Ms. October I do adore October’s blue sarong, the sliding slits along her whistling hips, and I would die to kiss her ruby lips for all the wet and rotting leaf night long. A “girlie calendar” makes one think of men’s lockers, walls of auto repair shops or a military barracks: They’re typically collections of […]
Author: Mary Meriam
Mary Meriam advocates for the right of women to love each other in their poetry and art, and strives to give their work a place at the table. She writes about and publishes such work in the journal she founded, Lavender Review, at the press she cofounded, Headmistress Press, and at Ms. magazine, The Critical Flame, and The Gay & Lesbian Review. Her poetry collections, The Countess of Flatbroke, The Poet's Zodiac, The Lillian Trilogy, and Lady of the Moon, honor a cosmos of strong, creative women. Her latest collection, My Girl's Green Jacket, was published in 2018, and her poems have appeared recently in Poetry, Prelude, Subtropics, and The Poetry Review.
Lesbian Truths and Laughs
The raw, risky, brilliant, inventive, comic genius Ingrid Jungermann is back with Season 2 of her hit web series F to 7th, a comedy about her descent (ascent?) into pre-middle age. Judgmental as ever, Jungermann—the writer/director/star—struggles to find herself in a world where changing views of sexuality and gender have left behind her sort of […]
As National Poetry Month Ends, We Welcome A New Women’s Poetry Press
The three mistresses of Headmistress Press, which launched four months ago to publish poetry by lesbians, sat down in cyberspace to talk about their poetic new venture. Mary Meriam: What came over me? I’m not sure, but suddenly I wanted a press, and I wanted it now. So last December, I asked Jessica Mason McFadden […]
Was Mary Sidney Really William Shakespeare?
Does the name Mary Sidney ring a bell? No, I thought not. According to Tudor Place, she was born into the aristocracy in 1561; was “carefully educated, acquiring a knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew;” became a member of Queen Elizabeth’s Royal Household in 1575; lost her mother, father and brother (Sir Philip Sidney) in […]
Nicole Brossard: Interview with the Lesbian-Feminist French Canadian Poet
I’m perhaps not the best reader of Nicole Brossard’s new book of poems, White Piano, first published in 2011 in French as Piano Blanc and translated for this 2013 Coach House Books edition by Erin Moure and Robert Majzels. I’m not a translator, I don’t read many poems in translation and I tend to be disappointed by […]
Ingrid Jungermann Wants to Kickstart More Lesbian Laughs
What good is laughing? We’re engaged in a tremendous battle for women’s rights; what’s so funny? Laughter is an empowerment tool. A good laugh relaxes and recharges us, makes us feel expansive and alive, fills us up with the world, makes us feel part of the world. I get my laughs from Ingrid Jungermann, a […]
A Feminist Sculptor’s Stunning Memorial to 9/11
Why are her eyes closed? Why are her palms turned inward? The figure seems to possess superhuman power, stopping the jet-bombs with her hands. But this sculpture is not a cartoon fantasy; it is a memorial that invites contemplation and fills the viewer with comfort, remembrance and inspiration. Perhaps her eyes are closed in prayer, […]
When We Were Outlaws: An Interview with Jeanne Córdova
Lesbian-feminist movement pioneer Jeanne Córdova has been fabulous for a long time, organizing, agitating, publishing, speaking out. At last, we can get to know her better in her new book, When We Were Outlaws: A Memoir of Love & Revolution, which garnered a Lammy, a Goldie and a Triangle, making it a triple-crown winner for lesbian writing. […]
A Zodiac of Lesbian Poets
In 2009, a gay poet wrote to me, “I just don’t think lesbian poetry is that important.” This wounding statement fueled my engines, and I wrote a series of poems in which I placed my favorite poets in the sky as constellations, beginning with “Sappho the Ram,” and ending with “Jackie Kay the Fish.” When […]