Outside the Lines: Black Lesbian Lit (page 2)
by Linda Villarosa, June 14, 2006
A monthly column exploring entertainment on the East Coast

Page 1 / 2 - Home

Next month, look for more of the same with Zedde's next book, A Taste of Sin. I haven't cracked my copy, but the hot and heavy jacket blurb describes "clandestine couplings at four-star restaurants, sizzling explorations in downtown sex clubs, and private romantic dinners where sensual boundaries are pushed and hearts are laid bare."

For her part, 30-year-old Zedde, who is Jamaican by birth and lives in Atlanta, downplays the blunt sensuality of her books. She says she's inspired more by writers like Michelle Cliff and Jewelle Gomez than Zane. "When I started writing, I saw that there is a definite absence of black lesbian stories and definitely an absence of Caribbean stories," says Zedde, who is funny and earnest (and cute!) and works at Charis Books in Atlanta.

Next fall, she plans to return to school to get an MFA, and she is already at work on a third novel, this one about lesbian vampires. "Black lesbians are hungry for stories that reflect us, and there is little out there to feed our appetite. I only hope that my work opens up the gates for other black lesbians to write."

A Selective Guide to Black Lesbians on the Page

Still jonesin for some black lesbian lit? A discerning reader can find plenty of lesbian subtext in great works of African-American literature from Toni Morrison's Sula to Nella Larsen's classic novel Quicksand. Alice Walker, of course, was more overt in 1982, when Celie and Shug fall in love in The Color Purple. Remember this: "…she haul off and kiss me on the mouth. Us kiss and kiss till us can't hardly kiss no more. Then us touch each other…" There are some beautifully tender moments between Theresa and Lorraine, two of Gloria Naylor's Women of Brewster Place. At least before the whole rape-gay bash-murder.

Two other great moments in black lesbian fiction:

Loving Her: Ann Allen Shockley's novel of interracial romance broke ground in 1974 with its graphic depiction of an African-American lesbian in love and trouble. The story begins as Renay, a musician, snatches up her daughter and flees her destructive, abusive marriage. She runs into the arms of Terry, the white sugar mama who Renay met while performing at a supper club.

The story quickly moves from erotic to alarming, threatening to morph into an African-American Well of Loneliness. This kind of love was worse to them than the acts of adultery or incest, for it was homophile. It was worse than being inflicted with an incurable disease"--before taking a happier turn at the end.

Shockley followed in 1987 with Say Jesus and Come to Me, which, is just what you imagine from the scandalicious title. The story centers on Reverend Myrtle Black who gets more than just the spirit with Travis Lee, a burnt out R&B singer. Shockley's latest book, last year's Celebrating Hotchclaw, deals with gender-bending sexual politics on the campus of an historically black college.

Coffee Will Make You Black: Who didn't fall in love with Stevie, the hip, hilarious heroine of April Sinclair's 1996 coming of age novel Coffee Will Make You Black. Growing up on the South Side of Chicago in the 1960, Stevie gets her period, has her first kiss and wonders if having a crush on another girl makes you a lesbian.

Sinclair's next novel, Ain't Gonna Be the Same Fool Twice, follows Stevie to college and then to San Francisco in the mid-70s. There she hooks up with Traci who guides her through drugs, sex, gay politics and feminist consciousness-raising.

Sinclair moves beyond Stevie in her most recent novel I Left My Back Door Open, a slapdash Waiting to Exhale knock-off. Back Door only gives us one lesbian character, Sharon, who busts out of the closet at age 40.

What are your favorite books by or about black lesbians? Tell us at linda@afterellen.com.