Wednesday, November 10, 2010

NWSA Presentation: “Whatever Happens, This Is”: Same-Sex Marriage Apprehensions

Saturday, 13 November 2010
Sheraton Hotel in Denver, CO

If you are in town, join me!

Presentation linked here.
Handout linked here.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Call for Submissions: Here Come the Brides! The Brave New World of Lesbian Marriage (Seal Press, 2012)

2,000-4,000 words 
Editors: Audrey Bilger and Michele Kort. Audrey Bilger is the Faculty Director of the Writing Center and Associate  Professor of Literature at Claremont McKenna College. Michele Kort is Senior Editor at Ms. magazine, a freelance writer, and author of three books (including Soul Picnic: The Music and Passion of Laura Nyro).
Same-sex marriage is obviously a hot topic these days, and we want to look specifically at the lesbian side of the equation. Given the secondary status of women throughout much of the globe, bonds between women—particularly intimate connections—can redefine the political landscape as well as the domestic realm. Anna and Eve don’t get as much press as Adam and Steve, but they’re potentially more threatening to the status quo.
Here Come the Brides will primarily cover legal marriages, but also lesbian commitment ceremonies in locales where the legal status of gay marriage is still up for grabs. We hope the book will be able to represent a diversity of points of view in terms of race, class, ethnicity and geography, and incorporate transgender perspectives. Although the book will be generally upbeat about lesbian marriage, we’d also like viewpoints from those who are opposed to either being married themselves or who have issues with the institution or the politics of same-sex marriage.
We’re looking for a variety of material: primarily first-person essays, but also secondhand observations, bridesmaid/mother-of-the-bride/etc. stories, and even analytical pieces (as long as they’re written in an accessible style). We’re open to graphic essays/cartoons as well, and we’re eager to see lesbian wedding ephemera: great photos, invitations, newspaper wedding announcements, vows, guest favors.
Needless to say, we’re looking for terrific writing—colorful, moving, funny, surprising, insightful. We can imagine essays that cover a lesbian marriage from soup to nuts, but we think it’s more likely, given the word limitation, that it might be best to focus on a certain aspect of lesbian marriage or of your particular wedding—at least as an organizing principle. Here are some questions to think about; perhaps one or more will inspire a resonant tale:
What made you decide to get married? How significant was legalization in your state/country in your decision? How/who popped the question? What trepidations did you have about marriage? What does marriage mean to you/what doubts do you have about the institution? How is marriage the same/different for a lesbian couple? How did your families handle the news? Was there any particular joy or heartbreak about someone who did or did not support your wedding? What was the planning process for your wedding? Was it a fancy affair, or just a trip to the courthouse? Did you have a best man/woman or bridesmaids/bridesmen? Do you have children, and were they involved in the wedding? Do you have a good story about your wedding outfits? About the ceremony/reception? Who did you invite? If you’re an interracial couple, did that bring out issues beyond your lesbian connection? Same question if one or both of you is transgender. Was your wedding traditional—or did you purposefully try to “queer” it? Did you write your vows? Did you put out an announcement in the newspaper? Did you go on a honeymoon? What do you call your spouse? How has lesbian wedded life met/exceeded/confounded your expectations? Does your relationship feel different since you married? Has marriage made you more/less radical about LGBT issues? 
Deadline for submissions: January 30, 2011. Please consider running your ideas past us before you plunge into writing. We also encourage early submissions.
For more information, see our blog at http://micheleandaudrey.wordpress.com/. Please email submissions and inquiries to: abilger@cmc.edu.
 

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Queer Jewish Poetry: Call for Submissions

A Midsummer Night's Press
announces a call for submissions
for two anthologies celebrating queer Jewish poetry:

FLAMBOYANT:
A CELEBRATION OF JEWISH GAY POETRY
edited by Lawrence Schimel

and

MILK AND HONEY:
A CELEBRATION OF JEWISH LESBIAN POETRY
edited by Julie R. Enszer

to be published in Spring 2011.

We are looking for poems that celebrate and question, meditate and intimate, argue and reconcile contemporary queer Jewish identity. What is queer Jewish experience in the twenty-first century? What poetry expresses queer Jewishness today?

Whether you write about interfaith queer parenting, cruising in shul, how it feels to sign a ketubah in a country that won't recognize our same-sex marriages, fetishizing a sheggitz or being fetishized, we want to read about it and share it with others who want to read it as well.

What are our sacred texts for today? If they don't yet exist, write them. What are our queer Jewish blessings, curses and prayers.

While there is a rich tradition of queer Jewish writers who have made an indelible mark on our literature over the years, from Gertrude Stein and Adrienne Rich to Allen Ginsburg and Edward Field, we are looking for work that reflects queer Jewish identity in the new (secular) millennium. As such, we are open either to unpublished work, or work that was published since 2000 (this would include work originally published in a magazine or anthology before 2000, which was later collected in a book published after 2000).

We welcome voices from across the spectrum of Jewish identity, from observant to merely cultural, and their intersections with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender identities and experiences.

We are open to all styles of poetry, from formal to free verse.

We welcome queer Jewish voices from outside the US, and are willing to consider translations into English. (It is the translator's responsibility to secure permission to reprint the poem in English.)

Both anthologies are open to previously published work, but it is the poet's responsibility to secure permission to reprint the poem.

We welcome work from Jewish trans poets, so long as the content of the work is relevant to either gay or lesbian experience.

There is no limit to the number of poems which may be submitted, so long as the Jewish and queer content are both relevant.

Submission instructions:

1) Title file with the initials of the anthology and author's last name: F-Surname.doc or MH-Surname.doc
2) Include your name, your mailing address, your email address, and a bio WITHIN the .doc file with your essay, as submissions will be separated from emails to be read.
3) Submit your work by email, as an attachment in .doc or .rtf format, to queerjewishpoetry@gmail.com

Deadline: November 30, 2010.

Payment will be three copies of the anthology per contributor.

About the editors:

Lawrence Schimel is the author or anthologist of over 100 books, including FOUND TRIBE: JEWISH COMING OUT STORIES, KOSHER MEAT, BEST GAY POETRY 2008, FIRST PERSON QUEER, PoMoSEXUALS: CHALLENGING ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT GENDER AND SEXUALITY, TWO BOYS IN LOVE, THE FUTURE IS QUEER, etc. He has won the Lambda Literary Award (twice), an Independent Publisher Book Award, the Spectrum Award, and other honors. He writes in both English and Spanish, and his work has been translated into 27 languages.

Julie R. Enszer is the author of the poetry collection HANDMADE LOVE (A Midsummer Night's Press, 2010) and the chapbook SISTERHOOD (Seven Kitchens Press, 2010). Her work has appeared in numerous Jewish, feminist and queer publications, including BRIDGES, JEWISH WOMEN'S LITERARY ANNUAL, SINISTER WISDOM, CALYX, WOMEN'S REVIEW OF BOOKS, FEMINIST STUDIES, WASHINGTON BLADE, LAMBDA BOOK REPORT, etc. She is also the founder of the Lesbian Poetry Archive.

