Michael Bronski ~ Pulp Friction
From: Macmillan
Thank god for scholars like Michael Bronski and their quest to uncover the true stories of Gay Literature and it’s beginnings. Mr. Bronski writes and collects and talks, in this anthology, about such familiar books and names as 1964 Lost On Twilight Road by James Colton aka Joseph Hansen, 1948 The City And The Pillar by Gore Vidal, 1951 Derricks by James Barr aka James Fugate, 1956 Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin, 1970 The Gay Haunt by Victor Jay aka Victor J. Banis.
Thank god there are books like this with the facts about Gay Literature and it’s history. Otherwise I have this sinking feeling we would all be happily nodding along with the folks over at Lambda Literary Foundation as they handed out yet another Pioneer Award to the last surviving members of the 1980-1981 group The Violet Quill… Andrew Holleran, Felice Picano, and Edmund White.
Wow! Um 1980 pioneers huh? OK I’ll play, pioneers of what pray tell?
“shared several impulses: a desire to write works that reflected their gay experiences, and specifically, autobiographical fiction; a desire to write for gay readers without having to explain their point of view to shocked and unknowing heterosexual readers; and finally, a desire to write . . . in a selection of the language really used by gay men.”
So you guys are telling me that Mart Crowley who wrote The Boys In The Band as a play in 1968 which was then made into a motion picture was not writing in this way, and leaving aside whatever your personal feelings towards that movie, you have to admit it shows two things very clearly. First, there was a strong gay community before June 28th 1969 (The Stonewall Riots) and second, that community was not above criticizing or writing about itself in it’s own language.
I have nothing against Andrew Holleran, Felice Picano, and Edmund White. They are good writers who have earned a place of gay literary acclaim for their work.
I’m just pointing this all out for the simple reason when I think of “pioneers” I think of a whole different era than some group of gay authors who’s latest books I borrowed from the fucking local library around 1980-1981. I think of REAL struggle and REAL strife and gay authors that faced REAL challenges that we are still desperately trying to discover before they are forgotten in time or fail to be acknowledged for their contributions to Gay Literature which is something your award continues not to do.
So sorry for pissing anybody off or beating the dead horse known as Lambda Literary Foundation yet again but that is just how I see things.
What really pissed me off was when I heard Larry Townsend got snickered at when his name was mentioned in a memorial in connection to his book The Leatherman’s Handbook.
Now the mental midgets of literary intelligentsia might not appreciate the fact that The Leatherman’s Handbook exists or that it was written by a gay man or that it is sexual in it’s subject matter but I bet ten to one odds that it has been sold to more gay men, has been read by more gay men, has influenced more gay men than any number of Gay Lit golden boys combined in a snobby Gay Lit sandwich with a fucking pickle on the side.
Bite me Lambda Literary Foundation.
Tags: Lambda Literary Foundation, WankTags: Lambda Literary Foundation, Wank
K. Z. Snow wrote,
Hmm. That does seem like a pretty short step-back-in-time to be lauding “pioneers.”
Would you be less upset, Teddy, if the award had a different name? Or if the Violet Quill group had been given a different form of recognition?
I wonder what the cutoff date and criteria are for “pioneers” of gay fiction/nonfiction. You raise some interesting points here.
Link | June 3rd, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Mrs Giggles wrote,
Andrew Halloren doesn’t write smut? Everything I learned about adult theatres and sweaty locker rooms came from The Swimming Pool Library!
And I also learned what “cornholing” meant from one of Edmund White’s “underage boys have hot sex, HOT HOT HOT” books.
I also learned about military orgies, homosexual incest, and other wholesome fun stuff from Reinaldo Arenas’ “Before Night Falls”. If that book was really a “memoir”, I’m surprise we didn’t have a mass exodus of gay men to Cuba shortly after the book was published.
Gay lit = some of the best written gay pr0n out there. I wonder whether their authors realize that…
Link | June 3rd, 2009 at 10:03 pm
TeddyPig wrote,
Hey, whatever Lambda Literary wants to award those guys they can and they have awarded members of that group numerous times individually. None of The Violet Quill faced incredible odds against them in 1980. I remember obtaining their books fairly easily and I don’t remember any of them being put in jail.
I am saying that “pioneer” does not really fit when you can go back to only the 60s and find authors and publishers, some of whom are still very much alive and well, publicly persecuted for writing gay fiction.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_J._Banis
Link | June 3rd, 2009 at 10:10 pm
TeddyPig wrote,
Mrs. Giggles there is an arbitrary line in the sand between what is considered gay literature over at Lambda Literary and what is not.
Link | June 4th, 2009 at 6:18 am
PatBrown wrote,
Hear, hear TeddyPig. It’s sad that the organization that is looked on as the keeper of the gay literature flame is so narrow minded and myopic in disregarding the true pioneers of gay fiction. Those are the men and women who went to jail for the simple ‘crime’ of writing about homosexuals in a flattering light, or who were persecuted by the likes of the FBI, with their mail being opened and getting beaten (legally) for their sins. And yes, Victor J. Banis is one of my heroes who deserves a hell of a lot more than Lambda ever gave him. He was at that award show and was thoroughly disgusted by the childish and boorish behavior displayed there by the so called literati.
