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2012: The Year in Lesbian/Bi Books

2012 was a big year for queer literature and literature in general. Let’s talk some issues, and then talk some books. A whole lotta books.

The Issues

This year, popular literary discourse focused on two issues that have been around for a few years now: the eternal e-book v. physical book debate, and thoughts surrounding the meteoric rise of young adult literature, particularly regarding why “grown ups” like reading young adult so much. If I never had to read another article on either subject again, I’d be very happy. Maybe one day, we will accept that people like to read what they like to read, in whatever format they choose, and nobody’s choices ever actually signify the end of reading, or really anything negative at all. The end of the book is not nigh, and no, we are not becoming dumber, and yes, kids still like to read. So calm down, will you?

Within our own community, there was a bit of a tussle this fall over the Lambda Literary Awards, otherwise known as the Lammy’s, with publisher Steve Berman complaining in The Advocate about voting secrecy, genre distinctions, and the increasing pomp of the awards ceremony eroding the integrity of the awards themselves. The executive director of the Lammy’s, Tony Valenzuela, then shot back, addressing Berman’s complaints in what I perceived as a rather classy but firm manner. Taking criticism seriously is essential for any group as powerful as Lambda, so I’m glad the discussion was started. But while there may be problems, I do stand with Valenzuela in the assessment that the Lammy’s are as “essential as ever.” Indeed, the depth and visibility their organization brings to queer lit is unprecedented.

Another issue that’s been discussed in the Lammy’s and elsewhere in the last few years is the idea of gay literature written by straight people. The Lammy’s have accepted nominations by non-queer folk for two years now, a decision that caused a bit of an uproar at first. This year, Nobel prize winning author Herta Muller published The Hunger Angel, a gay novel Salon termed “dazzling.” But is it just as dazzling in light of the fact that Muller is herself not gay? And Muller’s book was certainly only one of many written by straight people this year; one of my own favorite lesbian stories was written by a straight woman, a fact which has stuck in my brain, for better or worse.

This is an issue which has eternally plagued writers (and readers): can white people write about black people? Can black people write about Hispanic people? Can women write about men, and vice versa? And can straight people write about gay people? The issue of “authenticity” and the right people have to portray lives other than their own can be applied in any number of ways. The argument for writing outside your own identity would be that doing exactly that is the very purpose of literature, to attempt to understand the world through the eyes of others, to create empathy for people we are not. But the level of hurt seems to increase when it’s a writer of privilege (straight; white) writing about those with less of it (gays; anyone who isn’t white). It seems to have become more of a problem in our community recently as public favor seems to be turning more and more pro-gay, and even straight writers are now unafraid to incorporate queerness in their stories left and right. Should this be a fact we celebrate, or mourn?

The Books

But hey, enough with issues and Big Questions! Onto the fun stuff: books!

The top three lesbian-centric books that received the most attention this year were Alison Bechdel‘s Are You My Mother?, Jeanette Winterson‘s Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?, and Emily Danforth‘s The Miseducation of Cameron Post. The first two make sense, as along with Sarah Waters, Bechdel and Winterson are what I view to be the powerhouses of lesbian literature. Are You My Mother? was Bechdel’s first major work since 2006’s Fun Home, and it did not disappoint. Winterson’s memoir also garnered her more attention on both side of the pond than her books have in many years, and well deserved attention at that. Cam Post, a YA coming-of-lesbian-age novel, might have been a surprise, but not too much of a surprise in light of the previously mentioned YA boom. There were in fact a number of fantastic lesbian YA books this year, but Cam Post seemed the most ambitious, the most sweeping and heartbreaking but most rewarding.

Both Bechdel and Winterson’s autobiographical tales dealt heavily with their mothers, while Cameron Post is a fictional young woman dealing with the death of both of her parents in a car accident. The wonderful first line reads thus: “The afternoon my parents died, I was out shoplifting with Irene Klauson.” So essentially, one could call 2012 the Year of Serious Lesbian Mom Issues. And I’m OK with it.

Since I mentioned her, Sarah Waters hasn’t released anything since 2009’s The Little Stranger, but this year she did receive the “Freedom of the City of London” honor, a centuries long tradition which includes privileges such as “the right to herd sheep over London bridge, to go about the City with a drawn sword, and if convicted of a capital offence, to be hung with a silken rope,” all of which is so weird and amazingly British that I had to share it. A drawn sword! What a dream!

Other high profile releases included Cheryl B.‘s My Awesome Place (a memoir about being young in New York City, published after Cheryl’s untimely death from cancer); All We Know: Three Lives, a triple lesbian biography by Lisa Cohen; current AfterEllen.com book club selection The Last Nude by Ellis Avery; Carry the One by Carol Anshaw; and Astray by Emma Donoghue. One of the best places to find even more recommendations is on the blog Band of Thebes, where LGBT authors give their own favorites of the year. Seriously, there are too many amazing books mentioned on this list for me to cover properly. Go look for yourself!