About the publisher:
A Midsummer Night's Press is an independent poetry publisher, publishing primarily in two imprints: 1) Fabula Rasa, dedicated to work inspired by myth and fairy tale, which has published FORTUNE'S LOVER: A BOOK OF TAROT POEMS by Rachel Pollack and FAIRY TALES FOR WRITERS by Lawrence Schimel, and 2) Body Language, devoted to queer poetry, which has published THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED IN OUR OTHER LIFE by Achy Obejas; BANALITIES by Brane Mozetic, translated by Elizabeti Zargi; HANDMADE LOVE by Julie R. Enszer; and MUTE by Raymond Luczak. http://www.amidsummernightspress.com

Thursday, July 29, 2010



Sisterhood. Poems by Julie R. Enszer. Number Two in the inaugural Summer Kitchen Series. Limited edition of only 49 copies.
Julie R. Enszer's first book of poetry, Handmade Love, was published in 2010 by A Midsummer Night's Press. She has her MFA from the University of Maryland and is completing a PhD in Women's Studies. Her poetry has previously been published in Iris: A Journal about Women, Room of One's Own, Long Shot, the Web Del Sol Review, and the Jewish Women's Literary Annual. She is a regular book reviewer for the Lambda Book Report and Calyx.
Release date: June 30, 2010.
24 pages.
$7.
Limited copies available--order yours now!

Order from Seven Kitchens Press here:
http://sevenkitchens.blogspot.com/2010/06/julie-r-enszer-sisterhood.html

Order directly from Julie here:
http://web.me.com/julierenszer/Julie_R._Enszer/Contact.html

S as in Sam, Z as in Zebra

Dear Friends,

I hope you are all having a rejuvenating summer. I just got back from a vacation in Michigan with the beloved and our pups, Shelby and Emma. Despite being of great size (she seems to be hovering at just about 120 pounds), Emma is a good travel dog, though quite a shedder - the interior of the minivan we rented was covered with her hair. Shelby and Emma most enjoyed playing in the lakes - Lake Michigan near Saugatuck and Carpenter Lake in Southfield. We returned home feeling tired but regenerated for the balance of our summer activities.

Sisterhood - new chapbook from Seven Kitchens Press

Ron Mohring runs a fabulous small publishing operation, Seven Kitchens Press, and he selected by chapbook for a small summer series. Sisterhood was published in a limited edition of 49 copies at the end of June. 

You can purchase a copy of Sisterhood from Seven Kitchens Press here: http://sevenkitchens.blogspot.com/2010/06/julie-r-enszer-sisterhood.html for just $7 plus the cost of postage. 

I also have a handful of my copies left and you can purchase a signed copy from me as well by sending $7 for the chapbook plus $1 for postage to JulieREnszer@gmail.com via paypal.

These are some of my favorite poems and they are enhanced by the loving care of Ron in the small, handmade chapbook. I feel honored to be included in his publishing program and think that you will find Sisterhood a little book to treasure.

Reviews

Handmade Love has been getting good reviews on the web. Angela Stubbs reviewed it for The Nervous Breakdown:

http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/astubbs/2010/07/between-the-pen-and-paper-v5/

and Bryan Borland blogged about it here:

http://bryanborland.com/2010/07/25/review-handmade-love-by-julie-r-enszer/

Dan Holloway reviewed the book and interviewed me here:

http://www.pankmagazine.com/pankblog/?p=4587

Other Writings

Two of the poems from Sisterhood were published in the May/June issue of the Women's Review of Books. If you don't subscribe to this great publication and are interested in learning more, look here: http://www.oldcitypublishing.com/WRB/WRB.html. It's a great publication!

I've written a few reviews for Lambda Literary this summer. Two links are below, and I must say, read Lambda Literary regularly - great reviews and interviews with LGBT writers are there. Every time I drop by Lambda Literary, I add a book to my "to read" list.

http://www.lambdaliterary.org/reviews/poetry/06/10/expressway-and-unleashed-by-sina-queyras/

http://www.lambdaliterary.org/reviews/fiction/06/29/into-the-interior-by-michelle-cliff/

Order Handmade Love

Still don't have your copy of Handmade Love? You can order it through the publisher's website here:

http://amidsummernightspress.typepad.com/amsnp/2010/02/handmade-love.html

Handmade Love is shipping from Amazon.com as well:

http://www.amazon.com/Handmade-Love-Julie-R-Enszer/dp/0979420857/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267904433&sr=8-1

(Check out the first reader review on Amazon which was posted this week! And if you've read the book, feel free to add your own.)

If you prefer to support independent distributors, order Handmade Love from Small Press Distribution here:

http://www.spdbooks.org/Producte/9780979420856/handmade-love.aspx

And finally

I'm now in the midst of writing my dissertation prospectus and doing research trips this summer to the New York Public Library and the feminist collections at Duke in Durham, NC. It is very exciting to be at this point in the PhD program. Everyday when I work on my dissertation prospectus and initial research I think, this is exactly what I want to be doing with my life.

I hope this email finds you well and thriving!

Julie

Want to receive this periodic newsletter S as in Sam, Z as in Zebra in your email box? Just let me know at JulieREnszer at gmail dot com and I’ll add you to this list!

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

OutHistory.org Announces LGBTQ Local Histories Contest Winners

OutHistory.org, the award-winning website on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer U.S. history, announced the winners of its “Since Stonewall Local Histories Contest” on Monday, June 28, exactly 41 years after the start of the rebellion that marks the beginning of the modern movement for LGBTQ rights and liberation. The contest—the first of its kind—invited people from across the country to create exhibits on OutHistory.org about the history of LGBTQ life in their village, town, city, county, or state since the Stonewall riots. The contest also offered five cash prizes, from $5,000 to $1,000, to the creators of the top five exhibits. The awards were provided by the Arcus Foundation, which funded OutHistory.org for four years.

OutHistory.org received over thirty exciting exhibits about LGBTQ history. One of the contest’s major goals was to draw attention to LGBTQ history in places that scholars have overlooked. The staff of OutHistory.org was pleased to see exhibits about states such as Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, and Virginia, among others.

The “Since Stonewall” exhibits are all geographically-based, but range dramatically in subject, from one New Yorker’s memoirs, to a history of the Gay Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C., an account of a long-lived gay bar in Michigan called The Flame, and a timeline of The Lesbian Mothers National Defense Fund in Seattle. All the entries are listed on the site.

Professors and historians of homosexuality John D’Emilio and Leisa Meyer served as judges of the contest.

