The Chicago Tribune has a nifty article (registration required) on a revived interest in lesbian pulp fiction from the ’50s and ’60s.
Playwright Patricia Kane sums up the appeal of these novels: “They embody this whole fantasy world that’s very fun, sexy, vibrant and dangerous. There is this illicit quality to them.”
NPR story and interview
NPR ran an interview with the psuedonymous Ann Bannon, author of a number of classic lesbian pulps. (Audio archive–Real Audio required). There was also an interview on that same show with Marijane Meaker, who penned lesbian pulps in the 50s and 60s. Meaker is know to many of us librarians as M.E. Kerr, author of YA classics such as “The Outsiders.”
SFPL collection
In May 2002, the San Francisco Public Library’s James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center had an exhibition called Forbidden Pleasures which showcased it’s Lesbian Pulp Fiction holdings. Ann Bannon was a speaker.
M. E. Kerr – oops!
M. E. Kerr is in fact the author of many YA classics (“Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!”, “Fell”, “Deliver Us From Evie”, and many more), but the author of “The Outsiders” was actually S. E. Hinton.
And thanks for the tip! I’d like to hear that interview.
Re:M. E. Kerr – oops!
Ya know…I had no excuse for that. I was sitting at the ref desk in front of an OPAC while writing it. All those patrons kept distracting me (ulp!).
Re:SFPL collection
Interesting. According to the Terry Gross interview linked above (which is a recording done in 1999), Anne Bannon was (mostly) remaining pseudonymous and rarely doing public appearance. Gross says Bannon was the dean of a California state university (or perhaps a California State University), but didn’t say which one.