Naiad Press
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Naiad Press was one of the first publishing companies dedicated to lesbian literature.
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[edit] History
Naiad was founded by partners Barbara Grier and Donna McBride in January 1973. The company began in Kansas City, Missouri with $2000, lent by friends of Grier and McBride. The financial support was provided by the author of the Press's first work, The Latecomer by Sarah Aldridge, the pen name of lawyer Anyda Marchant, and her partner Muriel Crawford.[1]
In 1973, there were few bookstores which would carry such overtly lesbian materials, so Grier and McBride relied heavily on mail order in order to market and sell books. Naiad benefitted from its use of the 3800-member mailing list of The Ladder, a prominent and recently defunct lesbian newsletter published by the Daughters of Bilitis.
In addition to original writings, Naiad published out-of-print lesbian novels, such as those of Ann Bannon and Gale Wilhelm.
Naiad achieved national prominence in 1985 with its publication of Lesbian Nuns, for which it paid Rosemary Kurb and Nancy Manahan $500,000.[2]
On their retirement, Grier and McBride passed on the books and authors of Naiad Press to Bella Books.
[edit] Prominent authors
- Nikki Baker
- Ann Bannon
- Anita Cornwell
- Katherine V. Forrest
- Barbara Grier
- Lee Lynch
- Isabel Miller
- Jane Rule
- Diane Salvatore
- Robbi Sommers
- Sheila Ortiz Taylor
- Valerie Taylor
- Gail Wilhelm
- Barbara Wilson
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Anyda Marchant; Author, Publisher - washingtonpost.com
- ^ Bianco, David. Gay Essentials: Facts for Your Queer Brain. Los Angeles: Alyson Books, 1999.
[edit] For Further Reading:
Rapp, Linda. "Grier, Barbara" in glbtq.com: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture[1].