–
Pat Brown
http://www.pabrown.ca/
Check out my new video trailers:
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Link | June 4th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Jeanne Barrack wrote,
And we have among the still writing true pioneers, folks like Victor Banis who was writing probably before some of those at Lambda were born!
Alas, it doesn’t matter what genre you write; there will always be snobs…and know nothings!
Link | June 4th, 2009 at 10:30 am
Victor J. Banis wrote,
Thank you for your comments. I suppose some think I’m just expressing sour grapes because the Lambda people ignore me steadfastly and the Violet Quill queens pretend I never existed, but in fact, I really don’t much care whether they snub me or not. As I’ve said elsewhere, I have a pretty good idea of my place in gay history, and it has been acknowledged by a long line of scholars. If the Lambda folks chose not to acknowledge me, that says more about them than it does about me.
But, there were a hell of a lot of good people, men and women, gay and straight, who fought hard and who risked their butts to open the doors to gay writers and gay publishing; Some of them lost everything. Some went to prison. All of us worked every day, with every book, with the threat of arrest and prison hanging over our heads. I am disgusted to hear these people sweep them all under the rug as if they never existed.
For the record, MLR Press is bringing out shortly The Golden Age of Gay Fiction, edited by Wayne Gunn, with lots of great stuff (okay, yes, I’m in it); a personal reminiscence of Lonnie Coleman (presumably he didn’t exist either, since he wrote before 1980) James Colton, aka Joseph Hansen (ditto); and much, more more. Scholar John d’Emilio, in writing a blurb for the book, said, “I can’t wait to get my hands on this book.” I think this will be an important contribution to the literature. I also don’t think it will win a Lammie.
Victor J. Banis
Link | June 4th, 2009 at 10:37 am
Rick R. Reed wrote,
Kudos on a reasonable and balanced blog. We need people like YOU (and Michael Bronski and MLR Press) documenting our literary history. I am telling everyone I know about your blog.
Link | June 4th, 2009 at 10:48 am
veinglory wrote,
Townsend’s stuff rocks. Anyone who sniggers at his name is seriously sans clue.
Link | June 4th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Vince Liaguno wrote,
Great post! I had the pleasure of meeting the delightful Victor Banis at BEA this year, and , yes, this is a guy who wrote GLBT material when it was actually dangerous to do so. He is the very definition of a pioneer. A little recap: http://vinceliaguno.blogspot.com/2009/06/dance-of-bea-virgin.html
Link | June 4th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Jules Jones wrote,
I bought the silver anniversary edition of The Leatherman’s Handbook when I first got into writing fanfic, on the recommendation of other writers. It’s a damn good read by someone who knew how to write for his audience. Sniggering at it suggests a lack of understanding of what makes for compelling writing.
Link | June 5th, 2009 at 12:40 am
Louise wrote,
Right on, Teddy.
If I might be so crass as to offer an explanation… I think that the Lambda folks are just not old enough. To them, 1980 represents an era whose literature they know something about and they consider THAT the pioneer era. Just like people born in 1970 consider the 1980’s the golden age of rock music, not having even been ALIVE in the 1960’s to appreciate that rock music happened a generation earlier. Those of us with a bit of seasoning (or do they call it “vintage”) now, remember when homosexuality was a classified mental disease, and I do think that younger generations have less appreciation for the true pioneer days.
Link | June 5th, 2009 at 7:29 am
TeddyPig wrote,
I myself admit I am no expert on Gay Literature and I learn things constantly from writers I talk to and review on this blog who have far more focused knowledge of aspects of Gay Literature I have never investigated.
But… We are talking Lambda Literary Foundation here.
A group I would expect to have some type of expertise on the subject of Gay Literature. At least enough knowledge to know how fucking insulting they come across in their ignorant self congratulatory actions to those who do remember the bad old days (long before AIDS showed up in the eighties) or those of us who at least care enough to have some interest in our history as a community.
If they as an organization continue to choose to turn a blind eye to reality and keep handing out meaningless gratuitous awards to their chosen few that they have promoted for years then that is their sad legacy but I hope they don’t expect rational people not to point out their tasteless behavior.
Link | June 5th, 2009 at 8:15 am
veinglory wrote,
I agree. I became sentient during the eighties, but I have read my way back through gay lit as far as the 11th century. And that is just as an enthusiast, not an “expert”.
Link | June 8th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Lambda Literary Award: No Straight People Allowed! | The Naughty Bits wrote,
[...] am talking about the “Lame Duh!” Literary Foundation you remember them with their Pioneer Award [...]
Link | September 17th, 2009 at 12:04 pm