The Beatrix Gates

PM's Outspoken Authors #22

by Rachel Pollack

A queer cult favorite, The Beatrix Gates is a colorful mix of science fiction, magic realism, memoir, and myth exploring themes of spirituality and transformation. Courage and cowardice contend in a literary odyssey unlike any other. Written especially for this volume, “Trans Central Station” is Pollack’s personal and political take on the transgender experience then and now—and tomorrow? “Burning Beard” is a fiercely revisionist Bible tale of plague and prophecy told through a postmodern prose of many colors. “The Woman Who Didn’t Come Back” is about just what it says. And there is of course PM Press' usual and unusual Outspoken Interview.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Short Stories, LGBT, Gender and Sexuality, Magical Realism

129 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Rachel Grace Pollack was an American science fiction author, comic book writer, and expert on divinatory tarot. Pollack was a great influence on the women's spirituality movement.

Reviews

[Ed Erwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I enjoyed the non-fiction parts, the fiction wasn't very appealing to me. "Burning Beard", which is a fictionalized story of dream-interpreter Joseph from the book of "Genesis", was the only one I really liked, and I'm not sure I understood it.

PS: In the interview she mentions she thinks highly of Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation. So do I, and wish it were more known.

[Owen Townend · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this slender volume with the intention of learning about the 'queer' subculture of sci-fi. I had no idea how prominent Rachel Pollack was in the science fantasy community: she has worked on the DC comic series Doom Patrol and advised the likes of Neil Gaiman on the subject of Tarot.

While I am nowhere near as interested in Tarot as I was in my younger days, I am keen to read the work of transgender authors. Having come out as both a transgender woman and a lesbian in the 70s, Pollack seemed like a suitably prominent figurehead to start with.

I have indeed learned a lot about the changing state of transgender identity in this book, primarily through the essays which I enjoyed much more than the fiction. While Pollack has a grand yet accessible style for folk tale and myth, I felt this was often dominated by her own unique voice which is to say her personal experience. I say this not to dismiss her fiction but to elevate her nonfiction, which has increased my understanding. The concept of 'dead naming' (the use of a transgender person's given name and initial gender pronouns by their family after death) will certainly stay with me.

Nevertheless this is a strong collection that eloquently expresses at least one woman's experience of being transgender. I recommend it to those curious about just what 'gender' is, fans of Pollack's Tarot cards and/or Doom Patrol comic run or simply readers seeking some short but insightful literature this Pride Month.

Notable Story and Essay

• The Woman That Didn’t Come Back – an interesting matriarchal folktale that put me in mind of Margaret Atwood.

• Trans Central Station – the more straightforward of Pollack’s essays in this collection with honest hindsight.

[Marie-Therese · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A couple of awesome stories and a bit of filler. I found the interview awkward just because the person conducting it really didn't seem to understand who Pollack was or where she was coming from, but this is a nice collection and well worth reading for Pollack fans.

[Lata · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve read other books in this series, and always find them interesting. I’ve never read anything by Rachel Pollack before, so I was intrigued.
I really like the first story in this collection, “The Woman Who Didn’t Come Back” and the essay “Trans Central Station”, and found the interview with the author informative and humourous. I had a harder time getting through the short stories, but I suspect the fault lies with me, rather than the prose, as I often have trouble sticking with short stories.
This is a good introduction to Rachel Pollack’s style.
Thank you to Edelweiss and the Publisher of this series for this ARC in exchange for my review.

[Shannon (That's So Poe) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great collection of a few of Pollack's short stories as well as an interview with her and an essay by her. I think the essay was probably my favorite part since it really discussed the changes in the trans/queer SFF landscape and how important things like terminology are to those changes. Definitely worth the read!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved Beatrix Gate and her non fiction personal essay Grand Trans Station. Essential reading for anyone interested in queer and gender bendy fiction. Great to get to know Pollack in this little collection.

[Chris Bishop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps there is no better knower of the occult than Rachel Pollack. Her vast knowledge of myths around the world, tarot, religions, and sacred imagery fuels much of her writing, entangling even her identity as a transwoman into many of the stories in her short collection, The Beatrix Gates. Pollack uses mythological/fairytale-like frames for her stories, and the stories that characters tell, as a way to portray female and trans identity through an occult lens. As Pollack says later on in her collection: “In the ‘80s I got involved in the Goddess movement, which in many ways was really about uncovering hidden histories […]. In the process I discovered something very important and powerful. Trans people have always existed and more often than not been seen as sacred and powerful” (61). Through Pollack’s use of mythological framing, she creates a strong connection between stories, nonfictional essays, and the interview of Pollack at the end of the book, accomplishing a masterful hybrid work.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay I'll be honest, I didn't understand about 20% of this, but loved 100% of it. I loved this tiny little volume because it gave us a nonfiction essay with a few very different but very (apparently, I'm not actually familiar with her work) Rachel Pollack stories, plus an interview to cap it off. I'll have to look into her other work because this was great.

As someone who avidly avoids SFF (no shade tho), i am slooooowly becoming aware that I like a small subset of sci fi that has very little or no explicit world building and is totally absurdist. There is something to be said for stories that are weird, queer, and difficult to explain. Like Paradise Rot? Whatever that was? Need more like this.

Picked this up because it was longlisted for the Lambda Literary Award

Pride reads #5?

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn, I really didn't know what to expect with this collection, but it was wonderful! The eponymous story is smart and heartwarming. I think it does an incredible job of explaining what it's like (for at least the author) to be trans. Anyone who can't relate to the feeling of not fitting your assigned roles is actively trying not to get it.