To add on to the list of remarkable memoirs by remarkable women, there was also Beth Ditto‘s Coal to Diamonds, penned with Michelle Tea. Rachel Maddow also made an impact in non-fiction with Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power, which was a #1 New York Times best-seller, continuing to prove that girl is real smart and real awesome.

Pulitzer Prize winning poet Mary Oliver published a new collection of poems entitled A Thousand Mornings, which won Best Poetry selection in the Goodreads Choice Awards. Maybe not as prestigious as a Pulitzer, but hey, when you already have one, who cares?

Many of the books mentioned on that Band of Thebes list are also included in the New York Times 100 Notable Books of the Year, and there are at least five lesbian-themed YA books in Kirkus Reviews’ 100 Best Teen Books of 2012, all of which I find pretty rad. Either queer lit keeps getting better, or the mainstream literary world is finally starting to acknowledge it. Either way is fine with me!

In other news of excellence, the Lammy’s gave special recognition to the work of Armistead Maupin and Kate Millett at the beginning of the year, with book awards being granted to Laurie Weeks, Farzana Doctor, and Jeanne Cordova, among many others. The 2013 Awards will be held early next year, and you can check out the long list of nominations here. The contest for best lesbian memoir seems like a particularly tough race this year (obviously).

And for a different type of list celebration, the American Library Association released their most banned or challenged books of 2011, and for the first time in many, many years, everyone’s favorite picture book about gay penguins, And Tango Makes Three, was NOT included! Rejoice for gay penguin liberation!

AfterEllen.com Writers Do Good

To pat ourselves on the back for a moment, because who doesn’t enjoy a good pat on the back, some AE writers past and present have also published some quite noteworthy work this year. Former managing editor Malinda Lo released her third novel, following the successes of Ash and Huntress. With Adaptation, she steps away from the fantasy realm and solidly into the science fiction/realistic fiction world, and I loved it. Without a doubt, the sequel, slated to come out in the fall of 2013, is the book I’m most anxious to read next year.

Herself When She’s Missing, by Sarah Terez Rosenblum was also met with high praise from reviewers and readers alike. Candace Walsh, author of the In Good Taste column, released Licking the Spoon, a memoir about her journey of leaving her husband for a woman, and the food she made along the way. I’ve just started this one and am already enraptured by it; I’ll post a full review when I’m finished. Elaine Atwell just released The Music Box, a World War II romance full of espionage and lesbians. Even better, you can purchase it for your Kindle now for only $3.99!

Getting Graphic

In the world of graphic novels beyond Bechdel territory, Batwoman continued to kick ass, as well documented by Heather Hogan. In related news, the writer for the also highly successful Batgirl series in the New 52, Gail Simone, was just recently given the boot by DC. The controversy is covered well by the wonderful people of The Mary Sue. One of the biggest bummers plot-wise for the series is the idea that the transgender character she was planning will be nixed, as well.

Other interesting books in the world of queer comics released this year include No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics by Justin Hall, the all-gay superhero comic Spandex: Fast and Hard by Martin Eden, and a collaboration of awesomeness in Womanthology, Volume 1: Heroic. One more round of high fives to Heather Hogan for keeping all of us informed about these things.

Ellen Forney also released Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me, and everyone’s lesbian heart rejoiced at the news that Terry Moore will be releasing a new Strangers in Paradise next year.

Best of the Indie Presses

While many of the books I’ve already mentioned were released by small publishers, I sometimes have mixed feelings about independent presses or self-published books. I support the idea of them full heartedly, but I also really, really value the editing that comes with mainstream publishers. Although with the news this year that Random House and Penguin are going to combine, the corners of my brain that store knowledge from AP History in high school call out, “DING DING, MONOPOLIES ARE BAD,” and I understand the desire to go your own way even more.

Regardless, I read other some gems this year from indie presses that are somewhat under the radar but just as deserving of attention. Sassafras Lowrey‘s Roving Pack is a semi-autobiographical novel about what it’s like to be a gutterpunk homeless queer kid, giving a voice to segment of our community that’s still too often voiceless and ignored. M. Craig‘s The Narrows (Papercut Press) is unique from anything else I’ve read before, combining a realistic hipster bike-and-beer atmosphere of Brooklyn or Portland with a steampunkish fantasy world.

While not as under the radar, as this author also stands as one of queer lit’s legends, in my opinion, Ivan Coyote‘s collection of stories in One In Every Crowd (Arsenal Pulp) was one of my absolute favorite books of the year. Coyote has been tweeting that they’re working on a new novel at the moment, although a release date is still unclear. Also from Arsenal Pulp this year was transgender musician Rae Spoon‘s memoir about growing up in a strict religious home in Canada, First Spring Grass Fire.

Meanwhile, In the Rest of the World

In non-exclusively-queer literary news, official goddess J.K. Rowling released her first adult novel, The Casual Vacancy, which reviewers generally reacted to in a “but this isn’t Harry Potter and I am confused” type of shock. Smutty fanfic was also brought to a new level when all of our moms and grandmas apparently read Fifty Shades of Grey, to the point where author E.L. James landed a spot on Barbara Walters‘ 10 Most Fascinating People of 2012.

