of the material."
Lee also pointed me to the following 1992 commentary by actress Kim Stanley about the playwright: "Let me tell you something about Bill Inge. This is what I tell my students, most of whom arrive having decided that he's old and tired and out of style and dishonest. Inge is one of the most honest of playwrights--straight and simple in his style. This may make him seem less literary, less daunting, than some of his peers, but you cannot say that his plays are not honest. Are they fully honest in the presentation of his own autobiography? No. Bill could never be fully honest about his own sexuality, so I think a lot of people fault him for not writing an inverted character in his plays who could represent him, but I always point out that he DID write such characters in his plays, and the fringe witness that was Bill Inge is in those plays.
"You can knock Bill for his style, and you can knock him because the place from which he hailed wasn't a place that inspires your dreams, but the primary reason that people can't embrace Bill Inge or the primary reason that they chuckle and dismiss him is because he forces you to remember what physical attraction and physical love can and should do to you, and what the lack of this same chemical magic can and will do to you. We cannot go through this world alone, and the dreams and the fantasies will grow old and, like our prescriptions for drugs and alcohol, will have to be continually and dangerously raised in order for them to have any effect. We need other people--one wonderful other person--to make ourselves whole. That was his belief. That was his dream. That was what he never achieved.
"I cannot believe that this theme does not resonate within everyone, so I am always angry and amazed when Bill's plays are produced and there is this chorus of disbelief about the subject matter. Admit it: You lack the love or you lost the love or you destroyed the love. That's hard to do, but that's what you are confessing when you submit to the plays of Bill Inge."--Kim Stanley/Interview with James Grissom/1992
Lee, our movie maven, notes: "'Picnic' was nominated for six Oscars and won two. (Not for William Holden's chest, heh heh.) Having seen both the movie and play, I can attest that it depends upon the staging as to which medium stresses more the homoerotic elements of the material."
Lee also pointed me to the following 1992 commentary by actress Kim Stanley about the playwright: "Let me tell you something about Bill Inge. This is what I tell my students, most of whom arrive having decided that he's old and tired and out of style and dishonest. Inge is one of the most honest of playwrights--straight and simple in his style. This may make him seem less literary, less daunting, than some of his peers, but you cannot say that his plays are not honest. Are they fully honest in the presentation of his own autobiography? No. Bill could never be fully honest about his own sexuality, so I think a lot of people fault him for not writing an inverted character in his plays who could represent him, but I always point out that he DID write such characters in his plays, and the fringe witness that was Bill Inge is in those plays.
"You can knock Bill for his style, and you can knock him because the place from which he hailed wasn't a place that inspires your dreams, but the primary reason that people can't embrace Bill Inge or the primary reason that they chuckle and dismiss him is because he forces you to remember what physical attraction and physical love can and should do to you, and what the lack of this same chemical magic can and will do to you. We cannot go through this world alone, and the dreams and the fantasies will grow old and, like our prescriptions for drugs and alcohol, will have to be continually and dangerously raised in order for them to have any effect. We need other people--one wonderful other person--to make ourselves whole. That was his belief. That was his dream. That was what he never achieved.
"I cannot believe that this theme does not resonate within everyone, so I am always angry and amazed when Bill's plays are produced and there is this chorus of disbelief about the subject matter. Admit it: You lack the love or you lost the love or you destroyed the love. That's hard to do, but that's what you are confessing when you submit to the plays of Bill Inge."--Kim Stanley/Interview with James Grissom/1992
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