The First Place Winner
The first place prize was awarded to “Man-i-fest: FTM Mentorship in San Francisco from 1976 – 2009,” created by Meghan Rohrer, the first openly transgender pastor ordained in the Lutheran Church, in partnership with San Francisco’s GLBT Historical Society.
The exhibit documents Lou Sullivan’s transition from female to male over the course of thirty years, with evidence drawn from Sullivans’ photos and letters, as well as video footage of interviews he did with the mainstream and community press, and medical professionals. D’Emilio and Meyer praised “the exhibit’s attention to the less studied FTM transition,” and noted “the critical role of mentors in these transitions is remarkable.”

Second Place
The second place winner, “Rainbow Richmond: LGBTQ History of Richmond, VA,”
compiled by Cindy Bray, Program Director for the Gay Community Center of Richmond, provides a deeply textured story of the multiple challenges and triumphs that have constituted the queer history of this former capital of the Confederacy.
“Moving from a straightforward timeline of the significant moments and turning points of Richmond’s LGBTQ history,” D’Emilio and Meyer said, “this exhibit offers detailed and evocative coverage of the violence, legal battles, and activism that characterized the four decades since Stonewall and offers browsers the rare opportunity to substantively engage this vital southern LGBTQ community.”

Third Place
In third place, historian Lindsay Branson’s “Gay Liberation in New York City” provides a remarkable array of sources, from an initial picture of “gay” graffiti to vivid oral history interviews and video footage of historical moments. This entry makes visitors to the site feel like they are part of the vibrant gay liberation movement in New York City during its brief heyday, while working to clarify the complex legacies of Stonewall.

Fourth Place
“Las Vegas, Nevada” the fourth place winner documents the creation of LGBTQ communities in Las Vegas over the course of 30 years. It was created by Dennis McBride and Crystal Van Dee of the Nevada State Museum with Paul Ershler of the Lambda Business and Professional Association. “This exhibit makes clear that, while Stonewall is part of a ‘shared’ queer history, we might be better served by looking to institutions like the Reno Gay Rodeo, Le Café in Las Vegas, and the fierce local struggles to maintain these and other institutions to understand the emergence of queer Nevada” D’Emilio and Meyer declared.

Fifth Place
In fifth place is the “Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, San Francisco, California 1971-2004,” created by historian Nathan Purkiss, which documents the first registered LGBT democratic club in the nation. The exhibit draws from the Alice Reports newsletter, interviews with longtime Alice members, and the Gay Vote Newsletters of the Harvey Milk Democratic Club to provide, what D’Emilio and Meyer call, “a fascinating textual and visual journey.”

Honorable mention was given to “The Midwest’s ‘Queer Mecca’: 40 Years of GLBTQ History in Bloomington, Indiana (1969-2009),” and “LGBT Life in Iowa City, Iowa: 1967-2010.”

OutHistory.org’s founder, the pioneering gay historian Jonathan Ned Katz, hopes that the Since Stonewall Contest exhibits will be used by teachers to incorporate local LGBTQ history into high school and college courses. He also hopes that the contest will inspire others to write their local histories on the site, which, like Wikipedia, permits users to create content. As contest contributors can continue to edit their entries on OutHistory.org, and new histories are added by the public, the site’s local LGBTQ history content will continue to grow.
According to D’Emilio and Meyer, “The OutHistory.org website and the ‘Since Stonewall’ contest are critically important in bringing attention to local LGBTQ history, and LGBTQ history more generally. Without recognition of LGBTQ history on local, state, national, and transnational levels our historical narratives will remain forever incomplete.”
OutHistory.org was the co-recipient of the first Allan Bérubé Award from The Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History of the American Historical Association.

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Introduction of Sharon Bridgforth for the Queer Cultural Event


I had the good fortune of introducing Sharon Bridgforth for the Queer Cultural Event at the Queer Studies Symposium on the University of Maryland’s campus in April 2010. Below is my introduction. Do check out Bridgforth’s work published by Lisa Moore of Redbone Press.
Good Afternoon and welcome to the second Queer Cultural Event as a part of the DC Queer Studies Symposium. I’d like to thank all of the sponsors of this event and especially Professor Marilee Lindemann and Damion Clark for their vision and hard work in making this event a success.

As we embark on the second Queer Cultural Event, you may notice that these events are, in part, reflections of my own obsessions. Last year, three gay male poets entertained and enlightened us from a variety of aesthetic positions, reflecting my desire for greater aesthetic dialogues within poetry and for more poetry in queer studies. This year, Sharon Bridgforth, an extraordinary writer, performer, historian of the imagination, and theorist, will enliven our afternoon with her work. She embodies my admiration of and appreciation for African-American Butch Lesbians. Although I don’t want to fix Bridgforth in a particular identity location because she is in fact a multi-faceted performer and artist, consider her renderings of one woman-loving-woman named bull-dog-jean from her book the bull-jean stories,

bull-jean say
i been giving away tastes
piece by piece/samples
of my Heart/I
been giving for free                 all my Life

bull-jean continues

and that wo’mn is kind
and she Lovves me         and
it don’t matter if it’s thirty minutes a day
or ONCE in the next Life
I’ll go git her/smile
whenever she’ll let me
have it!

Part of Bridgforth’s project is, in her words, considering “a range of possibilities of gender expression and sexuality within a rural/Black working class context.” She “articulates African-American sensibilities/history and oral traditions for the purpose of exploring the ways that” African-American communities have survived.

And did I mention her work is hot? Here again from the bull-jean stories

let me


be the coffee in yo cup


hold me close/smell


your memories


wake


black/wid


a little sugar


made to fit your taste


stir and sip me slow


don’t let none go to waste



Sharon Bridgforth is a two time Alpert Award Nominee in the Arts in Theatre and a recipient of the 2008 Alpert/Hedgebrook Residency Prize. She has been the Artist-In-Residence in Performance Studies at Northwestern University and her work has received support from the National Endowment For The Arts Commissioning Program; The National Endowment For The Arts/Theatre Communications Group Playwright in Residence Program; National Performance Network Commissioning Fund; the Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media; and the Rockefeller Foundation Multi-Arts Production Fund Award.

She is the author of two books, the bull-jean stories, which won the 1999 Lambda Literary Award in Poetry, and love conjure/blues, which Tara Lake described as a “historically imagined juke joint community—populated by “the mens the womens the both and the neither”—[that] restores queer agency to black history in the tradition of Audre Lorde, Bruce Nugent, and James Baldwin.” Lake continues, “This poetry is not just a blues, but a sort of divine witchcraft, a stomp circle, a shout! Not jubilee, but hallelujah.”

Both of these books are published by RedBone Press and are available for sale and signing after today’s performance.

Sharon Bridgforth is an affiliate of The Austin Project, sponsored by The John L. Warfield Center For African and African American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin and has just been appointed to the position of Multicultural Faculty Member in DePaul University’s Theatre School for the next academic year. This afternoon, Sharon Bridgforth will perform Like Jazz, selections from her current work. After her performance, we will have time for questions, queries, and other queer forms of audience engagement. Please join me in welcoming Sharon Bridgforth.

