On the Line: New Gay Fiction

by Ian Young (Editor), William S. Burroughs, Peter Burton

"Homosexuality as a subject of fiction is as old as 'The Epic of Gilgamesh.' But in the past decade or so, fiction has begun to reflect the emerging feeling of homosexually-inclined men and women that we are a people, not like other peoples to be sure, but nevertheless with our own history, traditions, art and folkways."The stories in On The Line are diverse in many ways, but united in the commitment of their authors to tell the truth about sexuality no less than about anything else. I consider all the authors represented, whatever the extent of their personal involvements, to be a valuable part of the movement for gay liberation. Their talent, honesty and independence are among that movement's greatest assets."(from the Introduction by Ian Young)

Genres: LGBT, Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1981

About the author

Ian Young is an English-Canadian poet, editor, literary critic, and historian. An alumnus of the University of Toronto, he founded Canada's first gay publishing company, Catalyst Press, in 1970. His work has appeared in Canadian Notes & Queries, The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, Rites and Continuum, as well as in more than fifty anthologies. He was a regular columnist for The Body Politic from 1975 to 1985 and for Torso between 1991 and 2008.

Young is best known for his work as editor of the anthology The Gay Muse and the bibliography The Male Homosexual in Literature. He was interested in ceremonial magic during the 1980s and was a founding member of the Hermetic Order of the Silver Sword.

His most recent book, Encounters with Authors (2013), featured historical and critical essays on the work of three noted Canadian LGBT writers, Scott Symons, Robin Hardy and Norman Elder. [wikipedia]

Reviews

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really marvellous collection of short gay fiction put together by the excellent author and editor Ian Young in 1981. As snapshot of early gay writing from the USA and UK it is more then a historical curiosity it is a reminder of the extraordinary flowering of fine writing that emerged in the immediate aftermath of Stonewall. That some of the writers in the collection were to die well before time because of AIDs is one of the frustrations of reading older anthologies. I read them and discover a wonderful author and go to search him out only to find they died after publishing one novel or some cases only few stories. That many of the authors are in danger of being forgotten except by older readers like myself is scandalous and a situation I hope will soon be reversed.

[Ren Dorian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! It's a piece of history I didn't expect to find in an op shop. There's a wonderful variety to the stories, but sometimes it helps to remember the time it was written in. My favorite was probably Under the Hollywood Sign.

[Finn Mullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giving this four stars mainly due to how much I loved "Three Friends", "Hunter", "Some of These Days", and "Another Time, Another Place".