Michigan Writers Symposium

Peter Berg, Coordinator, Specialized Reference

The 1994 Michigan Writers Symposium, hosted by the MSU Libraries, drew more than 200 students, faculty, and community members. The event, "Lesbian and Gay Voices: A Tribute to Isabel Miller," honored lesbian writer Alma Routsong (Isabel Miller).

Born in Traverse City, Michigan, and a 1949 graduate of Michigan State University, Alma Routsong is the author of the lesbian classic A Place for Us (1969), later retitled Patience and Sarah (1972). Her writings have long served as a beacon of light and inspiration among lesbians and gays. A published author since 1953, Routsong began writing as an open lesbian in the mid-1960's. "I felt a real need to write lesbian fiction," she recalls. "I wanted to write for us." Patience and Sarah is a love story of two women facing life together on the American frontier almost 200 years ago. Now considered one of the first contemporary lesbian historical novels, it had a first printing of only a thousand copies. In 1971 it received the American Library Association's first Gay Book Award. Routsong's latest novel, A Dooryard Full of Flowers (1993), explores what happened to Patience and Sarah- -and a good deal more by providing an authentic view of pre- feminist-movement lesbian life. Although Alma Routsong was too ill to attend the symposium, three guests, distinguished in the world of lesbian and gay literature, were present. They read from their works and discussed issues in lesbian and gay literature. They were Lev Raphael, Barbara Grier, and Katherine V. Forrest.

Lev Raphael is one of the most important and unique writers of the gay experience in America. As a gay Jewish writer who is the son of two Holocaust survivors, Raphael explores the place of sexual orientation within the larger context of ethnic and religious tradition. Reflecting on his work Raphael has said, "I think attitudes will change as more of us write of our experience and break the silence." His first collection of stories, Dancing on Tisha B'Av (1990), won the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Men's Debut. His most recent novel is Winter Eyes (1992). Both of these novels describe the importance and cost of being true to one's nature. Raphael is also an Edith Wharton scholar and has written Edith Wharton's Prisoners of Shame: A New Perspective on Her Neglected Fiction (1991). In collaboration with Gershen Kaufman, he has written a number of works, including Stick Up for Yourself: Every Kid's Guide to Personal Power and Self Esteem (1990).

Raphael received his Ph.D. in American Studies from MSU in 1986. He currently lives in Okemos, the subject of his contribution in Hometowns: Gay Men Write About Where They Belong (Dutton, 1991).

Barbara Grier is co-founder of Naiad Press, which has grown to become the world's largest lesbian book publisher since its establishment in 1973. Previously she had a 15-year association with the Ladder, the pioneering lesbian periodical. Grier has written extensively on the subject of lesbian fiction. Some of her work includes The Lesbian in Literature: A Bibliography (1967), with Lee Stuart; Lesbiana: Book Reviews from the Ladder, 1966-1972 (1976); and The Romantic Naiad (1993), with Katherine Forest.

Recently Grier donated her personal papers, the records of Naiad Press, and her collection of 15,000 books to the new Gay and Lesbian Center at the San Francisco Main Library. As an individual devoted to books and writing Grier states, "I have always believed that the best thing I might leave behind is a world in which any woman, anywhere, might say to herself `I am a lesbian' and be able to go to a nearby store or library and find a book that will say to her, `Yes, you are a lesbian, and you are wonderful.'"

Grier was born in Kansas City and spent much of her youth in Detroit. She currently lives in Tallahassee, Florida.

Katherine V. Forrest is one of the most popular writers of lesbian fiction in the world. Her books are published in more countries and in more languages than those of any living lesbian writer. Although she has written a number of novels including Curious Wine (1983), Daughters of a Coral Dawn (1984), and An Emergence of Green (1986), she is perhaps best known for her series of mysteries featuring lesbian detective Kate Delafield. One of the series novels, Murder at Nightwood Bar (1987), is to be released as a major motion picture soon. Forrest has also collaborated with Barbara Grier in a compilation of lesbian erotica entitled The Erotic Naiad: Love Stories by Naiad Press Authors (1992). Commenting on her own works and as former fiction editor at Naiad Press, she said, "The single most important thing that every gay and lesbian writer needs to be writing about in the '90s is coming out. It is the great unfinished business that we have to do to survive."

Forrest was born in Windsor, Ontario, and was educated at Wayne State University in Detroit. She currently resides in San Francisco.

Professor Anita Skeen of the MSU English Department and author of Each Hand a Map introduced the guests and served as moderator.

Afterwards one audience member described the entire evening as "very rewarding" while explaining that, "I am always open to new writers that do not appear on the shelves of most general stores." The MSU Libraries hope that future symposiums will generate similar enthusiasm as they present other important Michigan writers to their audiences.