Women on Women: An Anthology of American Lesbian Short Fiction

Women on Women #1

by Joan Nestle (Editor), Becky Birtha (Contributor), Camille Roy (Contributor)

This groundbreaking collection brings together 28 stunning stories by literary talents never before assembled in a single volume. With contributions from both established and bright new voices in lesbian fiction, Women on Women ranges from the subtlety and restraint of Willa Cather's "Tommy, the Unsentimental" to Sapphire's daring and highly erotic "Eat" and Valerie Miner's suspenseful "Trespassing." Some of the stories are universal in theme - the joy and excitement of new romance, the ageless problems of family life, and the pain of lost love and of death. And many are written by or about members of racial, ethnic, and other minorities within the gay community. These are stories that offer stirring, eloquent, often passionate insights into the lesbian experience in a long-overdue collection that represents the best of lesbian short fiction from past to present.

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

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 30, 1990

About the author

Joan Nestle writes and edits essays, erotic fiction, poetry, and short stories. She is an activist, and among many actions has co-founded the Lesbian Herstory Archives to preserve records of lesbian lives and communities and currently coordinates the Women in Black protests against Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands.

Reviews

[Will Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty solid collection of stories, and it felt like the editors really made an effort to capture a diverse range of experiences (though there were no stories with trans women). Some stories engaged me more than others, and my top three were "A Letter to Harvey Milk" "A Long Story" and "My Lesbian Imagination"

[KL Baudelaire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1990, this is a diverse and hugely enjoyable collection. Were it published now, I expect that it would contain at least one story addressing experiences of trans lesbians - but apart from lacking this, it brings stories from many different states, classes, colours, and although primarily in English, snippets of different languages. I highly recommend it.

[Abigail · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are a few stories I really liked in here, but overall this just wasn't my thing.

--
for my reference
"In the Life" Becky Birtha
"Fruit of the Loom Athletic Undershirts" Cathy Cockrell
"The Swashbuckler" Lee Lynch
"A Lesbian Appetite" Dorothy Allison

[HeavyReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of this stories are mildly hot (I guess that makes them warm), but this is not really a collection of sex stories. It's just an anthology of short stories with lesbian themes.

[Lyn Jensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of the 28 stories collected here, 26 are realistic and varying degrees of sexy, the last two get erotic on a surreal level.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5- I loved a lot of the stories in here but others not as much, so just giving it an average/middle rating I guess? Overall it was a good collection and each story was so different from the last. Thank you, lesbian fiction writers from the 70s and 80s, for writing these pieces and paving the way 🤍

[Kieren · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I liked almost all the stories and loved a few, especially the last one. This is a great read for those just getting into lesbian fiction. I thought this book had a pretty good variety of stories for its collection.

[Kasey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really decent mix of stories from authors I have and have not encountered. I loved that some were very mundane descriptions of daily life, while some explored sexuality more deeply. It is a product of its age, in some instances, but really it's stood the test of the short but significant time that's past since its publication. This made me want to read a more modern similar anthology--off to go find one!

[Genevieve · Rating 3 out of 5]

some stories I actually couldn't get through but some of them made me shed a tear. I think that's what's fun about it though, something for everyone