Winners of the 22nd Annual Lambda Literary Awards



Winners of the 22nd Annual


Lambda Literary Awards



Lesbian Fiction
A Field Guide to Deception, by Jill Malone (Bywater Books)
 
Gay Fiction
Lake Overturn, by Vestal McIntyre (HarperCollins)
 
Lesbian Debut Fiction
The Creamsickle, by Rhiannon Argo (Spinsters Ink)
 
Gay Debut Fiction
Blue Boy, by Rakesh Satyal (Kensington Books)
 
LGBT Children's/Young Adult
Sprout, by Dale Peck (Bloomsbury USA)
 
Lesbian Mystery
Death of a Dying Man, by J.M. Redmann (Bold Strokes Books)
 
Gay Mystery
What We Remember, by Michael Thomas Ford (Kensington Books)
 
Lesbian Erotica
Lesbian Cowboys, edited by Sacchi Green & Rakelle Valencia (Cleis Press)
 
Gay Erotica
Impossible Princess, by Kevin Killian (City Lights)            
 
Bisexual Fiction - A Tie!
Holy Communion, by Mykola Dementiuk (Synergy Press)
Love You Two, by Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli (Random House Australia)
 
Bisexual Nonfiction
Leaving India: My Family's Journey From Five Villages to Five Continents, by Minal Hajratwala (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
 
Transgender
Lynnee Breedlove's One Freak Show, by Lynn Breedlove (Manic D Press)
 
LGBT Anthology
Portland Queer: Tales of the Rose City, edited by Ariel Gore (Lit Star Press)

LGBT Drama
The Collected Plays Of Mart Crowley, by Mart Crowley (Alyson Books)
 
LGBT SF/Fantasy/Horror
Palimpsest, by Catherynne M. Valente (Bantam/Spectra Books)
 
Lesbian Romance
The Sublime and Spirited Voyage of Original Sin, by Colette Moody (Bold Strokes Books)
 
Gay Romance
Drama Queers!, by Frank Anthony Polito (Kensington Books)
 
Lesbian Poetry
Zero at the Bone, by Stacie Cassarino (New Issues Poetry & Prose)
 
Gay Poetry
Sweet Core Orchard, by Benjamin S. Grossberg (University of Tampa Press)
 
LGBT Studies
The Straight State: Sexuality and Citizenship in Twentieth Century America, by Margot Canaday (Princeton University Press)
 
LGBT Nonfiction
The Greeks and Greek Love, by James Davidson (Random House)
 
Lesbian Memoir/Biography
The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith, by Joan Schenkar (St. Martin's Press)
 
Gay Memoir/Biography
Ardent Spirits: Leaving Home, Coming Back, by Reynolds Price (Scribner Books)

Friday, April 30, 2010

S as in Sam, Z as in Zebra

Dear Friends,

Since there is lots of exciting news about Handmade Love, I'm sending another newsletter. Please forgive the extra email, but some news is just too good to not share!

Upcoming Readings

New York City

On Wednesday, 12 May 2010 at 6 p.m., I'll be reading with three other fabulous lesbian writers, Elaine Sexton, Sarah Van Arsdale, and Patricia Grossman, at the New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center, 208 W 13th Street, NY, NY 10011. As you can imagine, it's very exciting to me to be reading at a LGBT Community Center as I spent many years working at one. Tickets for this event are $8 in advance. If you are in the New York area, please join me for this event.
More information:
http://www.gaycenter.org/node/5084

Washington, DC

On Sunday, 16 May 2010 at 7 p.m., I'll be reading as a part of the Cheryl's Gone reading series at the Big Bear Cafe, 1700 1st St NW Washington DC (at 1st and R). This should be a great fun, relaxed evening and I would love to see local friends there.
For more information:
http://cherylsgone.com/?p=93

On Tuesday, 8 June 2010 at 7:30 p.m., I'll be reading as a part of the Miller Cabin Poetry Series in Rock Creek Park. The series is held at Joaquin Miller Cabin in Rock Creek Park, Picnic Area #6, Beach Drive at Military Road Overpass. I'm excited to be reading with Jericho Brown, a fabulous poet. There will be a rain location though it has not yet been announced. If it is raining that day, call Kathi Morrison-Taylor at 703-820-8113 for information about the location. The entire Miller Cabin Poetry Series is always magical. Please join me and Jericho Brown for a great early summer evening of poetry.

Reviews

I'm thrilled to share some of the good reviews that Handmade Love has received. Rigoberto Gonzalez mentioned Handmade Love at Critical Mass, the blog of the National Book Critics Circle. You can read his words here:

http://bookcritics.org/blog/archive/small_press_spotlight_april_poetry_month_edition/

Richard Labonte, author of the bi-weekly column, Book Marks, wrote a lovely review of Handmade Love that has been syndicated to a number of LGBT newspapers. Here it is in the South Florida Gay News:

http://www.southfloridagaynews.com/arts-and-entertainment/book-reviews/1261-handmade-love-by-julie-r-enszer.html

The Lambda Book Report reviewed the book on their fabulous new website.

http://www.lambdaliterary.org/reviews/poetry/04/28/handmade-love-by-julie-enszer/

I've been crowing about this quotation from Courtney Gillette's review at Lambda Literary:
"Anyone who’s loved Dorothy Allison’s early chapbook of poetry, The Women Who Hate Me, will recognize the same brash confidence and articulation in Julie Enszer’s work."

My friend Merry Gangemi wrote a lovely blog about her experience reading Handmade Love. You can read it here:
http://merrygangemi.blogspot.com/2010/04/some-thoughts-on-julie-r-enszers-new.html
(And if you are a blogger, think about writing your own block about the book!)


Other Writings


Lambda Literary has been very generous to me in the month of April (National Poetry Month!). I was a featured interview for the Book Buzz column. You can read the interview here:
http://www.lambdaliterary.org/interviews/03/31/julie-r-enszers-archival-instinct/
And included in the series, 'Five Poets Who Changed My Life."
http://www.lambdaliterary.org/features/5-poets/04/22/5-poets-who-changed-my-life/
This month an article I wrote about The Furies was included in the new issue of Beltway
http://washingtonart.com/beltway/furies.html

Order the book

Still don't have your copy of Handmade Love? You can order it through the publisher's website here:

http://amidsummernightspress.typepad.com/amsnp/2010/02/handmade-love.html

It is shipping from Amazon.com as well:

http://www.amazon.com/Handmade-Love-Julie-R-Enszer/dp/0979420857/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267904433&sr=8-1

If you prefer to support independent distributors, order it from Small Press Distribution here:

http://www.spdbooks.org/Producte/9780979420856/handmade-love.aspx

How You Can Help

I'd love it if you would pass on the word about the book to your friends and family, encourage people to order it or buy extra copies and give it as a gift. If you liked Handmade Love, please think about leaving a comment on Amazon.com, GoodReads, or LibraryThing. Your kind words and good wishes are greatly appreciated.

