Sinister Wisdom Newsletter
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Amazing conversations and celebrations!
Events
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October 3, 2023 7 p.m. ET Black Lesbian Publishing During the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s
Sinister Wisdom continues the exploration of the Women in Print Movement, a fertile period of print culture production in the United States between 1970 and 2000, with a riveting discussion of independent literary publishing by extraordinary Black lesbian writers and thinkers. All women on the panel published early work independently through their own publishing ventures--and many continue the work today. Scholar of Black lesbian thought Briona Simone Jones moderates the panel. Join Sinister Wisdom for a lively evening to discuss and celebrate Black Lesbian Publishing in the 70s, 80s, and 90s.
Sunday, October 15, 2023 at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT Sinister Wisdom Book Club Discussion of Roses in the Mouth of a Lion by Bushra Rehman
Join the Sinister Wisdom Book Club and author Bushra Rehman to discuss her incredible new book Roses in the Mouth of a Lion
October 17, 2023 7 p.m. ET Launch of Sinister Wisdom 130: We Teach Sex (to Everyone!)
Sinister Wisdom 130: We Teach Sex (to Everyone!) has arrived! This issue of Sinister Wisdom ,the 50th issue published under the editorial and publishing visions of Julie R. Enszer, is fun, sexy, beautiful, and contemplative. Please join Sinister Wisdom , guest editors Kristy Lin Billuni and July Westhale, and a gathering of contributors to learn more about the issue and celebrate its marvelous entry into the world!
October 24, 2023 7 p.m. ET Radical Creativity Sinister Wisdom 2024 Calendar Launch Event
What does 2024 hold for you? Hopefully, it will be filled with Radical Creativity and many opportunities to look at Sinister Wisdom’s gorgeous monthly calendar celebrating the theme of Radical Creativity and lifting up lesbian visual art and culture. Join Sinister Wisdom for a special evening with Bell Pitkin, the 2024 calendar curator, and other visual artists to talk about the calendar, lesbian art, and how we can all bring the spirit of Radical Creativity into our lives.
November 9, 2023 6 p.m. ET We Teach Sex (to Everyone!) at the SFPL
Join Sinister Wisdom for a celebration of Sinister Wisdom 130 at the San Francisco Public Library! Hosted by Kim Shuck, the former poet laureate of San Francisco, featured guests include TKTK and Kristy Lin Billuni. This reading and showing of the issue's visual art will take place at the lower level of the San Francisco Public Library. The address of the San Francisco Public Library is 100 Larkin Street San Francisco, CA 94102. Please join us and follow all of the necessary COVID safety protocols. Stay tuned for more details.
November 14, 2023 7 p.m. ET Matchmaking in the Archives
How do lesbians and queer women use archives? What insight and treasures to archives offer to lesbians who are not historians? Interdisciplinary artist and teacher E.G. Crichton explored these questions through an artist's residency at the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco. She paired artists with archives held by the Historical Society and curated an exhibition of the work in response to these archives and now documents the project in Matchmaking in the Archive. Join E.G. and contributors to the book for a lively discussion about archives as inspiration, provocation, and encouragement.
November 28, 2023 7 p.m. ET Launch of The Highest Apple
Sinister Wisdom’s Sapphic Classics continue to delight and amaze. The bonus issue this year is a new edition of Judy Grahn’s marvelous book, The Highest Apple: Sappho and the Lesbian Poetic Tradition. This new edition features an expanded section on the work of Pat Parker, a new introduction by Judy Grahn, a foreword by Alyse Knorr, an afterword by Alicia Mountain, and six responses by contemporary to this vital work by a collection of younger poets and writers. Join Judy Grahn and the contributors to this new edition to celebrate this beloved book.
Sunday, December 10, 2023 at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT Sinister Wisdom Book Club Discussion of Cantoras by Carolina DeRobertis
Join the Sinister Wisdom Book Club to discuss the wonderful book Cantoras by Carolina DeRobertis.
January 23, 2024 7 p.m. ET Launch of The Pagoda
Did you stay at The Pagoda, swimming in the pool, seeing a play, listening to a concert, and generally participating in one of the great lesbian experiments of the 70s, 80s, and 90s? Rose Norman’s new book is a herstory of The Pagoda exploring this vibrant lesbian community just outside of St. Augustine, Florida. Join Rose and the Sinister Wisdom community to celebrate the release of The Pagoda: A Lesbian Community by the Sea as Sinister Wisdom 131.
February 6, 2024 7 p.m. ET Oral Histories Preserve Lesbian Stories
For Sinister Wisdom 131: The Pagoda, Rose Norman interviewed dozens of women, building on the oral herstory work that she did with the Southern Lesbian Feminist Activist Herstory Project, www.slfahp.org. Join Rose and a panel of lesbians working on oral herstories in various communities to talk about the value of preserving local stories and how people build local projects in their lesbian communities.
February 20, 2024 7 p.m. ET Pagoda Memories on Film
Capturing the lesbian past does not only happen on paper. Lesbian archives include films and home movies. Join Sinister Wisdom to watch some clips from home movies made by Emily Greene at The Pagoda. Emily will be in conversation with Rose Norman, author of the new book from Sinister Wisdom The Pagoda: A Lesbian Community by the Sea, and Sharon Thompson, curator of the Lesbian Home Movie Project, https://www.lesbianhomemovieproject.org/. We’ll talk about seaside resorts, lesbian home movies, and preserving the archives of our lesbian past.
March 5, 2024 7 p.m. ET Getting the Word Out: Lesbian-Feminists Promoting and Distributing Womyn’s Books
Join Sinister Wisdom for our next conversation about the Women in Print Movement of the 1970s and beyond. With a distinguished panel, we will explore how lesbian-feminist institutions supported publishers through promotion and distribution of books. Join this fascinating conversation featuring Carol Seajay, co-founder and publisher of Feminist Bookstore News and other leaders of lesbian-feminist institutions. It will be a riveting evening thinking about what lesbian-feminists have done, are doing, and can do in the future.
Sunday, March 10, 2024 at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT Sinister Wisdom Book Club Discussion of Trash by Dorothy Allison
Join the Sinister Wisdom Book Club to discuss the wonderful collection of stories Trash by Dorothy Allison.
April 9, 2024 7 p.m. ET Launch of Sinister Wisdom 132: How Can a Woman Who Is with a Trans Man Call Herself a Lesbian?
Sinister Wisdom 132: How Can a Woman Who Is with a Trans Man Call Herself a Lesbian? continues conversations instigated by Sinister Wisdom 128: Trans/Feminisms exploring writings and reflections by lesbians whose partners are trans, including new work by Minnie Bruce Pratt and Kimberly Dark. Join editor Allison Blevins and contributors for a wonderful evening celebrating Sinister Wisdom 132: How Can a Woman Who Is with a Trans Man Call Herself a Lesbian? and exploring the intersecting and interdependent lives of lesbians and transpeople.
"Empowerment comes from ideas."
― Charlene Carruthers
"Your silence will not protect you."
— Tourmaline
"Gender is the poetry each of us makes out of the language we are taught."
— Leila Raven