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GLBT Literature: Website of the Month

Some of the sites listed below focus on a specific author, others have a broader scope. They sometimes connect with the G&L Reading Group's book for a given month. PLEASE NOTE that I now add Websites only on an occasional basis.

Site of the Month

glbtqglbtq

The glbtq encyclopedia is the most comprehensive, accessible, and authoritative compendium of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (glbtq) culture. It encompasses the lives and contributions of thousands of glbtq people who have influenced society through literature, the visual arts, music, law, politics, religion, the social sciences, and more. It features over 2.2 million words in 2,000 articles, and includes hundreds of complementary illustrations. Over 300 artists, academics, independent scholars, and practicing professionals have contributed signed entries. Visitors are invited to join the encyclopedia's discussion board communities which are organized around specific interests. These boards encourage collaboration and debate and are designed to contribute to the growing interest in glbtq studies.

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All Websites of the Month since 1999

The (month/year) after each entry indicates when I highlighted the site in the Reading Group Newsletter.

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Additional Information About Selected Sites

glbtqglbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture

As introduced at glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture: "The glbtq encyclopedia was founded with a single objective in mind: to serve as the most comprehensive, accessible, and authoritative online resource about gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (glbtq) culture. [It] is written for everyone who has an interest in glbtq people and culture.

The encyclopedia's Literature and Arts Departments feature more than one million words in more than 900 entries. Entries come to life with hundreds of complementary illustrations and photographic images that showcase the lives and contributions of thousands of glbtq people who have influenced society through literature and the arts, including film, dance, fashion, and sports.

Visitors can review a range of topics, and then quickly zoom in on specific subtopics with ease. Each major topic is introduced by a survey entry which includes a “related-entries” section that leads to entries of more specific interest. These features make the glbtq encyclopedia an attractive educational tool for students, professors, and other researchers who demand in-depth information about glbtq topics. Visitors are invited to join the encyclopedia's discussion board communities which are organized around specific interests.

More than 260 artists, academics, independent scholars, and practicing professionals have contributed signed entries to the glbtq encyclopedia. The General Editor is Dr. Claude J. Summers, William E. Stirton Professor Emeritus in the Humanities, University of Michigan-Dearborn; Copy Editor is Dr. Ted-Larry Pebworth, Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Michigan-Dearborn; President & Producer is Andrew "Wik" Wikholm, seasoned IT executive and an accomplished writer whose articles have appeared in dozens of publications."

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GLBT African-American Literary Tradition

Audre LordeThe GLBT African-American literary tradition includes a diverse and powerful range of fiction, drama, poetry, and non-fiction, spanning many decades. The online glbtq encyclopedia offers two excellent Special Features articles: Lesbian African-American Literature and Gay Male African-American Literaure. Each includes brief introductions, as well as links to more detailed articles on the authors profiled. As glbtq notes, "Most African-American Lesbian Literature is as concerned with racism as it is with sexuality, causing many writers to construct Afrocentric sexual identities that affirm the power of black women." That page links to an overview article (in the first paragraph), as well as brief profiles, with links to detailed articles, about Jewelle Gomez, Lorraine Hansberry, June Jordan, Nella Larsen, Audre Lorde, Ann Allen Shockley, A'Lelia Walker, and Alice Walker. As glbtq writes in the related article, "The African-American gay male tradition in literature consists of a substantial body of texts, spans a period of nearly seven decades, and includes some of the most gifted writers of the twentieth century. It challenges black and white homophobia as well as straight and queer racism." There are links to an overview article (in the first paragraph), plus brief introductions and links to full essays on James Baldwin, Countee Cullen, Melvin Dixon, E. Lynn Harris, Langston Hughes, and Randall Kenan. Each of the articles on individual writers offers several supplementary features, such as bibliographies and links to related articles for both GLBT literature and other areas, including music, the visual arts, social sciences, and more.

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Susan Sontag Tribute

SontagSusan Sontag (1933–2004) was one of the most important figures in American intellectual life during the past half century. Although best known as a cultural philosopher (Against Interpretation, On Photography) – she defined the concept of 'so bad it's good' in her landmark essay "Notes on 'Camp'" – Sontag was also esteemed as a novelist (Death Kit, The Volcano Lover), screenwriter / filmmaker (Duet for Cannibals, Brother Carl), and theatre director. Her publisher, Farrar Straus & Giroux, offers the official Susan Sontag Website, with basic information on her books, a press room (featuring selected articles, online interviews, multimedia), and more. Wikipedia includes a biographical outline – noting that "In the 1980s Sontag began a relationship with photographer Annie Leibovitz which lasted until her death" – and a rich selection of Sontag links, including some devoted to her many awards and honors, the controversies she stirred up, and obituaries from prominent newspapers. For discussions of same-sex aspects of her life and work, see the Sontag entry at glbtq encyclopedia and the provocative article "A Case of Curious Silence" from the Los Angeles Times. Sontag will long continue to provoke discussion about – and illuminate – the vast range of her interests, from history and politics to literature and film to the meanings of our common humanity.

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The Larry Kramer Initiative for Lesbian and Gay Studies at YaleThe Larry Kramer Initiative for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Studies at Yale

The Larry Kramer Initiative (LKI) for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Studies at Yale, founded in 2002, is the nation's largest and most ambitious program of its kind, as well as an international locus for LGBT Studies. It is dedicated to integrating the insights of LGBT Studies within both academic and public discourse. The LKI also supports the thriving LGBT community at Yale University through community building activities, special events (such as art exhibits), lectures and conferences, some of which are also open to the public (check their Web site for details). And the LKI serves as a model for similar programs springing up at universities and colleges both in the U.S. and abroad.

As noted at the LKI Web site, "In the over three hundred years since its founding, Yale has educated and been home to some of the most prominent queer scholars, activists, and artists in the nation's history." Just a few of those LGBT alumni/ae are the great songwriter Cole Porter (B.A. 1913, his musicals include Anything Goes and Kiss Me Kate), author Thornton Wilder (B.A. 1920, who wrote the novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and the play Our Town), historian Martin Duberman (1952, author of Stonewall), tennis champion Renee Richards (B.A. 1955 – when she was Richard Raskind), the multi-talented Larry Kramer (B.A. 1957, screenwriter and producer of the extraordinary film Women in Love, author of the novel Faggots and the play The Normal Heart, and founder of both GMHC and ACT-UP), critic Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (M.A. 1974, Ph.D. 1975 – her Between Men and Epistemology of the Closet are foundational texts in LGBT Studies), filmmaker Jennie Livingston (B.A. 1983 – she made the acclaimed documentary Paris is Burning), critic Judith Butler (B.A. 1984, author of Gender Trouble and The Psychic Life of Power, and a founder of Queer Theory), historian George Chauncey (B.A. 1977, M.A. 1981, Ph.D. 1989, one of the country's premiere historians and author of Gay New York – which the Reading Group discussed in June 1997), playwright/screenwriter Paul Rudnick (B.A. 1977, author of Jeffrey), dramatist Richard Greenberg ('85 M.F.A. Drama, author of the Broadway hit Take Me Out), and many others.

You can learn more about Yale's other notable LGBT connections, including organizations which were founded there, by clicking on "Community," then going to "Queer Life at Yale." And be sure to check the LKI site periodically for news about upcoming special events.

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SearchSite 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.

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