Lesbian literature

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lesbian literature includes works by lesbian authors, as well as lesbian-themed works by heterosexual authors. Even works by lesbian writers that do not deal with lesbian themes are still often considered lesbian literature. Works by heterosexual writers which treat lesbian themes only in passing, on the other hand, are not often regarded as lesbian literature.

The fundamental work of lesbian literature is the poetry of Sappho of Lesbos. Contemporary lesbian literature is centered around several small, exclusively lesbian presses, as well as online fandoms. Certain works have established historical or artistic importance. Works of lesbian literature are sometimes difficult to identify if they are not published by small lesbian presses due to a general lack of promotion of lesbian themes by mainstream publishers. An exhaustive list of works cannot be provided here, but key works in different genres are listed.

Contents

[edit] Lesbian fiction

[edit] Classic fiction and drama

[edit] Modern fiction (post-Stonewall)

[edit] Mystery novels

There are a great number of contemporary lesbian mysteries, a genre that is often more welcoming to sexual minorities.

  • Alison Kaine, a lesbian Denver, Colorado police officer in mysteries by Kate Allan
  • Allison O'Neill, a lesbian in mysteries by Lauren Wright Douglas
  • Amanda Valentine, a lesbian detective inspector in Wellington, New Zealand by Rose Beecham
  • Wilhelmina "Bil" Hardy, an amateur lesbian detective in Cowslip, Idaho by Joan Opyr
  • Brenda Strange, a private investigator of the weird in Tampa, Florida by Patty Henderson
  • Brett Higgins, a lesbian pseudo-criminal in Detroit mystery/thrillers by Therese Szymanski
  • Caitlin Reece, a lesbian in mysteries by Lauren Wright Douglas
  • Carmen Ramirez, a 24-year-old Irish-Puerto Rican lesbian copy editor at her hometown newspaper in Frontier City, Oklahoma by Lisa Haddock
  • Carol Ashton, a lesbian detective inspector in Sydney, Australia in mysteries by Claire McNab
  • Cassandra Reilly, a widely travelled lesbian translator in mysteries by Barbara Wilson
  • Cassidy James, a lesbian private investigator based in Portland, Oregon in mysteries by Kate Calloway
  • Colleen Fitzgerald, a lesbian insurance investigator in mysteries by Barbara Johnson
  • Desiree "Dez" Reilly, a lesbian policewoman in St. Paul, Minnesota in mysteries by Lori L. Lake
  • Emma Victor, a lesbian private investigator in San Francisco in mysteries by Mary Wings
  • Gianna Maglione, lesbian police lieutenant in Washington, D.C. in mysteries by Penny Mickelbury
  • Hilary Tamar(?), an androgynous lawyer in mysteries by Sarah Caudwell. In fact, Caudwell never specified Tamar's sex.
  • Inspector Sarah Nelson in mysteries by Susan Wolfe
  • Jane Lawless, a lesbian restaurant owner and private investigator in Minneapolis in mysteries by Ellen Hart
  • Jet Butler, a lesbian college professor in mysteries by B. Reese Johnson
  • Jo Jacuzzo, a charismatic lesbian in Buffalo, New York in mysteries by Anne Seale
  • Jude Devine, a lesbian sheriff's detective in Montezuma County, Colorado in mysteries by Rose Beecham
  • Kate Delafield, a lesbian LAPD homicide detective and former Marine in mysteries by Katherine V. Forrest
  • Kate Martinelli, a lesbian San Francisco homicide detective in mysteries by Laurie R. King
  • Kellen Stewart, a therapist and a lesbian in Great Britain by Manda Scott
  • Kylie Kendall, the lesbian manager of a pub in tiny Wollegudgerie, Australia who inherits 51% of her father's private detective agency in Los Angeles, California in mysteries by Claire McNab
  • Lauren Laurano, a lesbian private investigator in Manhattan, in mysteries by Sandra Scoppettone
  • Lexy Hyatt, a lesbian crime reporter in Florida in mysteries by Carlene Miller
  • Lindsay Gordon, a lesbian journalist & socialist in Glasgow, Scotland in mysteries by Val McDermid
  • Maggie Garrett, a young, lesbian private investigator in San Francisco, California in mysteries by Jean Taylor
  • Maris Middleton, a lesbian chemist with a specialization in forensics in mysteries by Kaye Davis
  • Meg Lacey, a lesbian private investigator based in Canada in mysteries by Elizabeth Bowers
  • Micky Knight, a lesbian New Orleans private investigator in mysteries by J.M. Redmann
  • Monette O'Reilley, towering lesbian and star player of the Leaping Lesbians of Park Slope soccer team and graphic artist in New York in mysteries by David Stukas
  • Nickel (Nicole) Smith, a lesbian small-town newspaper editor in Runnymeade by Rita Mae Brown
  • Pam Nilsen, lesbian printing company owner in Seattle, Washington by Barbara Wilson
  • Saz Martin, a lesbian private investigator in London by Stella Duffy
  • Stoner McTavish, a lesbian travel agent in Boston, Massachusetts by Sarah Dreher
  • Sydney Sloan, a lesbian private investigator in New York, New York, in the Stonewall Inn mysteries by Randye Lordon
  • Tru North, a lesbian police detective in Kansas City, Missouri in mysteries by Janet McClellan
  • Virginia Kelly, a lesbian investment advisor in mysteries by Nikki Baker
  • the Unexpected series by Gina Dartt
  • The Where Do we Go From Here? series by Megan Blakemore, a collection of murder mysteries in he style of Murder, She Wrote starring an elderly lesbian writer, replacing her dead husband with an increasingly ludicrous selection of vibrators.

