Sinister Wisdom
Encyclopedia
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
literary & art journal by and for lesbians. The magazine is the oldest surviving lesbian literary journal; now more than 30 years in print. SW is published quarterly 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...
, 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...
and provides free subscriptions to incarcerated and institutionalized women as well as reduced-price subscriptions for lesbians with limited/fixed incomes.
History & mandate
Founded in 1976 by Harriet Ellenberger (Desmoines) and Catherine Nicholson in CharlotteCHARLOTTE
- CHARLOTTE :CHARLOTTE is an American blues-based hard rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1986. Currently, they are signed to indie label, Eonian Records, under which they released their debut cd, Medusa Groove, in 2010. Notable Charlotte songs include 'Siren', 'Little Devils',...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, Sinister Wisdom features primarily lesbians' work, and is particularly interested in writing, art or photography that reflects diversity of experiences: lesbians of color, ethnic Lesbians, Jewish, Arab, old, young, working-class, poverty class, disabled, and fat lesbians. Author Caryatis Cardea referred to the magazine as a work of "political honor...a commitment to acknowledge the power of language and the privilege of being published...the recognition of multiple struggles, and the accordance of mutual respect among a cultural diversity of lesbians
Selection of contributors
- Audre LordeAudre LordeAudre Lorde was a Caribbean-American writer, poet and activist.-Life:...
- Gloria Anzaldúa
- ChrystosChrystosChrystos is a Menominee rights activist and poet. Prior to being published, she worked as a home caretaker, and an activist for Turtle Mountain Band of Chipewa, Norma Jean Croy , and Leonard Peltier....
- Adrienne RichAdrienne RichAdrienne 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:...
- Andrea DworkinAndrea DworkinAndrea Rita Dworkin was an American radical feminist and writer best known for her criticism of pornography, which she argued was linked to rape and other forms of violence against women....
- Joan NestleJoan NestleJoan Nestle is a Lambda Award winning writer and editor and the co-founder of the Lesbian Herstory Archives.-Life:Nestle's father died before she was born, and she was raised by her widowed mother Regina Nestle, a bookkeeper in New York City's garment district, whom she credits with inspiring her...
- Tee CorinneTee CorinneTee Corine was a lesbian visual artist notable for the portrayal of sexuality in her artwork.-Early life and education:Corinne was born and grew up in Florida. Her mother introduced her to principles and techniques for making visual art...
- Susan GriffinSusan GriffinSusan 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...
- Carolyn GageCarolyn GageCarolyn Gage is an American playwright, actor and theatrical director. She is also an activist on lesbian and feminist issues. Gage was a Guest Lecturer at Bates College in 1998-99...
- Marilyn FryeMarilyn FryeMarilyn Frye is a philosophy professor and feminist theorist. She earned her Ph.D. at Cornell University in 1969 and has taught feminist philosophy, metaphysics, and philosophy of language at Michigan State University since 1974...
- Pat ParkerPat ParkerPat Parker was an African-American lesbian feminist poet.-Early life:Parker grew up working class poor in Third Ward, Houston, Texas, a mostly African-American part of the city...
- Minnie Bruce PrattMinnie Bruce PrattMinnie Bruce Pratt is an U.S. educator, activist, and award-winning poet, essayist, and theorist. Pratt was born in Selma, Alabama, grew up in Centreville,...
- Joanna RussJoanna RussJoanna Russ was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as How to Suppress Women's Writing, as well as a contemporary novel, On Strike Against God, and one children's book, Kittatinny...
- Barbara SmithBarbara SmithBarbara Smith in Cleveland is an American, lesbian feminist who has played a significant role in building and sustaining Black Feminism in the United States. Since the early 1970s she has been active as an innovative critic, teacher, lecturer, author, independent scholar, and publisher of Black...
- Joy HarjoJoy HarjoJoy Harjo is a Native American poet, musician, and author of ancestry. Known primarily as a poet, Harjo has also taught at the college level, played alto saxophone with a band called Poetic Justice, edited literary journals, and written screenplays. She is a member of the Muscogee Nation and...
- Julia Penelope
- Ann Allen Shockley
- Paula Gunn AllenPaula Gunn AllenPaula Gunn Allen was a Native American poet, literary critic, lesbian activist, and novelist.Born Paula Marie Francis in Albuquerque, Allen grew up in Cubero, New Mexico, a Spanish-Mexican land grant village bordering the Laguna Pueblo reservation...
- Judith K. Witherow
- Sapphire (author)Sapphire (author)Sapphire is an American author and performance poet.- Early life :Ramona Lofton was born in Fort Ord, California, one of four children of an Army couple who relocated within the United States and abroad. After a disagreement concerning where the family would settle, her parents separated, with...
- Jan MillsappsJan MillsappsJan Millsapps, Ph.D. is a pioneering digital filmmaker, an early web innovator, and a versatile and accomplished writer...
Editors and publishers
- Harriet Ellenberger (aka Desmoines) and Catherine Nicholson (1976-1981)
- Michelle CliffMichelle CliffMichelle Cliff is a Jamaican-American author whose notable works include No Telephone to Heaven, Abeng and Free Enterprise.Cliff also has written short stories, prose poems and works of literary criticism...
and Adrienne RichAdrienne RichAdrienne 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:...
(1981-1983) - Michaele Uccella (1983-1984)
- Melanie Kaye/KantrowitzMelanie Kaye/KantrowitzMelanie Kaye/Kantrowitz is a lesbian essayist, poet, activist and academic, born in 1945 in Brooklyn, New York.-Early life:Her grandparents emigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe, Poland and Russia....
(1983-1987) - Elana DykewomonElana DykewomonElana Dykewomon is a Jewish lesbian activist, award-winning author, editor and teacher.- Childhood :...
(1987-1994) - Caryatis Cardea (1991 -1994)
- Akiba Onada-Sikwoia (1995-1997)
- Margo Mercedes Rivera-Weiss (1997-2000)
- Fran Day (2000 to 2011)
- Julie R. Enszer & Merry Gangemi (2011 to present)
See also
- Lesbian feminismLesbian feminismLesbian feminism is a cultural movement and critical perspective, most popular in the 1970s and early 1980s , that questions the position of lesbians and women in society. It particularly refutes heteronormativity, the assumption that everyone is "straight" and society should be structured to serve...
- Lesbian literatureLesbian literatureThis is a list of books portraying sexual relations between female characters, who may include lesbians, bisexuals and WSWs.-Classic fiction and drama:*The Bachelor Girl – Victor Margueritte –...
- Lesbian organizations
- List of Lesbian Periodicals, Journals and Magazines, Past and Present