All in all, a busy and wonderful month. Now I'm deep in writing my last qualifying exam for my PhD program. Great fun with a little bit of stress thrown in. Think of me at the end of May when I am defending it!

I hope this newsletter finds you well and thriving!

Julie

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

SEVEN KITCHENS PRESS announces the third annual Robin Becker Chapbook Prize for an original, unpublished poetry manuscript in English by a Lesbian, Gay. Bisexual, Transgendered or Queer writer.

Prize: Fifty author copies.
Submission deadline: Postmarked between March 1 and May 15 of each year.
Eligibility: Open to all L/G/B/T/Q poets writing in English (no translations, please).
Please note: Two manuscripts will be selected as co-winners of the 2010 Robin Becker Chapbook Prize: one by a writer with no previous book or chapbook, and the other by a writer with previous book or chapbook publication.
Please read the guidelines carefully; the complete guidelines are posted on the Seven Kitchens site and we are not responsible for other versions of the guidelines that may be posted, in whole or in part, elsewhere.
COMPLETE GUIDELINES:

Anyone who identifies as L/G/B/T/Q is eligible to submit to the Robin Becker Chapbook Prize.
The manuscript itself need not address L/G/B/T/Q themes, though such work is welcome.
The final judge for this year's series is Eloise Klein Healy.
Submit a paginated manuscript of 16-24 pages (not including front matter).

Include two cover pages: one with the manuscript title, author name, address, e-mail and phone number; the second cover page should have the manuscript title only.
Include a table of contents page, if appropriate.
The collection may contain a series of poems or one single chapbook-length poem.
Include, if applicable, an acknowledgments page for work previously published.
Please include, on a separate page, a brief (100-150 words) biographical note, including a statement of any previous or pending book or chapbook publication.
The author's name must not appear in the manuscript.

Collaborative works are accepted. Should a winning manuscript be collaboratively written, the author copies will be shared equally.
All manuscripts will be blind judged, meaning all identifying material will be separated from the manuscripts as they are logged in.
Manuscript titles and their log numbers will be posted on the web site [http:// sevenkitchens dot blogspot dot com] as they are received.
Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us promptly if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.

Submissions must be posted between March 1 and May 15, 2010.
The winning manuscripts will be announced on or before October 15, 2010.
Manuscript finalists will also be announced, and may be eligible for publication.
Manuscripts will not be returned. E-mailed submission is preferred, but you may send via regular mail.

If you are sending by mail, do not staple or bind your manuscript; please use a binder clip and mail flat in an 8.5 x 11 envelope.
Please do not use expedited delivery services; your postmark date is sufficient to ensure your entry qualification, and we will allow 7-10 days for receipt of all mailed entries. Please use First Class Mail and consider spending the money you've saved on a chapbook from an independent press!
If you are sending by e-mail, please send one document in Microsoft Word format (.doc, .docx or .rtf files are ideal); you must include the words “Robin Becker Chapbook” in the subject line of your e-mail.
Include a $12 reading fee with each manuscript you submit (multiple submissions are welcome). Checks should be made payable to Ron Mohring, NOT to Seven Kitchens. Online payment may be made via PayPal to sevenkitchens at yahoo dot com.
Each entrant will receive one copy of either winning chapbook, to be published during the winter of 2010-11. Please let us know if you change your e-mail or mailing address!
Each co-winner will receive fifty copies of her or his chapbook. Additionally, the publisher will distribute ten review copies and will solicit online reviews of each chapbook.
Send your manuscript:
~by e-mail, as a Microsoft Word attachment, to: sevenkitchens at yahoo dot com; or
~by mail to Ron Mohring, Publisher; PO Box 668; Lewisburg PA 17837.

ABOUT THE SERIES: Initiated in 2008, this chapbook series honors Robin Becker, whose continuing accomplishments as a poet, professor, and mentor of lesbian and gay writers deserve wider acclaim. Becker serves as poetry editor for the Women's Review of Books and is a professor of English and Women's Studies at Pennsylvania State University. She is the author of six collections of poems, including Giacometti's Dog (1990), All-American Girl (1996), The Horse Fair (2000), and Domain of Perfect Affection (2006), all from the University of Pittsburgh Press, and of the chapbook Venetian Blue (Frick Art & Historical Center, 2002).

Titles in this series include Lost Lands by Judith Barrington, Postcards from P-town by Steven Riel, (2008), Inland Sea by Erin Bertram, and Scavenge by RJ Gibson. All titles are kept in print and are available for $7 each; please add $1 for shipping.

ABOUT THE JUDGE: Eloise Klein Healy is the author of six books of poetry, including Ordinary Wisdom, Artemis in Echo Park, Passing, and The Islands Project: Poems for Sappho. Healy's work has been widely anthologized in collections including The World In Us: Lesbian and Gay Poetry of the Next Wave and Intimate Nature: The Bond Between Women and Animals. Her imprint with Red Hen Press, Arktoi Books, established in 2006, specializes in publishing the work of lesbian authors.

Monday, March 22, 2010

The Production of Lesbian Spaces in the 1970s

Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS) Lesbians in the 70s Series:
The Production of Lesbian Spaces in the 1970s

March 19th | Friday, 6-8 PM
Room 9205 at The CUNY Graduate Center (NYC) 
365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY

Participants: Madeline Davis, Deborah Edel, Julie Enszer, Joan P. Gibbs, Stina Soderling
Moderator: Jen Gieseking

"The Production of Lesbian Spaces in the 1970s" panel and reception is part of CLAGS’s year-long series, “In Amerika They Call Us Dykes: Lesbian Lives in the 1970s.”  The panel will discuss the production of lesbian space and place in the 1970s, both urban and otherwise and within and without lesbian feminism, with a reception to  follow from 8-10pm.  We hope to touch on such topics as the roles of concepts of public and private, the politics, experiences, and uses of visibility and invisibility, and shifts in lesbian-feminist, butch-femme, and other dynamics throughout this period.  Participants include Madeline Davis (founder and director of the Madeline Davis GLBT Archives of Western NY, and co-author of _Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold_--winner of the 1993 Lambda Literary Award), Deborah Edel (activist and co-founder / long-time treasurer of the Lesbian Herstory Archives), Julie Enszer (poet and founder of the online Lesbian Poetry Archives), Joan Gibbs (co-founder of Azalea and Dykes Against Racism Everywhere), and Stina Soderling (Ph.D. candidate at Rutgers University studying lesbian separatist spaces in the 1970s).  The event will be recorded and archived on the CLAGS site for future viewing, while the conversation itself will continue in an online mapping venue that those in New York City and beyond can contribute their own place markers with accompanying stories to record lesbian spaces over time throughout the world


Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS) Lesbians in the 70s Series:


The Production of Lesbian Spaces in the 1970s



March 19th | Friday, 6-8 PM


Room 9205 at The CUNY Graduate Center (NYC)


365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY



Presentation by Julie R. Enszer



In thinking about space, I returned to Gaston Bachelard on the Poetics of Space. He writes, “[A]n empty drawer is unimaginable. It can only be thought of. And for us, who must describe what we imagine before we know, what we dream before what we verify, all wardrobes are full” (Bachelard, xxxvii-xxxviii.)