[edit] Romance novels

Contemporary Lesbian Romances are typified by the novels from Karin Kallmaker, Radclyffe, and Marianne K. Martin

  • Curious Wine -- Katherine V. Forrest Considered the definitive lesbian romance novel
  • All True Lovers, by Sarah Aldridge is a romance novel about two women who fall in love during the Great Depression
  • Legacy of Love, Love in the Balance, Dawn of the Dance, Never Ending, Mirrors, Under the Witness Tree, Dance in the Key of Love by Marianne K. Martin
  • Honor Series, Justice Series, Provincetown Series-Radclyffe

Most of the books listed below are available from SCP. Star Crossed Production

  • Course of Action -- Gun Brooke
  • Coffee Sonata -- Gun Brooke
  • Sheridan's Fate -- Gun Brooke
  • Define Destiny -- JM Dragon
  • First Instinct -- JLee Meyer-- When high stakes security fraud leads to murder, one woman flees for her life while another races against time to save the woman who has staked a claim on her heart. Recipient 2007 Golden Crown Literary Society Award, Lesbian Adventure/Mystery/Thriller.
  • Rising Storm -- JLee Meyer -- Conn Stryker and Leigh Grove pledge to be together but that pledge is shattered when one of Conn's mothers is kidnapped in Pakistan -- and the secret agent is the only ransom the kidnappers will accept. This exciting sequel to First Instinct takes our heroines on a dangerous journey from California to Paris and through the deadly streets of Karachi, Pakistan.
  • Forever Found -- JLee Meyer-- Dana and Kerri are soulmates in pre-school, separated by tragedy at 8, and brought together again by fate 20 years later. As their attraction grows, the past resurfaces to threaten the shape of their future.
  • More Than Paradise, and the Moon Island Series: Passion Bay, Saving Grace, The Sacred Shore, A Guarded Heart, and Dark Vista Series: Dark Dreamer, Dark Valentine -- Jennifer Fulton
  • I Found My Heart In San Francisco Series, Arbor Vitae -- SX Meagher
  • Embrace in Motion, Car Pool, In Every Port, Maybe Next Time, One Degree of Separation, Sugar, Unforgettable, All the Wrong Places, Making Up For Lost Time, Paperback Romance, Painted Moon, Substitute for Love, Touchwood, Wild Things, Watermark (sequel to Touchwood) -- [2]
  • The Light Fantastic -- L A Tucker
  • None So Blind -- LJ Maas
  • Galveston 1900: Swept Away, The Bluest Eyes in Texas, and Borderline -- Linda Crist
  • The Price of Fame, The Cost of Commitment, The Value of Valor -- Lynn Ames
  • Infinite Loop -- Meghan O'Brien
  • Innocent Hearts, Love's Melody Lost, Love's Tender Warriors, Tomorrow's Promise, Passion's Bright Fury, Love's Masquerade -- Radclyffe
  • Hunter's Pursuit, Force of Nature, Whitewater Rendezvous, Focus of Desire -- [Kim Baldwin]
  • Gloria's Inn -- Robin Alexander
  • Private Dancer -- TJ Vertigo
  • Turning the Page, Thy Neighbor's Wife, Too Close to Touch, Fresh Tracks --- Georgia Beers
  • Turning Point, Lara Zielinsky
  • Such A Pretty Face--Gabrielle Goldsby

