Renate Stendhal
Encyclopedia
Renate Stendhal is a Lambda Literary Award
-winning writer, counselor
and writing coach. Born in Germany, she spent half of her adult life in Paris and the other half in California
(first in Berkeley
, now in Point Reyes
) where she works in private practice.
, Renate Stendhal pursued studies of music, singing, painting, and dancing. She majored in literature at Hamburg University, then moved to Paris in 1966 to focus on classical dance. After an engagement at the Deutsche Oper Berlin
, she returned to Paris in 1970 and joined an experimental theater group. From 1975 to 1982, she worked in Paris as a cultural correspondent for German radio and press (Frankfurter Rundschau
et al.) – an occupation she picked up again in 2005, writing cultural reviews for the international magazine Scene4. In Paris, she also worked for many years as a personal assistant for surrealist painter Meret Oppenheim
.
With the beginning of the French and German feminist movements, Renate Stendhal became an activist and co-created (with Danish painter Maj Skadegaard) the first feminist multimedia show in Europe, “In the Beginning . . . of the End: A Voyage of Women Becoming” (1980). A year later, the show was recorded on film by Studio D of the Canadian film Board and shown at women's festivals and international film festivals. While touring with the film, Renate Stendhal started giving workshops, lecturing on women's creative and erotic empowerment. Her essays and articles appeared in major feminist magazines including Feministische Studien and Emma
.
During the eighties, she became the first German translator of feminist authors Susan Griffin
, Audre Lord, Adrienne Rich
, and others. In 1984, she accompanied Audre Lorde as a translator on a reading tour of Germany and Switzerland. She translated Gertrude Stein
's only mystery novel, Blood on the Dining-Room Floor, into German, and in 1989 created a photobiograhy with parallel visual and textual readings of Stein's life, Gertrude Stein: In Words and Pictures. The English edition (Algonquin Books, 1994) earned a Lambda Award.
Since her move to California in 1986, Renate Stendhal earned a degree in clinical psychology
and became a counselor. Simultaneously, she began building up a private practice as an editor and writing coach. In 2002, having finished her Ph.D. in psychology
, she became a provost
at UIL (University of Integrative Learning), guiding students through MA and Ph.D. programs that reward students for their life-long learning. Her own experience as a learner and now provost of UIL is captured in: "Harvesting Life."
In the States, Renate Stendhal published Sex and Other Sacred Games (Times Books, 1989), co-authored with Kim Chernin
, with whom she also co-authored the portrait of a young opera singer, Cecilia Bartoli
: The Passion of Song (HarperCollins, 1997). She wrote and illustrated a novel for young adults, The Grasshopper's Secret: A Magical Tale (EdgeWork Books, 2002), and continued her reflections on women's psychology and eros with True Secrets of Lesbian Desire: Keeping Sex Alive in Long-Term Relationships (North Atlantic Books, 2003), originally published as Love's Learning Place: Truth as Aphrodisiac in Women's Long-Term Relationships (EdgeWork Books, 2002).
Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
-winning writer, counselor
Licensed Professional Counselor
Licensed professional counselor is a licensure for mental health professionals. The exact title varies by state, but the other most frequently used title is licensed mental health counselor . Several U.S. states, including Illinois, Maine, and Tennessee, have implemented a two-tier system whereby...
and writing coach. Born in Germany, she spent half of her adult life in Paris and the other half in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
(first in Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, now in Point Reyes
Point Reyes
Point Reyes is a prominent cape on the Pacific coast of northern California. It is located in Marin County approximately WNW of San Francisco. The term is often applied to the Point Reyes Peninsula, the region bounded by Tomales Bay on the northeast and Bolinas Lagoon on the southeast...
) where she works in private practice.
Biography
During her school years in Berlin and HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Renate Stendhal pursued studies of music, singing, painting, and dancing. She majored in literature at Hamburg University, then moved to Paris in 1966 to focus on classical dance. After an engagement at the Deutsche Oper Berlin
Deutsche Oper Berlin
The Deutsche Oper Berlin is an opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, Germany. The resident building is also home to the Berlin State Ballet.-History:...
, she returned to Paris in 1970 and joined an experimental theater group. From 1975 to 1982, she worked in Paris as a cultural correspondent for German radio and press (Frankfurter Rundschau
Frankfurter Rundschau
The Frankfurter Rundschau is a German daily newspaper, based in Frankfurt am Main. It is published every day but Sunday as a city, two regional and one nationwide issues and offers an online edition as well as an e-paper...
et al.) – an occupation she picked up again in 2005, writing cultural reviews for the international magazine Scene4. In Paris, she also worked for many years as a personal assistant for surrealist painter Meret Oppenheim
Méret Oppenheim
-External links:**** http://www.artchive.com/artchive/M/man_ray.html...
.
With the beginning of the French and German feminist movements, Renate Stendhal became an activist and co-created (with Danish painter Maj Skadegaard) the first feminist multimedia show in Europe, “In the Beginning . . . of the End: A Voyage of Women Becoming” (1980). A year later, the show was recorded on film by Studio D of the Canadian film Board and shown at women's festivals and international film festivals. While touring with the film, Renate Stendhal started giving workshops, lecturing on women's creative and erotic empowerment. Her essays and articles appeared in major feminist magazines including Feministische Studien and Emma
Emma
Emma, by Jane Austen, is a novel about the perils of misconstrued romance. The novel was first published in December 1815. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian-Regency England; she also creates a lively 'comedy of manners' among...