From my perspective, lesbians in the 70s were describing what they imagined and what they dreamed and then writing and publishing those dreams and imaginings in lesbian print culture. They were creating spaces and finding “all wardrobes full.” When I think about lesbian and lesbian-feminist print culture in the 1970s, I think of four “spaces”:


  • •Poems (like Adrienne Rich’s “The Floating Poem” “whatever happens with us, your body/will haunt mine—tender, delicate” or Pat Parker’s “For Straight Folks who don’t mind gays but wish they weren’t so blatant” or E. Sharon Gomilion’s lines, “We’re doing it in our books/history, poetry, and song/We’re doing it every chance/we get/Right on—further on!” Judy Grahn’s “A History of Lesbianism” “The subject of lesbianism/is very ordinary; it’s the question/of male domination that makes everybody/angry.”)

  • •Poetry books, chapbooks, broadsides and other printed materials

  • •Journal, newspapers, newsletters, and periodicals like Sinister Wisdom, Conditions, The Furies, Azalea.

  • •Small presses like Violet Press, Out & Out Books, Women’s Press Collective, Diana Press, Persephone Press, and Easter Day Press.


I think of these “spaces” like Bachelard conceptualizes the poetics of space, as rooms in a house – and probably a collective group house with regular meetings to discuss process and politics. Each of these “spaces” created, produced, and reproduced new spaces, such as




  • •Physical objects – the things that are in libraries: books, chapbooks, journal issues

  • •Shared communities of concerns – collectives of women producing the work and communities of readers

  • •Institutions with economic, cultural, and political impacts

  • •Shared spaces, physical and metaphorical, for and array of activities including identity creation, community building, political strategizing, theory generation and a variety of other political, social, economic, and cultural mobilizations.


Some of these formations endure today (Sinister Wisdom for example), but many are now in memories, archives, and histories. The desire to understand what happened in the cultural and literary spaces that were created and to contribute to strategies for preserving this history motivated me to start the Lesbian Poetry Archive. The Lesbian Poetry Archives is an online archive that is my way of thinking about the spaces and the objects that were created by lesbians between 1969 and 1989 in print culture. I am interested in beginning to translate these objects into the new publishing culture of our contemporary moment. Online at the Lesbian Poetry Archive you will find samples of chapbooks published during the 1970s, the introductions and tables of contents from Lesbian Poetry and Amazon Poetry, two anthologies that have been central to my thinking about the time – and to me personally as a lesbian who came out AFTER the 1970s – and a variety of bibliographies that represent my continued attempts to preserve and not forget.



I am appreciative deeply of the organizers of this panel for inviting me; my presence here is a testament to the power of lesbian spaces—I met Jen Gieseking at the Lesbian Herstory Archives. I thank CLAGS and Sarah Chinn for the important work on the series In Amerika They Call Us Dykes. Finally, I just want to leave you with the final four lines from Rich’s “The Floating Poem.” Rich evokes a particular type of space in this poem; one that is crystallized by touch. It is a space that was central in the writing of lesbians in the 70s and so I want to remind us of this space as another in our considerations this evening. The last four lines of Rich’s “The Floating Poem:”

your touch on me, firm, protective, searching
me out, your strong tongue and slender fingers
reaching where I have been waiting years for you
in my rose-wet cave -- whatever happens, this is.

Thank you. I am very much looking forward to the conversation.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Lambda Literary Awards Finalists Announced!

2009 Lambda Literary Awards Finalists


 


 
LGBT Anthologies
 

  • Gay American Autobiography: Writings from Whitman to Sedaris, edited by David Bergman (University of Wisconsin Press)



  • Moral Panics, Sex Panics: Fear and the Fight Over Sexual Rights, edited by Gilbert Herdt (NYU Press)



  • My Diva: 65 Gay Men on the Women Who Inspire Them, edited by Michael Montlack (University of Wisconsin Press)



  • Portland Queer: Tales of the Rose City, edited by Ariel Gore (Lit Star Press)



  • Smash the Church, Smash the State! The Early Years of Gay Liberation, edited by Tommi Avicolli Mecca (City Lights)

 


 
LGBT Children's/Young Adult


  • Ash, by Malinda Lo (Little, Brown)



  • How Beautiful the Ordinary, edited by Michael Cart (HarperCollins)



  • In Mike We Trust, by P.E. Ryan (HarperCollins)



  • Sprout, by Dale Peck (Bloomsbury USA)



  • The Vast Fields of Ordinary, by Nick Burd (Penguin Books)

LGBT Drama



  • The Beebo Brinker Chronicles, by Kate Moira Ryan & Linda S. Chapman (Dramatists Play Service)



  • The Collected Plays Of Mart Crowley, by Mart Crowley (Alyson Books)



  • Revenge of the Women's Studies Professor, by Bonnie L. Morris (Indiana University Press)

 


LGBT Nonfiction
 

  • The Golden Age of Gay Fiction, edited by Drewey Wayne Gunn (MLR Press)



  • The Greeks and Greek Love, by James Davidson (Random House)



  • I Am Your Sister: Collected and Unpublished Writings of Audre Lorde, edited by Rudolph P. Byrd, Johnnetta Betsch Cole & Beverly Guy-Sheftall (Oxford University Press)



  • Ties That Bind: Familial Homophobia and Its Consequences, by Sarah Schulman (The New Press)



  • Unfriendly Fire:How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America, by Nathaniel Frank (St. Martin's Press)

 


LGBT SF/Fantasy/Horror

  • Centuries Ago and Very Fast, by Rebecca Ore (Aqueduct Press)



  • Fist of the Spider Woman, by Amber Dawn (Arsenal Pulp Press)



  • In the Closet, Under the Bed, by Lee Thomas (Dark Scribe Press)



  • Palimpsest, by Catherynne M. Valenta (Bantam/Spectra Books)



  • Pumpkin Teeth, by Tom Cardamone (Lethe Press)

 


LGBT Studies
 

  • Metropolitan Lovers: The Homosexuality of Cities, by Julie Abraham (University of Minnesota Press)



  • Moving Politics: Emotion and ACT UP's Fight Against AIDS, by Deborah B. Gould (University of Chicago Press)



  • The Queer Child, or Growing Sideways in the Twentieth Century, by Kathryn Bond Stockton (Duke University Press)



  • The Resurrection of the Body: Pier Paolo Pasolini from Saint Paul to Sade, by Armando Maggi (University of Chicago Press)



  • The Straight State: Sexuality and Citizenship in Twentieth Century America, by Margot Canaday (Princeton University Press)

