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6 Questions for Author Joe Okonkwo
Author Joe Okonkwo By Mark McNease/Editor
I’ve had the great pleasure of getting to know author Joe Okonkwo this year, including the privilege of sharing his 2015 Puschart Prize-nominated short story Cleo here at lgbtSr. Joe’s debut novel Jazz Moon was recently released to deserved acclaim. He’s the Prose Editor for Newtown Literary, a journal featuring work by writers from Queens, New York, and in In 2017 he will take the reins as Editor of the annual Best Gay Stories anthology published by Lethe Press. Following are Joe’s answers to a ‘6 Questions’ interview.
MM: Please tell us a little about yourself, your journey from there to here (you went to school in Houston so I’m guessing you’re not a native New Yorker, few of us are, but I could be wrong …)
JO: I am a native New Yorker—if you’re talking about New York state. I was born in Syracuse, then moved around a great deal: New Jersey, Michigan, Nigeria, Mississippi. I ended up in Houston at age 11 and lived there till I moved to NYC in 2000. Since I was born in Syracuse and have now lived in NYC for sixteen years, it’s fair to say that New York is my home state. Even so, because I grew up in so many places, it’s challenging to figure out if I’m actually from anywhere.
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From the Interview Archives: A Conversation with Author Patricia Nell Warren
One of the benefits of having a website in its 6th year is that we have lots (and lots) of great archive interviews and columns. The following interview with iconic author and activist Patricia Nell Warren first appeared December 27, 2011.
By Mark McNease
I came out at 16 in a small Indiana city of 30,000 people. It was 1974, and I was deeply hungry for images of myself as a gay person. There wasn’t much available then, aside from books I ordered from the Psychology Today book club, some of which did more harm than good. Then came a novel called “The Front Runner” about the love story between a young college athlete and his coach. The book gave me hope and, along with the few others I could find, let me know I was not alone in the world.
Patricia Nell Warren has never stopped writing. At 75 she has a new non-fiction collection out, titled “My West,” that presents her personal impressions of the American West, a book she describes as, “a collection of blogs, commentaries, historical essays and other personal writings… past, present and future.” It was a privilege to interview her and very much a reminder that passion has no shelf life.
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From the Interview Archives: Karen Wolfer of Dog Ear Audio
One of the benefits of having a website in its 6th year is that we have lots (and lots) of great archive interviews and columns. I’ll be sharing them weekly. Here is a fabulous interview from 2012 with Karen Wolfer, founder of Dog Ear Audio, a wonderful production company that specializes in lesbian literature.
By Mark McNease/Editor
I recently became aware of Karen Wolfer and her audio book production company located 9,000 miles above sea level in the Rocky Mountains. Dog Ear Audio specializes in lesbian fiction and currently has a project on Kickstarter to bring the book ‘Safe Harbor’ by Radclyffe to a listening audience. Karen was kind enough to give me the following interview, shedding light on the process of audio recording, living with solar energy, and generally being one of those interviewees I’ve been privileged to pose a few questions to.
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6 Questions for Author Kate Walter
Author Kate Walter Kate Walter’s recent book, Looking for a Kiss: A Chronicle of Downtown Heartbreak and Healing, is a deep examination of despair and recovery from a relationship that ended after 25 years. Not legally married at the time, she found herself single again, dealing with bewilderment and uncertainty, and ultimately on a road to healing. The memoir is her journey through that experience and her emergence on the other side. Following are Kate’s answers to ‘6 Questions’ about the book, her life and her plans for the future. – Mark McNease/Editor
MM: It was nice to meet you in person at the Rainbow Book Fair. You’re a fellow New Yorker (I’ve been here since 1993). Can you talk about your journey from there to here, wherever there was?
KW: I was born and raised in Paterson, New Jersey. As a teenager, I was influenced by Allen Ginsberg, home town celebrity, who used to return to read at the local public library. I graduated from a conservative Catholic women’s college in New Jersey, one of the few hippies on campus.
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6 Questions for Author and Speaker Grace Anne Stevens
Grace Anne Stevens Wonderful connections are often made out of the blue. I recently had another of those serendipitous moments when I corresponded with Grace Anne Stevens, author, educator, Huffington Post blogger, mover and motivator. Grace’s most recent book, No! Maybe? Yes! Living My Truth provides more than a memoir – it gives readers a first-hand tour of change, renewal and authenticity. Following are Grace’s in-depth answers to ‘6 Questions,’ answers I think you’ll find as educational and informative as they are encouraging for anyone wanting to live their truth. – Mark McNease/Editor
MM: It was so nice to connect with you. Let’s start with your book, No! Maybe? Yes! Living My Truth. What was the genesis for this book, and what can readers expect to find in its pages?
GS: Thanks so much, Mark. It is such a great pleasure to connect also, and thanks for all of these great questions.
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6 Questions for Author and Artist Paul Plumadore
Paul Plumadore Now and then I’m fortunate to share a new Featured Book and immediately want to interview the author. Paul Plumadore’s recent Archive 1957-1974 was one of those times. The book is his memoir of a life in dance that began at age 7 and carried him through an extraordinary series of achievements, including a stint in the internationally renowned Paul Taylor Dance Company in his 20’s. Utilizing photographs from the period, the book “chronicles the joy as well as the agony of the life of a dancer coming-out during the sexual revolution in 1970’s New York City.”
Following are Paul’s answers to ‘6 Questions’, each revealing a remarkable life of accomplishment, setback, grief and renewal. – Mark McNease/Editor
MM: You’ve recently published a book, Archive 1957 – 1974, about your life in dance. Can you tell us about the book and what readers can expect to find in it?
