GLBT Literature: resources
Original Resources at this Site
- Book Recommendations – GLBT Literature – includes fiction, drama, poetry, and non-fiction (all public domain titles link to free online copies). To keep the list manageable, it is usually limited to one title per author.
- Bram / Christopher Bram Web Page – brief introductions to all of his novels.
Dickinson / Emily Dickinson's Poetry – 100 of her best and most representative poems.
- G&L Reading Group Discussion Summaries – I have written brief summaries for all G&L Reading Group discussions between January 1999 and December 2003 (cross-referenced by alphabetized listings of both title and author).
- GLBT Authors – new and established writers annouce the publication of their latest works.
- GLBT Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror & Suspense/Mystery Literature – selective list highlights the many GLBT connections to these four durable genres. Emphasis on classic works (James, Wilde, Stoker, Barrie, Lovecraft) and outstanding current books (Butler, Delany, Rice, Barker, Nava). Founded in 2000, there is also a monthly discussion group.
McCullers / Carson McCullers – a reminiscence by her onetime companion, writer/visual artist Stuart Sherman.
- Miller / Isabel Miller – a profile of the author of the lesbian classic Patience & Sarah, about an early American folk painter and her partner, based on the life of Mary Ann Willson.
Outline of Gay Literature – based on Byrne R.S. Fone's Columbia Anthology of Gay Literature (also see below under Anthologies). In the future I hope to create a consolidated Outline of Gay, Lesbian, Bi & Trans Literature.
- Overlooked GLBT Fiction Authors – one title each by 50 outstanding novelists excluded from the Publishing Triangle's "100 Best GLBT Books".
- Overlooked GLBT Non-Fiction Authors – 100 exceptional writers excluded from the Publishing Triangle "100 Best GLBT Non-Fiction Books".
Patrick / Robert Patrick – original poem, plays and personal photos shared with the Reading Group.
- Petronius – resources for both Petronius's Satyricon and the flm Fellini Satyricon.
Proust / Marcel Proust Web Page – links to background information on the author, his masterpiece A Rembrance of Things Past (aka In Search of Lost Time), and even a recipe for madeleine pastries (the eating of which stirs the narrator's memory, beginning his interior quest).
- Resources for Selected GLBT Authors – For each book the G&L Reading Group has discussed since January 1999, I have selected outstanding online resources for that author (after visiting all related sites) and posted the links with brief descriptions. Many exceptional GLBT authors are already included, with more to come.
Saki (H.H. Munro) – twelve recommended stories.
- Satyricon – resources for both Petronius's Satyricon and the flm Fellini Satyricon.
- Sherman / Stuart Sherman – a tribute to the late writer, visual artist, and theater/film/videomaker, who as a member of the G&L Reading Group has shared his personal reminiscence of Carson McCullers.
- Sontag / Susan Sontag Tribute – selected resources for the extraordinary critic, novelist, and filmmaker.
Top 10 GLBT Books List – ten works, specially selected for readers who want an introduction to the rich diversity of GLBT Literature. Includes novels, plays, poetry, biography, history, and more.
- Website of the Month – GLBT-related and usually connected to literature.
- Why a GLBT Focus? – This evolving brief essay looks at why exploring GLBT aspects of a work is of interest.
Willson / Mary Ann Willson Web Page – about the early nineteenth century American folk artist, who also inspired Isabel Miller's classic lesbian novel.
- Words of Wisdom from GLBT Authors – quotations culled from 4,000 years of exceptional prose, poetry, and drama.
Anthologies
- First Same-Sex Literature Anthology (1908!)
Ioläus: An Anthology of Friendship (free online), edited by Edward Carpenter, the GLBT- and women's rights pioneer. Superb same-sex anthology, including selections from antiquity to Whitman and representing many world cultures.
- Gay Literature Anthology
Columbia Anthology of Gay Literature: Readings from Western Antiquity to the Present Day, edited by Byrne R.S. Fone. Four thousand years of gay male writing, in all forms, with superb introductory essays. Here is an outline of its contents.