[edit] Lesbian science fiction, fantasy, and horror

Lesbian science fiction works frequently address the issue of feminist/lesbian separatist communities. See Lesbian science fiction for a more detailed review.

  • Joanna Russ The Female Man
  • Marion Zimmer Bradley's Renunciate series
  • Jane Fletcher's Celano series
  • Therese Szymanski's Call of the Dark Anthology
  • Karin Kallmaker, Barbara Johnson, Julia Watts and Therese Szymanski's New Exploits books, including Bell, Book & Dyke: New Exploits of Magical Lesbians and Stake Through the Heart: New Expoits of Twilight Lesbians
  • Nicola Griffith's Ammonite, Slow River
  • Katherine V. Forrest's Daughters of A Coral Dawn
  • Diana River's Hadra Series
  • Laurie J. Marks' Dancing Jack, Elemental Series [Fire Logic, Earth Logic, Water Logic]
  • Meghan O'Brien's The Three
  • Pam Keesey's Daughters of Darkness and Dark Angels
  • Gun Brooke's Supreme Constellations series

Gay male author Geoff Ryman's Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning The Child Garden features a lesbian protagonist.

[edit] Lesbian fan fiction

For more details on this topic, see Femslash.

Fanfiction writers have produced many works in which female characters from fictional sources, such as television shows, movies, or comic books, are paired in romantic or sexual relationships. The genre is known by a variety of terms, including femslash, saffic, and f/f slash. Lesbian content in fanfiction dates at least to 1977, but has become more popular during the 1990s and 2000s.

[edit] Poetry

[edit] Lesbian Periodicals, Journals and Literary Magazines

See List of Lesbian Periodicals, Journals and Magazines, Past and Present

[edit] Lesbian & Feminist Publishing Houses

[edit] External links

[edit] Further reading

[edit] History and criticism

  • Lesbianism in Germany: 1890's to 1920's. Lillian Faderman and Brigitte Eriksson.
  • Passions Between Women: British Lesbian Culture 1668-1801. Emma Donoghue
  • Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America. Lillian Faderman
  • Lesbian Texts and Contexts: Radical Revisions, ed. Karla Jay and Joanne Glasgow, New York University Press 1990

[edit] Anthologies

  • Chloe plus Olivia - An Anthology of Lesbian Literature from the Seventeenth Century to the Present, ed. Lillian Faderman, Penguin Books 1995
  • The Literature of Lesbianism, ed. Terry Castle, Columbia University Press 2003

[edit] Awards for Lesbian Literature

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Baker, Michael (1985). Our Three Selves: A Life of Radclyffe Hall. London: GMP Publishers Ltd., 353. ISBN 0-85449-042-6. 
  2. ^ Jeanette Winterson, The Times, 1997.
Languages