 


Bisexual Fiction
 

  • Arusha, by J.E. Knowles (Spinsters Ink)



  • Holy Communion, by Mykola Dementiuk (Synergy Press)



  • The Janeid, by Bobbie Geary (The Graeae Press)



  • Love You Two, by Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli (Random House Australia)



  • Torn, by Amber Lehman (Closet Case Press)

 


Bisexual Nonfiction
 

  • Byron in Love: A Short Daring Life, by Edna O'Brien (W. W. Norton)



  • Cheever: A Life, by Blake Bailey (Alfred A. Knopf)



  • Leaving India: My Family's Journey From Five Villages to Five Continents, by Minal Hajratwala (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)



  • Map, by Audrey Beth Stein (Lulu.com)



  • Vincente Minnelli: Hollywood's Dark Dreamer, by Emanuel Levy (St. Martin's Press)

 


Transgender

  • Bharat Jiva, by Kari Edwards (Litmus Press)



  • Lynnee Breedlove's One Freak Show, by Lynn Breedlove (Manic D Press)



  • The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You, by S Bear Bergman (Arsenal Pulp Press)



  • Transmigration, by Joy Ladin (Sheep Meadow Press)



  • Troglodyte Rose, by Adam Lowe (Cadaverine Publications)

 


Lesbian Debut Fiction
 

  • The Creamsickle, by Rhiannon Argo (Spinsters Ink)



  • The Bigness of the World, by Lori Ostlund (University of Georgia Press)



  • Land Beyond Maps, by Maida Tilchen (Savvy Press)



  • More of This World or Maybe Another, by Barb Johnson (HarperCollins)



  • Verge, by Z Egloff (Bywater Books)

 


 
Gay Debut Fiction

  • Blue Boy, by Rakesh Satyal (Kensington Books)



  • God Says No, by James Hannaham (McSweeneys)



  • Pop Salvation, by Lance Reynald (HarperCollins)



  • Shaming the Devil: Collected Short Stories, by G. Winston James (Top Pen Press)



  • Sugarless, by James Magruder (University of Wisconsin Press)

 


Lesbian Erotica
 

  • Flesh and Bone, by Ronica Black (Bold Strokes Books)



  • Lesbian Cowboys, edited by Sacchi Green & Rakelle Valencia (Cleis Press)



  • Punishment with Kisses, by Diane Anderson-Minshall (Bold Strokes Books)



  • Where the Girls Are, by D.L. King (Cleis Press)



  • Women of the Bite, by Cecelia Tan (Alyson Books)

 


Gay Erotica

  • Rough Trade: Dangerous Gay Erotica, edited by Todd Gregory (Bold Strokes Books)



  • Impossible Princess, by Kevin Killian (City Lights)



  • I Like It Like That: True Tales of Gay Desire, edited by Richard Labonté  & Lawrence Schimel (Arsenal Pulp Press)



  • The Low Road, by James Lear (Cleis Press)



  • Eight Inches, by Sean Wolfe (Kensington Books)

 


 
Lesbian Fiction

  • Dismantled, by Jennifer McMahon (HarperCollins)



  • A Field Guide to Deception, by Jill Malone (Bywater Books)



  • Forgetting the Alamo, Or, Blood Memory, by Emma Pérez (University of Texas Press)



  • Risk, by Elena Dykewomon (Bywater Books)



  • This One's Going to Last Forever, by Nairne Holtz (Insomniac Press)

 


Gay Fiction
 

  • Lake Overturn, by Vestal McIntyre (HarperCollins)



  • The River In Winter, by Matt Dean (Queens English Productions)



  • Said and Done, by James Morrison (Black Lawrence Press)



  • Salvation Army, by Abdellah Taia (Semiotext(e))



  • Silverlake, by Peter Gadol (Tyrus Books)

 


Lesbian Memoir/Biography

  • Called Back: My Reply to Cancer, My Return to Life, by Mary Cappello (Alyson Books)



  • Mean Little deaf Queer, by Terry Galloway (Beacon Press)



  • My Red Blood: A Memoir of Growing Up Communist, Coming Onto the Greenwich Village Folk Scene, and Coming Out in the Feminist Movement, by Alix Dobkin (Alyson Books)



  • Likewise: The High School Comic Chronicles of Ariel Schrag, by Ariel Schrag (Simon & Schuster/Touchstone Fireside)



  • The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith, by Joan Schenkar (St. Martin's Press)

 


Gay Memoir/Biography

  • Ardent Spirits: Leaving Home, Coming Back, by Reynolds Price (Scribner Books)



  • City Boy: My Life in New York During the 1960's and 70's, by Edmund White (Bloomsbury USA)



  • Deflowered: My Life in Pansy Division, by Jon Ginoli (Cleis Press)



  • Once You Go Back, by Douglas A. Martin (Seven Stories Press)



  • The Pure Lover: A Memoir of Grief, by David Plante (Beacon Press)

 


Lesbian Mystery

  • Command of Silence, by Paulette Callen (Spinsters Ink)



  • Death of a Dying Man, by J.M. Redmann (Bold Strokes Books)



  • From Hell to Breakfast, by Joan Opyr (Blue Feather Books)



  • The Mirror and the Mask, by Ellen Hart (St. Martin's/Minotaur)



  • Toasted, by Josie Gordon (Bella Books)

 


Gay Mystery

  • All Lost Things, by Josh Aterovis (P.D. Publishing)



  • The Killer of Orchids, by Ralph Ashworth (State Street Press)



  • Murder in the Garden District, by Greg Herren (Alyson Books)



  • Straight Lies, by Rob Byrnes (Kensington Books)



  • What We Remember, by Michael Thomas Ford (Kensington Books)

 


Lesbian Poetry

  • Bird Eating Bird, by Kristin Naca (HarperCollins)



  • Gospel: Poems, by Samiya Bashir (Red Bone Press)



  • Names, by Marilyn Hacker (W.W. Norton)



  • Stars of the Night Commute, by Ana Bozicevic (Tarpaulin Sky Press)



  • Zero at the Bone, by Stacie Cassarino (New Issues Poetry & Prose)

 


Gay Poetry
 

  • Breakfast with Thom Gunn, by Randall Mann (University of Chicago Press)



  • The Brother Swimming Beneath Me, by Brent Goodman (Black Lawrence Press)



  • The First Risk, by Charles Jensen (Lethe Press)



  • Sweet Core Orchard, by Benjamin S. Grossberg (University of Tampa Press)



  • What the Right Hand Knows, by Tom Healy (Four Way Books)

 


Lesbian Romance

  • It Should Be a Crime, by Carsen Taite (Bold Strokes Books)



  • No Rules of Engagement, by Tracey Richardson (Bella Books)



  • The Sublime and Spirited Voyage of Original Sin, by Colette Moody (Bold Strokes Books)



  • Stepping Stone, by Karin Kallmaker (Bella Books)



  • Worth Every Step, by KG MacGregor (Bella Books)

 


Gay Romance
 

  • Drama Queers!, by Frank Anthony Polito (Kensington Books)



  • A Keen Edge, by H. Leigh Aubrey (iUniverse)



  • The Rest of Our Lives, by Dan Stone (Lethe Press)



  • Time After Time, by J.P. Bowie (MLR Press)



  • Transgressions, by Erastes (Running Press)

Sunday, March 07, 2010

S as in Sam, Z as in Zebra

The periodic email newsletter from Julie R. Enszer

Dear Friends,

My First Book: Handmade Love


I am thrilled to announce the publication of my first book of poetry, Handmade Love.

