With a Rough Tongue: Femmes Write Porn

by Amber Dawn (Editor), Trish Kelly (Editor)

A rebellious anthology of porn stories about sex and the modern femme: no-holds-barred queer sex tales that reinvent lesbian erotica in ways that are transgressive and empowering. Starting off where other lesbian erotic anthologies end, these are not your typically delicate, lace-and-feathers kind of stories; instead, they’re blunt and hard-hitting and challenge traditional notions of gender roles when it comes to getting off.

The anthologists argue that good, clean lesbian smut is difficult to come by these days, overwhelmed by political correctness and authorial self-censorship. Unabashedly raunchy, these stories prove that femme porn can be sexy and smart at the same time.

Includes stories by Nalo Hopkinson (author of The Salt Roads and co-editor of So Long Been Dreaming), Anna Camilleri (author of I Am a Red Dress and editor of Red Light), Rachel Kramer Bussel, Daphne Gottlieb, Ducky Doolittle, Zoe Whittall, and many more.

Amber Dawn is a writer and poetry editor of PRISM international magazine. Trish Kelly is a writer and festival organizer who has been published in numerous anthologies. They both live in Vancouver.

Genres: Erotica, Queer, Sexuality, LGBT, Short Stories, Feminism, Fiction

196 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2005

About the author

Amber Dawn is a writer, filmmaker and performance artist based in Vancouver. She is the author of the novel Sub Rosa (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2010), editor of the Lambda Award-nominated Fist of the Spider Woman (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2008) and co-editor of With a Rough Tongue: Femmes Write Porn (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2005). Her award-winning, genderfuck docu-porn, "Girl on Girl," has been screened in eight countries and added to the gender studies curriculum at Concordia University. She has toured three times with the infamous Sex Workers' Art Show in the US. She was voted Xtra! West's Hero of the Year in 2008. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. Currently, she is the director of programming for the Vancouver Queer Film Festival.

Reviews

[CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can I just start this review by saying that With a Rough Tongue: Femmes Write Porn (edited by Vancouver writers Amber Dawn and Trish Kelly) is by far THE BEST EROTICA I HAVE EVER READ. It’s like really good sex—when it’s over you’re just like, that was awesome, I want more!! This book has really re-instilled my faith in queer women’s erotica, which I have to say was decidedly eroded by the time I read it. You know the lesbian erotica you’re reading is bad when you find yourself bored while reading a ‘best of the best’ anthology. Or when an anthology of supposedly erotic stories is all about romance and not sex. There were times when I questioned whether I even liked girls while I reading some of the vapid totally not sexy stuff I picked up! So, I am seriously happy that With a Rough Tongue is out there. And it’s chock full of Canadian writers to boot (Anna Camilleri, rp chow, Kristyn Dunnion, Sara Graefe, Suki Lee, and Sherece Taffe, to name a few in addition to the ones I talk about below). And it’s all written by femmes! What’s not to love?

See my full review at:
http://caseythecanadianlesbrarian.wor...

[Sara Townsend · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh Canada! I can’t express how excited I am to tell you about “With a Rough Tongue: Femmes Write Porn,” an erotic anthology published by Arsenal Pulp Press. If I had my way, this year, every dyke would receive this collection in the mail, along with their copy of the most recent lesbian agenda.

Editors Amber Dawn and Trish Kelly have compiled an empowering collection of pieces that combine skilled writing with an honest look at lesbian desire. These stories question gender and sexuality in a way I haven’t seen in lesbian erotica before, yet manage to be sexy as hell.

One of my favorites was the first, Through Winter Sun by Suki Lee. I was immediately drawn in by the authors prose, whether she was writing about the “sweet oblivion” of winter snow as she drives, or the stranger’s head buried in her lap. I never found myself scanning through text looking for the good stuff, as I often do with erotica. I devoured every word, and like a good lover, it left me wanting more.

No matter where you fit in along the gender continuum, this collection deserves a spot on your nightstand. In my opinion, it’s the best thing to come out of Canada since Trivial Pursuit!

[phaedra lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's rare, in my experience, for a book of erotica to have multiple gender configurations and presentations, while still being a lesbian book. Too often political correctness and touchy feely writing leaves the story weak, the sex tepid, and the result doesn't sing. This book, however, offers a wide range of options, some in places and fashions you wouldn't expect, with anything from power exchange to supernatural forces to political and social commentary-sometimes in the same story. They're all short, get right to the point, very Anias Nin of them, but they pluck enough notes that you can see the cord shimmering when you read, and while I related to some more than others, I cannot deny that they were not just erotic but interesting. I should borrow books more often.

[nks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only a small handful of stories worth reading as stories. An even smaller handful worth reading as porn. Sex is one of the hardest acts to write, a fine balance between details and blank spaces left to the imagination. While I admired the collection's mission to publish unapologetic, female-centered, queer, and radical stories about sex and desire, the execution was flat and unsatisfying.

Instead of reading this, I recommend picking up another collection edited by Amber Dawn, The Fist of the Spider Woman.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent introduction to queer/femme erotica. This collection is unapologetic and tends towards the realism side of sex. (Everything is sexy, believable and doesn't use fetish to shock...only to please). I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to get turned on and be literarily stimulated at the same time :)

[Cheekyglitter Lilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really amazing book. It was really fun to read the fEMmepowering stories and also really hot. The stories in the book have a pretty wide range, from very rough to more vanilla, sex between strangers and couples and and... There should be a piece for everbody. It was a bit a pity that the stories were mostly picturing Cisgendered people but nevertheless very worth reading.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

hot.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book of erotica I have ever read and is now my favorite jerk off reading material. You need to order this now and keep it by your bedside.

[z · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read this book in a while. I love erotica and as a genderqueer femme who has mostly dated trans people, it is hard to find erotica that is not just 100% cis people. This book was still cis-dominant and, to my biggest dismay, supremely lacking in the femme 4 femme content. Despite the cover. As a femme who mostly loves, dates, and f*cks other femmes, I was deeply bummed by the mostly butch-femme stories and lack of trans feminine characters.
But still better than most erotica. Happy with the genderqueerness that was present and the characters and authors of color. I recommend.