literary advocacy 2.0
What does queer marginalia look like in the changing literary landscape? That is, how are queer organizations advocating for and supporting marginalized literature online? This is the work feminist and queer and other independent bookstores have done, the work that authors unions have done, the work that small publishers and distributors have done. A couple of recent exciting strategies are on the horizon from Lambda Literary Foundation and the Astraea Foundation.
Last month the Lambda Literary Foundation launched shiny new webzine. The site includes a public space for resources for writers (which seems also to be a site for publishers to get the word out about their work and their searches for new authors), event announcements for readers, and a features page offering interesting discussion points and seeking readers contributions (and analysis). This kind of site model could lay the foundation for literary advocacy in a new era; the funding seems a little shaky, relying on television spots in addition to the standard literary ads. (Time to think about a non-funded model?)
The Astraea Foundation has created a new networking tool called Meet the Activist. With call-in reservations, participants join a conference call discussion with Foundation grantees working on LGBT projects. On Monday, March 22, you can join a discussion of with representatives from Political Research Associates (PRA) and Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) about the anti-homosexuality bill coming up for consideration by the Ugandan legislature. These call-in sessions correspond with in-person events at the Astraea Foundation’s NYC offices and take the ephemeral event beyond the borders of the space. This kind of queer marginalia rewrites geographies and reimagines networks. These innovative events, not archived and so as ephemeral as traditional in-person discussions, may begin to generate networks and audience for the Astraea Foundation’s literary initiatives. Queer literature by historically marginalized authors depends on the support of Astraea grants, and with the changeover of Astraea’s executive director in the upcoming months, I hope to see continued overlapping conversations between transnational activist networks and their lesbian literary advocacy.
