Gay black male author
Issues and Debates in African American Literature
Joe Beam,
In the Life: a Black Queer Anthology. Boston: Alyson Publications, First edition.
In the Life was the first anthology of writing by and about Black gay men. Up until that time there was no significant body of published work by self-identified members of that group. In one sense, In the Life reflected the effect of the Black Arts Movement, which had seen the publication of a number of collections loyal to ostensibly heterosexual authors exploring aspects of Ebony life. However, out same-sex attracted and lesbian authors did not figure prominently among Black Arts poets and writers. In the Life brought in a period when a number of Black homosexual men began publishing novels, poetry collections, and fleeting stories addressing their experiences.
Essex Hemphill, ed.
Brother to Brother: New Writing by Black Gay Men. Boston: Alyson Publications, First edition.
This volume of poetry, brief stories, and essays was a sequel to In the Life, which can also be seen in this part of the
Reflections on Black Gay Literature
In Conversation: Gar McVey-Russell & Philip Robinson
Philip Robinson is an award-winning poet, journalist and activist. His writing of poetry spans forty-nine years. Robinson is anthologized in several gay/queer literature’s front-runners: In The Animation, A Black GayAnthology, The Road Before Us: Queer Black Poets, The Last Closet: real lives oflesbian and gay teachers, and When The Drama Club is Not Enough.
Philip Robinson also has two of his own books of poetry, We Still Depart a Legacy and in The TrenchesThe Voice of A Guidance Counselor. Philip is a long-term volunteer @ AIDS Action Committee (AAC) of Massachusetts on their Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast Committee. This iconic event will celebrate its 30th year in
Gar McVey-Russell is a writer based in Oakland. His serve has appeared in Sojourner: Black Gay Voices in the Ages of AIDS and Harrington’s Gay Men Fiction Quarterly. Gar also writes a blog, the gar spot: fiction and musings from a dark gay writer with delusions above his station. His f
Atlanta is Haven for Queer Black Tradition and “Baptism by Fire” in “Fantasies of Future Things”
Doug Jones’ debut novel The Fantasies of Future Thingsoffers a lesson in contrasts. Put in Atlanta in , Fantasies follows the interconnected lives of Jacob and Daniel: two twenty-something, gay, Black men living in Atlanta in the awaken of massive urban renewal projects undertaken to prepare for the Olympics. The novel intricately blends history with fiction, using historical landmarks like the highly-contested Rodney King trial to establish both setting and tone. Though Fantasies reads at times enjoy a love letter to Atlanta, the novel also serves as a candid reminder that while the city blesses some, it is for others, love Jacob and Daniel, a “baptism by fire.”
The relationship between Jacob and Daniel strikes a even out between the incidental and the erotic. The two get together as colleagues in an urban progress project, and their differences reveal the diversity of experiences within the Inky gay community. Brooklyn-born Jacob, a graduate (like Jones himself) of Morehou
The phrase “decolonize your bookshelf” has come into common reader vernacular in recent years. What it means is simple: evaluate the kinds of books you’re reading and make sure they aren’t all reflecting a white, western—AKA colonizer—point of view. Beyond that, though, I think it’s simple to fall into the trap of thinking you’re doing enough, or reading widely enough if you’re reading books that are non-white or non-straight or non-male. But is it really? Because it’s easy to miss the intersection of identities—or miss certain identities entirely—if you accept that as enough. What about nonbinary authors? Black queer authors? Disabled authors? Neurodivergent authors? Queer experiences, for example, don’t necessarily glance the same for any two people—especially if one of them is white and another Black.
With Pride Month in the rearview mirror, it’s also a fantastic time to reexamine your TBR and your bookshelves—make sure the books you’re reading don’t solely reflect one identity, whether one portion of the LGBTQ group or mostly white authors. Diversifying your bookshelf is incredi