This is from the publisher's website:
In her first collection, Julie R. Enszer offers poems that are as unabashedly erotic as they are unabashedly feminist. Whether responding to queer cultural icons, fantasizing about sex, or mourning illness and loss, these poems are sweet and sultry, fierce and tender.

From demonstrations on the streets to bedroom romps, these smart and sexy poems interweave narrative and lyrical moments with the political and the sensuous.

Handmade Love renders a world that delights in the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and tells queer life stories sublimely and generously.

HANDMADE LOVE


by Julie R. Enszer

Body Language 05

ISBN-13: 978-0-9794208-5-6
ISBN-10: 0-9794208-5-7

Poetry/Lesbian Studies
64 pages/perfect bound
Pub Date: 1 April 2010

$11.95

The book is already available and shipping. You can order it directly from A Midsummer Night's Press with free shipping here:

http://amidsummernightspress.typepad.com/amsnp/2010/02/handmade-love.html

It will also ship from Amazon beginning April 1st. Here is the Amazon page (you can also leave comments/reviews on the book for Amazon readers and users):

http://www.amazon.com/Handmade-Love-Julie-R-Enszer/dp/0979420857/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267904433&sr=8-1

If you prefer to support independent distributors, think about ordering it from Small Press Distribution here:

http://www.spdbooks.org/Producte/9780979420856/handmade-love.aspx

Finally, I have very snazzy postcards of the book cover. I'm happy to mail you one or many. Just drop me a line and let me know.

New Essay: On Friendship

An essay of mine titled, "On Friendship," appeared in the Packingtown Review this winter. The essay is about friendship and in particular the friendship of Maxine Kumin and Anne Sexton. If you are interested in reading it, you can order copies of the journal here: http://www.press.uillinois.edu/journals/pr.html

I also have a new column from the CIVILesbianIZATION series on the Edge Network. It is titled, "Let's Say I Do to Universal Health Care," and is available online here:
http://www.edgeunitedstates.com/index.php?ch=style&sc=life&sc2=news&sc3=&id=97599

I post many links to Twitter and Facebook (and try to be relatively engaging on these new media) so let's connect there if we haven't.

Today it finally feels like spring here in Maryland after a longer than usual, more snowy than usual, and colder than usual winter. We're all happy about it, including the newest member of our family, Emma, a giant and lovable St. Bernard. She joined us on Halloween 2009 and has been growing ever since - about two pounds a week on average! She's a delight and keeping us all busy.

I hope this email finds you happy and thriving.

All best,

Julie

Julie R. Enszer
www.JulieREnszer.com

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

On Book Publishing

Book publishing is a weird thing. To begin with, books start out in the mind. There is nothing physical about the beginning of books, only the ruminations, the nattering of internal voices. Slowly these translate into words and find their way onto a page where they may become "real," by that I mean, printed, a physical thing in the world. Even then, though, written in a notebook, typed in a computer, they are still ephemeral in many ways and for so long personal. At some point though they are shaped into what we imagine as a book, but even then, it is a stack of 8.5 x 11 papers. It develops a physical presence in the world, but not what we know to be a "book." For me, I've spent ten years writing poems. Celebrating when they found their way into print in journals, print and online. I imagined a book, even fantasized about what it would look like, but they were vague fantasies. Then, there was the promise of a book. The work to craft a manuscript that would be a book. At some point, there is this transmogrification of years of work into an object. Page proofs from the publisher. Cover designs. The exciting part of imagining and creating books. And though there is the blessed moment when the object arrives and you hold it in your hands, the process is still no less weird. You have a stack of things, beautiful, gorgeous things, that contain hours of your labor. You know you must do something with them. You make postcards and mail them to everyone for whom you have a mailing address. You send copies to friends with short funny notes. You inscribe them. You look for reviewers. You share them. You hope people find them, read them. It sounds like a linear process as I write this, but it isn't. The fits and starts of writing poems continue even with the physical artifact in hand. Mail takes time. People take time. My beloved read my book last night, three days after I gave it to her (I don't begrudge her the time), I listened to her chuckle at moments. She looked up after the first few poems and said, this isn't about me. It wasn't. Keep reading, I told her. She did. She finished the book. Ten years of writing, she read it in about thirty minutes. She liked it. I'll wait to see if others do. It's weird though, the time, the transformation, the waiting. There is the pleasure of "I made this." There is the anxiety of "Is it good enough?" I'd like a better adjective than 'weird,' but at the moment it is all I have. That and a stack of books, bearing my name on the cover.

Monday, February 22, 2010


Books are here - and postcards, too! If you haven't ordered your copy of Handmade Love already, please do so today. You can order directly from the publisher, A Midsummer Night's Press, by clicking here, or from Amazon.com. If you want a personally inscribed copy, send me $11.95 on paypal (email: JulieREnszer@gmail.com) and I'll post one to you as soon as possible. The book is gorgeous. Much appreciation to Lawrence Schimel for his fabulous editing and publishing. It is like a dream to hold Handmade Love in my hands.

Sunday, February 07, 2010



I believe that there are two kinds of love in this world:

inherited and handmade. Yes, we inherit love
but my people, my people make love by hand.
—From “Handmade Love”


In her first collection, Julie R. Enszer offers poems that are as unabashedly erotic as they are unabashedly feminist.

Whether responding to queer cultural icons, fantasizing about sex, or mourning illness and loss, these poems are sweet and sultry, fierce and tender.

From demonstrations on the streets to bedroom romps, these smart and sexy poems interweave narrative and lyrical moments with the political and the sensuous.

Handmade Love renders a world that delights in the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and tells queer life stories sublimely and generously.


Julie R. Enszer has published poems in Room of One’s Own, Long Shot, Feminist Studies, Bridges, So to Speak, Suspect Thoughts, Windy City Times, and many other journals. She has a MFA in poetry from the University of Maryland.


Handmade Love
By Julie R. Enszer
From A Midsummer’s Night Press
US: $11.95
ISBN-13: 978-0-9794208-5-6
Order today from www.amidsummernightspress.com, Amazon.com, or, for an autographed copy,
email JulieREnszer@gmail.com.

delirious hem: Amy King

delirious hem: Amy King