My favorite story, however, was "Burning Beard." It's a brilliant expansion/interpretation of the biblical story of Joseph, a poignant look at a sad story most of us have been taught is happy. I find it fascinating to think of how Joseph would have felt about the choices his descendants would make and the suffering they would endure.

Finally, "Trans Central Station" is a fascinating essay about one woman's experiences transitioning at a time when that was mostly unheard of. It also looks at the evolution of language around the topic of trans identity. For instance, Ms. Pollack uses what we today, in the beginning of 2023, consider a slur in "The Beatrix Gates." However, at the time of writing the story it was just the word people used.

This is just a really excellent collection. In addition to what I already mentioned, there's another short story, and an amusing interview with the author. Sci-fi fans have a lot to enjoy, and the experiences Pollack writes about are actually extremely relatable even if you don't think that's possible.

If you are trans, I can only imagine that this collection would feel extremely affirming and encouraging. That's also what a very close friend of mine who is trans had to say about it, and I trust them.

[David H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This special collection from the Outspoken Authors series has one novelette, two short stories, two essays, and an interview with the author.

I really enjoyed all three stories here, though my favorite was probably "The Woman Who Didn't Come Back," a rather surreal story about the ritual that women do when they die and return. "The Beatrix Gates" had a rather confusing beginning, but I especially liked it when the narrator of the tale switched to a fairy tale about Red and Green people; it's a great explanation and description of trans identity (Pollack is also trans). "Burning Beard" was interesting, and I liked the exploration of the pitfalls of being a seer as well as Joseph's horror at the coming of Moses.

I really enjoyed her essay about her own self-discovery as a trans woman (and lesbian) as well as her career (she was instrumental in creating one of the first trans superheroes, Kate Godwin, for Doom Patrol). She came out trans all the way back in 1971, so it's interesting seeing some of her perspectives on the changes (especially in language) that have happened over the decades (she mentions feeling "prehistoric" in an amusing aside). The interview with Terry Bisson was nice.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a half-finish. I read half the stories, then I was kinda over it. The writing is not poor! I just was not feeling it. I picked it up because it was heralded as a “queer cult favorite” & I have been wanting to give the LQBT book genre a try.

I thought to first story was excellent. (I thought it was about the devil, but I could be wrong.) The title story was a beautiful tale of the view of being trans (I guess), but I took it as a great story to encompass all humans and their struggles to accept who they really are.

Anyway! No book is for every person. You may love this, so pick it up and give it a try.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my opinion most of the stories in this book are F-ing amazing. The first story was the less interesting one to me, and while Rachel’s answers to the interview questions at the end were beautiful, I thought the interview itself was disappointing. If you are a fan of her work, absolutely read this book! Her vision is so transcendent and amazing. If you are not had a fan, this collection may feel a bit disjointed but I think it’s worth a try for anyone interested in imaginative and trans-positive literature.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Rachel Pollack's work, but this is mostly a completist's read. "The Beatrix Gates" is brilliant and an important work of early trans and queer spec fic literature so it's worth picking up for that alone. The other stories didn't grab me quite as much and the Bisson interview was mystifying. So, something of a mixed bag, but if it helps readers find their way into Pollack's often brilliant and hard to find fiction, then I'd say it's done its job.

[Loren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my introduction to Rachel Pollack's work. The title story of the little collection was my favorite. "The Burning Beard," with its jumps forward and backward in time, was difficult to follow. Maybe if I'd read Genesis more recently? I wish "The Woman Who Didn't Come Back" was the start of a novel.

[Anna Hepworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pollack is probably a very clever writer, but I just found the prose awkward.

There is also some use of out-dated / no longer acceptable language for trans people, which was off-putting. The essay gave context for this, but I would rather have had the explanation first - Pollack has edited out some of the usage, but the story does not work without at least some.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it offers a valuable perspective on trans issues in appreciative fiction with the essay and introductions, the actual story strikes me as somehow dated. It reads like something from Harlan Ellison's Dangerous Visions.

[Adrian Shanker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not much of a sci fi fan, but I enjoyed “The Burning Beard” and the short memoir chapter “Trans Central Station”.

Pollack is a gifted writer and this short collection of stories is worth the read!

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rather enjoyed this one, particularly "Burning Beard." I remember the original story from when I read it as a young churchgoer (back when I was one), and this version does such a good job of showing what such a story probably would have been like.

[Tania Barkhuis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stories, personal history and explanations about Tarot all in one. Beautiful panoply of Rachel herself, nice view of development of thrans* emancipation during her lifetime. Now I need to read a lot more on her.

[Artemis · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a hodge-podge! Trans central station was by far the best chapter to get to know Pollack, her life and her activism. Beatrix Gates is a great trans 101 tale to introduce people to our lives and written very tenderly. That interview at the end was so awful and frustrating.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great little volume from SFF writer and voice for the transgender community, Rachel Pollack. My favorite in this collection was far and away, The Beatrix Gates. Definitely recommend.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh - it was more like an essay and less like a short story.

[Ramon Zarate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to this writer's work. I'm not the biggest fan of shamanist inspired fiction, but this definitely loosened up my rigid and picky predilections for what I read.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful series of stories

[Kristin Boldon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like and admire the work of Rachel Pollack but found this collection uneven. I enjoyed the first story, The Woman Who Didn't Come Back, but found the rest too long.

[Morgan M. Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grandmother <3

[Lord Humungus · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intriguing and insightful view into the author's trans experience, with some inspired fiction and lovely writing to boot. Recommended.

[Tomasz · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's plenty of luminous, numinous writing in this slim collection, and even if Rachel Pollack did sometimes veer into woo, it's still a major pleasure to read. Good stuff.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this! It centers trans stories in sci-fi settings. There's a lot of other bits included, too.

[shamaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cracking bit of midrash wow !