- Gay Short Fiction Index
Gay Short Fiction Index – thanks to George H. for sharing his wide-ranging list of gay stories from over a hundred anthologies, 1953 to the present.
- Lesbian Literature Anthology
Chloe Plus Olivia: An Anthology of Lesbian Literature from the 17th Century to the Present, edited by Lillian Faderman. Lesbian fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and plays, with provocative commentary.
Reference Works
- GLBT Literary Heritage
The Gay and Lesbian Literary Heritage: A Reader's Companion to the Writers and Their Works, from Antiquity to the Present, edited by Claude J. Summers. Indispensable one-volume reference work for GLBT Literature, with over 350 entries on authors, forms, genres, and national literatures.
The glbtq encyclopedia, available free online, incorporates the contents of The Gay and Lesbian Literary Heritage, and adds much more. It encompasses thousands of GLBT people who have influenced society through literature, the visual arts, music, law, politics, religion, the social and natural sciences. It features over 2 million words in 2,000 entries, and includes hundreds of illustrations.
- Gay Male Literary Tradition
As one reviewer describes it: In the encyclopedic A History of Gay Literature: The Male Tradition, Gregory Woods has knit a transhistorical and transcultural history, using a broad definition of gay literature that includes works by openly gay men, works in which homosexual activity occurs, and works that manifest a gay "sensibility." Thus Woods manages to move us from Homer to David Leavitt, from Arabic poets of the classical age to contemporary South African poetry, from closeted Victorian memoirs to AIDS literature. The book discusses amazing similarities of experience and expression throughout history and culture. (I hope that a comparable work on the Lesbian Literary Tradition will be forthcoming.)
"Best GLBT Books" Lists
- Book Recommendations – GLBT Literature – includes fiction, drama, poetry, and non-fiction – at this Website. All public domain titles link to free online copies.
- Lambda Literary Foundation – home of the "Lammy" Awards, representing 20 categories of GLBT writing.
- Overlooked GLBT Fiction Authors – one title each by 36 outstanding novelists excluded from the Publishing Triangle list – at this Web site.
- Overlooked GLBT Non-Fiction Authors – outstanding writers excluded from the Publishing Triangle list – at this Web site.
- PlanetOut Book Resources – including several GLBT "Best" lists.
- Publishing Triangle "100 Best GLBT Non-Fiction Books" – the long-awaited Best Non-Fiction was unveiled in June 2004. Compare to Overlooked GLBT Non-Fiction Authors.
- Publishing Triangle "100 Best GLBT Novels" – controversial list from a panel of contemporary GLBT writers and critics, released in 1999. Includes a supplemental "Our Visitors' Best" list. Compare to Overlooked GLBT Fiction Authors.
- Stonewall Book Awards – from the American Library Association, the longest-established GLBT book awards, first presented in 1971.
Email Jim with any additional "Best GLBT Books" sites – thanks!
GLBT Cinema, Classical Music, & Visual Arts
GLBT Cinema – 50 outstanding GLBT films and great directors, a Recommended GLBT Film of the Month, linked sites devoted to gay filmmakers/ authors/ artists Rainer Werner Fassbinder (The Marriage of Maria Braun), Derek Jarman (Edward II), and Pier Paolo Pasolini (Teorema). This site is part of Jim's Film Website, which includes dozens of original reviews, 50 landmarks of film history, an original basic guide to film (covering dramatic structure, visual and sound design), 10-best lists in dozens of categories, and more.
- GLBT Composers – primarily classical, encompassing chamber and orchestral music, ballet, art songs, choral works, opera, musical theatre, and experimental pieces.
GLBT Visual Artists – painters, sculptors, architects, photographers, designers.
- Jim's Recommended Books, Music & Film – 30 works that have enriched my life (not all are GLBT-related).
GLBT Resources Links
- The glbtq encyclopedia encompasses literature, the visual arts, music, law, politics, religion, the social and natural sciences. It features over 2 million words in 2,000 authoritative entries.
- New! GLBT World is a gateway to online GLBT resources, ranging from arts to health to news, and more.
Site search
This search engine covers the entire website (GLBT literature, film, and all other pages) — results will open in a new window. You can also use the site map.