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ImageOutWrite 2012
For the past 20 years ImageOut has been recognized and respected as a major arts and cultural organization celebrating LGBT artists and themed work. This special collection of poetry and short fiction by 23 contemporary writers celebrates ImageOut's 20th Anniversary.
178 pages, Paperback
Published September 30, 2012
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January 14, 2024
A CELEBRATION OF GLBTQ WRITING
The blurb on the back cover of ImageOutWrite 2012: A Celebration of GLBQ Writing says, “ImageOut has collected pieces from 23 contemporary writers. Inside you’ll find the finest poetry and short fiction to entertain, engage, challenge and open a reader’s mind. Come celebrate ImageOut’s 20th anniversary with this special literary collection!” I enjoy reading collections of GLBTQ literature. The variety of genres can be refreshing. I like the excitement of reading a poem and then turning the page and encountering a short story and vice versa. This keeps me on my toes. None of the writers in this collection disappointed me.
“Cry of the Wolf” by Jon McDonald is an epic story of the secret relationship between two young men in France in 1347. Warin, the son of a wealthy landowner, loves Sevaric, his assistant in his father’s wool warehouse. An arranged marriage between Warin and Celestria complicates matters. Warin writes, “Somewhere there is a realm where our love is real, recognized, and honored. I may never find that place, but I know it exists. I will forever celebrate our union, and no man, woman, churchman, lieutenant, officer or king on high can negate our love. Do what they may, my soul and very being shall ever resist their ignorant tyranny.” This story is full of shocking surprises.
In “Queer Boy,” a story by Drew Payne, Kieran is the victim of incessant physical and verbal bullying: “Just thinking about school made him feel physically sick; he’d do anything not to have to go there.” One fateful day, he plays hooky from school and takes a ride on the Ferris Wheel by himself.
The narrator of “Hall of Shame,” a humorous story by Kim Krenzer, admits that she is a textbook narcissist: “I’ve decided to open a museum about the wonder that is me.” Then, after describing her past relationships, she entertains second thoughts: “After all, who can love a textbook narcissist, standing in their own way?”
In her poem “Queer Theory,” Jes Gonzalez, like many of the writers in ImageOutWrite 2012, takes no prisoners. She begins, “fuck you / who are the majority / who are disgusted by my difference / / fuck you / because yes I am queer— / strange / abnormal / my sexuality is a fuzzy line / of incongruent attractions / expressions / admirations / attitudes” She goes on to write, “queer means doing what i need / queer means dong what i want / queer means refusing to make arbitrary decisions—“ In this poem, Gonzalez is admirably fearless and uncompromising.
David-Matthew Barnes contributes an unusual Mother’s Day poem titled “The Day I Almost Ran Away with Goldie Hawn.” He writes, “Her smile melts me. / She sees us but eyes the flowers. At once, we know / who she is: our real mother has come back and we / are ready to go with her.”
“Rainbow Wings” by Eddie Swayze is constructed around beautiful metaphors: “For thousands of years / They hid in cocoons. / Couldn’t spread their wings. / Couldn’t even fly.” Several lines later, the poet writes, “Then one summer year, / They had enough. / They ripped their cocoons into shreds. / Threw stones and bottles. Set the streets on fire. / Flapped their wings in rainbows and / Blew cruelty away.” The poet optimistically concludes, “They painted the rainbows on the future generations’ wings / And said, ‘Shall your wings flap stronger in brighter / rainbows for many years to come.”
ImageOutWrite 2012 contains many more poems and stories than the few that I have mentioned here. As Gregory Gerard says in his introduction, “This collection provides glimpses into the shared experiences and creative musings of the wordsmiths among us . . . it is the writer who will bear witness to our collective culture in the years to come.” All the writers in this collection indelibly bear witness in their own unique ways to GLBTQ experiences and culture. ImageOutWrite 2012 was the first of nine GLBTQ literary collections that have been published by ImageOut. I can’t wait to dig into these other collections.
The blurb on the back cover of ImageOutWrite 2012: A Celebration of GLBQ Writing says, “ImageOut has collected pieces from 23 contemporary writers. Inside you’ll find the finest poetry and short fiction to entertain, engage, challenge and open a reader’s mind. Come celebrate ImageOut’s 20th anniversary with this special literary collection!” I enjoy reading collections of GLBTQ literature. The variety of genres can be refreshing. I like the excitement of reading a poem and then turning the page and encountering a short story and vice versa. This keeps me on my toes. None of the writers in this collection disappointed me.
“Cry of the Wolf” by Jon McDonald is an epic story of the secret relationship between two young men in France in 1347. Warin, the son of a wealthy landowner, loves Sevaric, his assistant in his father’s wool warehouse. An arranged marriage between Warin and Celestria complicates matters. Warin writes, “Somewhere there is a realm where our love is real, recognized, and honored. I may never find that place, but I know it exists. I will forever celebrate our union, and no man, woman, churchman, lieutenant, officer or king on high can negate our love. Do what they may, my soul and very being shall ever resist their ignorant tyranny.” This story is full of shocking surprises.
In “Queer Boy,” a story by Drew Payne, Kieran is the victim of incessant physical and verbal bullying: “Just thinking about school made him feel physically sick; he’d do anything not to have to go there.” One fateful day, he plays hooky from school and takes a ride on the Ferris Wheel by himself.
The narrator of “Hall of Shame,” a humorous story by Kim Krenzer, admits that she is a textbook narcissist: “I’ve decided to open a museum about the wonder that is me.” Then, after describing her past relationships, she entertains second thoughts: “After all, who can love a textbook narcissist, standing in their own way?”
In her poem “Queer Theory,” Jes Gonzalez, like many of the writers in ImageOutWrite 2012, takes no prisoners. She begins, “fuck you / who are the majority / who are disgusted by my difference / / fuck you / because yes I am queer— / strange / abnormal / my sexuality is a fuzzy line / of incongruent attractions / expressions / admirations / attitudes” She goes on to write, “queer means doing what i need / queer means dong what i want / queer means refusing to make arbitrary decisions—“ In this poem, Gonzalez is admirably fearless and uncompromising.
David-Matthew Barnes contributes an unusual Mother’s Day poem titled “The Day I Almost Ran Away with Goldie Hawn.” He writes, “Her smile melts me. / She sees us but eyes the flowers. At once, we know / who she is: our real mother has come back and we / are ready to go with her.”
“Rainbow Wings” by Eddie Swayze is constructed around beautiful metaphors: “For thousands of years / They hid in cocoons. / Couldn’t spread their wings. / Couldn’t even fly.” Several lines later, the poet writes, “Then one summer year, / They had enough. / They ripped their cocoons into shreds. / Threw stones and bottles. Set the streets on fire. / Flapped their wings in rainbows and / Blew cruelty away.” The poet optimistically concludes, “They painted the rainbows on the future generations’ wings / And said, ‘Shall your wings flap stronger in brighter / rainbows for many years to come.”
ImageOutWrite 2012 contains many more poems and stories than the few that I have mentioned here. As Gregory Gerard says in his introduction, “This collection provides glimpses into the shared experiences and creative musings of the wordsmiths among us . . . it is the writer who will bear witness to our collective culture in the years to come.” All the writers in this collection indelibly bear witness in their own unique ways to GLBTQ experiences and culture. ImageOutWrite 2012 was the first of nine GLBTQ literary collections that have been published by ImageOut. I can’t wait to dig into these other collections.
Displaying 1 of 1 review