.
During the eighties, she became the first German translator of feminist authors Susan Griffin
Susan Griffin
Susan Griffin is an eco-feminist author. She describes her work as "draw[ing] connections between the destruction of nature, the diminishment of women and racism, and trac[ing] the causes of war to denial in both private and public life." She received a MacArthur grant for Peace and International...
, Audre Lord, Adrienne Rich
Adrienne Rich
Adrienne Cecile Rich is an American poet, essayist and feminist. She has been called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century."-Early life:...
, and others. In 1984, she accompanied Audre Lorde as a translator on a reading tour of Germany and Switzerland. She translated Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
's only mystery novel, Blood on the Dining-Room Floor, into German, and in 1989 created a photobiograhy with parallel visual and textual readings of Stein's life, Gertrude Stein: In Words and Pictures. The English edition (Algonquin Books, 1994) earned a Lambda Award.
Since her move to California in 1986, Renate Stendhal earned a degree in clinical psychology
Clinical psychology
Clinical psychology is an integration of science, theory and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development...
and became a counselor. Simultaneously, she began building up a private practice as an editor and writing coach. In 2002, having finished her Ph.D. in psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, she became a provost
Provost (education)
A provost is the senior academic administrator at many institutions of higher education in the United States, Canada and Australia, the equivalent of a pro-vice-chancellor at some institutions in the United Kingdom and Ireland....
at UIL (University of Integrative Learning), guiding students through MA and Ph.D. programs that reward students for their life-long learning. Her own experience as a learner and now provost of UIL is captured in: "Harvesting Life."
In the States, Renate Stendhal published Sex and Other Sacred Games (Times Books, 1989), co-authored with Kim Chernin
Kim Chernin
Kim Chernin is an American fiction and nonfiction writer, feminist, poet, and memoirist. She has published fiction, non-fiction and poetry.- Biography :Kim Chernin was born on May 7, 1940, in the Bronx, New York...
, with whom she also co-authored the portrait of a young opera singer, Cecilia Bartoli
Cecilia Bartoli
Cecilia Bartoli is an Italian coloratura mezzo-soprano opera singer and recitalist. She is best-known for her interpretation of the music of Mozart and Rossini, as well as for her performances of lesser-known Baroque and classical music...
: The Passion of Song (HarperCollins, 1997). She wrote and illustrated a novel for young adults, The Grasshopper's Secret: A Magical Tale (EdgeWork Books, 2002), and continued her reflections on women's psychology and eros with True Secrets of Lesbian Desire: Keeping Sex Alive in Long-Term Relationships (North Atlantic Books, 2003), originally published as Love's Learning Place: Truth as Aphrodisiac in Women's Long-Term Relationships (EdgeWork Books, 2002).
Books
- Sex and Other Sacred Games (with Kim Chernin; 1989)
- Gertrude Stein: In Words and Pictures (1989)
- Cecilia Bartoli: The Passion of Song (with Kim Chernin; 1997)
- The Grasshopper's Secret: A Magical Tale (2002)
- True Secrets of Lesbian Desire: Keeping Sex Alive in Long-Term Relationships (2003)
External links
- Renate Stendhal's personal website
- University for Integrative Learning
- Quoting Gertrude Stein
- Renate's Blog on She Writes
- Renate's Cultural Views on Scene 4 Magazine
Selected articles by Renate Stendhal
- "Tell Her About It: How do you stay close, stay hot, and keep bed death away from your door?" The Advocate, August 16, 2005.
- "Teach Your Loved Ones to Love You Or Lose You" an essay from the anthology 50 Ways to Support Lesbian & Gay Equality, (Inner Ocean Publishing Inc., 2005).
- "Wearing the Pants," The Advocate,May 10, 2005.
- "Writing in My Paris Cafe," ISO Calendar of Days 2005
- "The Schubertiade—A Musical Shangrila in Austria," Culturevulture, Summer, 2004
- "The Seven Stages of Lesbian Desire (What's Truth Got to Do With It?)," Trivia: Voices of Feminism, issue 4, September 2006.
- "Thieves, Pimps, and Holy Prostitutes—My World," excerpted from the queer anthology Identity Envy: Wanting to Be Who We Are Not (Harrington Park Press, 2007.
- "Why Do Something if it Can Be Done?" in Trivia: Voices of Feminism, issue 5, February 2007.
- "Remembering 1000 Women: The Women's Memorial Labyrinth in Germany," Sinister Wisdom, January, 2007.
- "Die Farben der Lust: Sex in lesbischen Liebesbeziehungen" (Krug & Schadenberg, Berlin, 2005)
- "Sexuelle Befreiung von der Menopause?" in Verwandlungen, Hg. Ulrike Janz (Krug & Schadenberg, Berlin, 2006)
- "Ehrengast" in Begehren (Krug &Schadenberg, Berlin, 2006)