In fancy schmancy award news, Hilary Mantel won her second Booker Prize for Bring Up the Bodies, the follow up to her 2009 winner Wolf Hall, and Louise Erdrich won the American National Book Award for The Round House, a novel that follows a crime in a North Dakota Ojibwe reservation. The Pulitzer committee, meanwhile, gave a big “eff you” to fiction by awarding a prize to exactly no one.

The Nobel Prize for literature went to Chinese novelist Mo Yan, who sparked controversy by defending his government’s use of censorship, calling it as necessary as airport security. He also refused to take a stand on China’s other current Nobel winner, Liu Xiaobo, who remains in jail even though he was awarded the Peace Laureate award in 2010. After reading about a tearful interview with Liu’s wife, Liu Xia, who remains under house arrest as well and says that “Kafka could not have written anything more absurd and unbelievable than [this situation],” it’s hard for me to not also feel frustrated with Yan’s comments.

In the young adult realm, John Green‘s The Fault in Our Stars received high acclaim throughout the year, and landed at the #1 spot on Time‘s Top 10 Books of the Year, what I believe is a first for a young adult novel.

My Personal Top Five (YA) Novels of 2012

To end on a personal note, I have been reviewing young adult novels in my Your New School Library column for a year now. While I read many older books as well this year, I’ve been thinking a lot over the last few weeks about what my top picks are of the ones released in 2012. Just in case anyone is interested, I’ve come up with this.

5. Adaptation, Malinda Lo

Like a bisexual episode of the X-files filled with dead birds and a healthy dose of making out.

4. The Difference Between You and Me, Madeleine George

So. Much. Kissing. And politics! And bittersweet heartache!

3. Ask the Passenger, A.S. King

A sophisticated take on sexuality and identity, the protagonist’s heart is both open and closed off at the same time, making her relatable to pretty much everyone.

2. One In Every Crowd, Ivan Coyote

Ivan Coyote’s stories wrap around me like a warm blanket and I never want to leave.

1. The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Emily Danforth

Cameron Post is the Montanan best friend I never knew I had.

So What About You?

I don’t know about you, but my brain is now hurting from all the books that were published this year that I still need to read. But it’s a good kind of pain. So bring it-what was YOUR favorite book you read this year?

In Memoriam

It’s that part in the award show when the sad music starts to play and you get ready to cry. And there is much to cry about this year, although they are happy, grateful sort of tears. We lost one of the biggest names in literature, and when I say that I mean not just feminist literature, and not just lesbian literature, but literature plain and simple, the art devoted to the power of words. Adrienne Rich passed away in California this spring at the age of 82, and oh, the power she had. One of the most important poets, thinkers, and feminists of our time, the influence of her decades-long career cannot be fully described in one brief paragraph. She won a National Book Award for her 1973 volume of poems, Diving Into the Wreck, considered to be one of her greatest, but she published an impressive myriad of works throughout her life, from her first in 1951, A Change of World, to her last in 2010, Tonight No Poetry Will Serve. She also once declined to accept the National Medal of Arts in an eff you move to Newt Gingrich, who served as the Speaker of the House of Representatives at the time, and their vote to end national arts funding, a story that really encompasses her defiant wonderfulness. Her all-too-important eloquence and rage inspired the New York Times to describe her in passionate terms in their obituary, saying that she possessed “an unswerving progressive vision and a dazzling, empathic ferocity.” Whether we realize it or not, all of our lives were made better by Adrienne Rich, and we mourn her passing.

This year also saw the death of Tereska Torres, an author perhaps less well known but still important in the annals of lesbian fiction for her 1950’s novel Women’s Barracks. This fictionalized account of her time in the French forces during World War II and the sexual romps that occurred there-between both men and women and the women themselves-ignited a nation full of shocked North Americans to yell “Oh my!” and cover their traumatized eyes. It simultaneously started the beautiful tradition that is lesbian pulp. Torres, who went on to publish many other works, remained somewhat bewildered by the lesbian fame until she died, remarking that there was only one and a half lesbian characters out of five so what’s the big deal, and making this amazing comment to Salon in 2005: “I thought I had written a very innocent book. I thought, these Americans, they are easily shocked.” True story, Tereska. She died in Paris this fall at the age of 92. Lesson learned: write lesbian pulp, live forever.

While not as important in the strictly lesbian realm, we also felt the loss of Nora Ephron, a writer best known for penning the scripts for such classic films as When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle. Ephron’s talents went far beyond just those hits, though. She was a prolific journalist and essayist, and novelist and playwright, as well as producer and director, throughout her life, one of those people who is somehow good at everything that you wish you could be. She left behind many famous people who will attest to her warm, witty personality, and her words will stand up for smart, funny women for a long, long time to come.

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