The Vintage Book of International Lesbian Fiction: Lambda Literary Award

by Naomi Holoch (Editor), Joan Nestle

A groundbreaking volume from Lamda Award-winning editors Naomi Holoch and Joan Nestle, The Vintage Book of International  Lesbian Fiction presents a range of literary voices--from twenty-seven countries spanning six continents--and offers glimpses of lesbian life in unfamilar, often exotic climes.

We follow an Irish woman as she travels through time in search of a wronged maiden, and anticipate the harrowing fate of a married Indian woman who pursues pleasure with her female lover under the shadow of her husbands suspicious rage.  We meet a teacher in Barcelona who locks herself up in her grandmother's house with her young Columbian student, and witness a Slovenian woman's rendezvous with her long dead lover.

This collection includes the work of familiar writers, as well as a number never before published in English. From the West Indies to Eastern Europe, the Middle East to Southeast Asia, Latin America to South Africa, the distinctive stories found in these pages evoke the diverse political, cultural, emotional, and sexual landscapes of each writer's life.  A groundbreaking volume from the Lamda Award-winning editors Naomi Holoch and Joan Nestle, who also wrote the introduction, this collections evokes the universal urgency of persistent desire.

Table of Contents:
Mary Dorcey, Ireland from A Noise from the Woodshed
Makeda Sivera, Jamaica Caribbean Chameleon
Mireille Best, France Stéphanie's Book
Christina Peri Rossi, Uruguay Final Judgement and Singing in the Desert
Shani Mootoo, India-Trinidad-CanadaLemon Scent
Marguerite Yourcenar, BelgiumSappho or Suicide
Emma Donoghue, IrelandLooking for Petronilla
Sylvia Molloy, Argentinafrom Certificate of Absence
Dale Gunthorp, South Africa Gypsophila
Karen Williams, South Africa The Came at Dawn
Cynthia Price, South Africa Lesbian Bedrooms
Alifa Rifaat, EgyptMy World of the Unknown
Yasmin V. Tambiah, Sri Lanka The Civil War, Sandalwood, Transl(iter)ation I, and Transl(iter)ation II (for Aruna and Giti)
Dionne Brand, Trinidad Madame Alaird's Breasts
Violette Leduc, France from L'Aphyxie
Anchee Min, Chinafrom Red Azalea
Gerd Brantenberg, Norway from Four Winds
Esther Tusquets, Spain from The Same Sea as Every Summer
Karen-Susan Fessel, Germany Lost Faces
Mar$#237;a Eugenia Alegría Nuñez, Cuba The Girl Typist Who Worked for a Provincial Ministry of Culture
Ngahuia Te Awekatuku, Aotearoa/New Zealand Paretipua, Old Man Tuna, andWatching the Big Girls
Dacia Maraini, Italy from Letters to Marina
Rosamaría Roffiel, Mexico Forever Lasts Only a Full Moon
Anna Blaman, Hollandfrom Lonely Adventure
Christa Winsloe, Germany from The Child Manuela
Achy Obejas, Cuba Waters
Nicole Brossard, Canadafrom Mauve Desert
Gila Svirsky, Israel Meeting Natalia
Maureen Duffy, Englandfrom The Microcosm
Jeanne D'Arc Jutras, Canada from Georgie Suzana Tratni, Slovenia Under the Ironwood Trees
Elena Georgiou, CyprusAphrodite's Vision
Etel Adnan, Lebanon from In the Heart of the Heart of Another Country
Gina Schein, Australia Minnie Gets Married

Genres: Short Stories, LGBT, Fiction, Queer, Lesbian, Anthologies

368 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1999

Reviews

[Sucre · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 - 3.75ish - I liked a lot of the stories included in here and felt like I got a really good grasp on the variety of lesbian writing from this time period and earlier. A lot of the "short stories" are actually excerpts pulled from books, not stand-alone stories, but most of the selections were done expertly enough that I didn't feel like I was lost when reading them. I was really impressed with how this collection pulled from many countries outside of Europe and included a good number of South Asian and African authors, and the blurbs before each selection were great at providing background on the author as well as the environments in which they were publishing stories. So many of the authors were completely new to me, and I'm excited to seek out more work from them. Stars were docked for including a story by an Israeli author.

fave stories/selections: 'Caribbean Chameleon' by Makeda Silvera, 'Looking for Petronilla' by Emma Donoghue (one of the only fantastical stories), 'They Came At Dawn' by Karen Williams, 'The Civil War' by Yasmin V. Tambiah, 'Red Azalea' by Anchee Min, 'The Child Manuela' by Christa Winsloe, 'Waters' by Achy Obejas, 'The Microcosm' by Maureen Duffy (lots of great stuff w/ butch/femme dynamics in this one), and 'Aphrodite' s Vision' by Elena Georgiou

tws for incest, pedophilia, and homophobia

[Poetic Diva504 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautifully written book by various authors from all over the globe. I loved the different writing styles and voices, and the stories are short and sweet. The works are pretty ancient, which is another plus in my book. The vocabulary and word variety is amazing as well

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this collection! There are a lot of really interesting and really great short stories in here, and there's such a wide scope of stories, themes, and perspectives.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the stories were interesting, but most were .... eh.