PP: Archive is a memoir that begins at age 7 when I took my first tap lesson and told my mother that same day that I would become a dancer, and ends in the year 1974 after my time with the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Those 17 years were filled with determination, excitement and, ultimately, hardship. It is the journey of a wide-eyed country boy who struggled to prove himself and turn himself into an artist through dance. -
6 Questions for Author R.E. Bradshaw
R.E. Bradshaw Fans of mysteries and fine writing will be familiar with the name R.E. Bradshaw. Her Rainey Bell series is a four-time Lambda Literary Award Finalist in the mystery category, including last year’s Relatively Rainey. She’s an example of a writer taking her dreams seriously and pursuing them, with great success. I was delighted to have the chance to ask her ‘6 Questions,’ and even more delighted with her answers. Enjoy them for yourself, and read more about her following the questions. – Mark McNease/Editor
MM: I understand you started publishing in 2010. What prompted that, and had you been writing before then?
REB: In December of 2009, I wrote my first complete novel over winter break. I was teaching school, designing and building scenery, directing dramas and musicals, and generally exhausted. My favorite shirt said, “Sorry, I can’t. I’ve got rehearsal.” I had wanted to write for a living since childhood, but was advised, as we all were, “You can’t make a living doing that.” Whenever asked what I would do if I could do anything, my response was always, “I want to sit in front of a big picture window and write novels. One day, on a whim, that wish came true.
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6 (More) Questions for Author Joe Cosentino
Author Joe Cosentino By Mark McNease/Editor
It was inevitable that I’d have more questions for author Joe Cosentino, one of the most prolific writers I know. I still haven’t figured out when he sleeps. I’d asked him ‘6 Questions’ last June, when his first Nicky and Noah mystery, Drama Queen, was published by Lethe Press. Since then Joe has had several more publications, including the recently released Drama Muscle, his second book in the Nicky and Noah series. Joe, welcome back to lgbtSr.
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6 Questions for Professor Drewey Wayne Gunn, Historian of Gay Literature
Professor Wayne Gunn I was recently introduced by a mutual friend to Drewey Wayne Gunn, Professor Emeritus , Texas A&M University–Kingsville. Professor Gunn has long been interested in recovering forgotten works of gay literature and has produced a treasure trove of guidebooks in his effort to acknowledge the many authors who, while largely ignored or forgotten, paved the way for the richness and variety we now enjoy in gay literature.
His books include the upcoming Gay American Novels, 1870 – 1970 (McFarland, 2016), as well as Gay Novels of Britain, Ireland, and the Commonwealth, 1881 – 1981 (McFarland, 2014), 1960s Gay Pulp Fiction, edited with Jaime Harker (Massachusetts, 2013), The Gay Male Sleuth in Print and Film (Scarecrow, 2013), and The Golden Age of Gay Literature, editor (MLR, 2009).
I had the pleasure of asking Professor Gunn ‘6 Questions’ about his books, his passion for forgotten works, and how he thinks we can best keep our literary heritage alive. – Mark McNease/Editor
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6 Questions for Author and Storyteller David Hardy
I recently posted about the story collection BOLD, which is launching in just a few days on November 27. A treasure trove of personal stories and experiences revealing the lives of older LGBTI people, the book presents its subjects with intimacy, poignancy and vibrancy. We are alive, it says, and we matter.
“More than 50 older LGBTI people share their stories and images – of first love and family, of struggle and defiance and resistance and pride. They include prominent activists including Bob Brown, Sally Goldner and the Hon. Michael Kirby. Many of the stories are by ordinary and extraordinary people who may be Indigenous, born overseas, or live in cities or small towns across Australia, New Zealand, UK, US and Ireland.”
I had the opportunity to interview the book’s creator, story collector and driving force, David Hardy, for this ‘6 Questions’ feature. His extensive answers follow. You can also learn more about David and the Associate Editor for the book, Elizabeth Whiley, at the end of the interview.
MM: David, thanks for taking the time to answer ‘6 Questions.’ Let’s start with your background, which is extensive. You’re a storyteller, singer and performer in Brisbane’s Lesbian and Gay Choir, Doctorate of Philosophy in Indigenous Knowledges, and an ex-Diplomat. What does it mean to have a Doctorate of Philosophy in Indigenous Knowledges?
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One Thing or Another: From The Wheelchair’s Perspective
It’s always One Thing or Another … a lighthearted look at aging, life, and the absurdities of it all.By Mark McNease
Some days just feel longer than others. They seem to deliberately stretch out an extra few hours so we’ll have more time to dwell on all our dissatisfactions, insecurities and complaints. And it doesn’t help to think that each day is irreplaceable, that the box of days I’d been given when I first screamed my way into the world in some delivery room in Mississippi is now about three-quarters empty. Why would the urgency of lives spent in a flicker reach my consciousness when I was busy ruminating on all the things that bothered me?
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One Thing or Another: Laughing Matters
One Thing or Another is a lighthearted look at aging, life, and the absurdities of it all.
By Mark McNease
What’s funny can be very subjective, unique to each of us as we find some things to be laughing matters and quite a few others not to be. But how often do we stop and think about our sense of humor itself, and what it does for us? Laughing lets off steam, certainly. It releases tension—most clearly in nervous laughter. He didn’t kill me after all! Ha! Or, I was just kidding when I said you were a narcissistic prick! Don’t fire me! Ha! It provides communion. It even distorts faces and occasionally sends us into paroxysms of uncontrolled guffaws. But have you ever considered that it saves lives?
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6 Questions for Author Michael Graves
Michael Graves By Mark McNease
I recently had the pleasure of asking author Michael Graves ‘6 Questions.’ Michael is the author of Dirty One, a collection of short stories that was both a Lambda Literary Award Finalist and an American Library Association Honoree. His new novel, Parade, is set for release by Chelsea Station Editions October 1. Described as “a tour-de-force, comic tale of religion and government,” the book tells the story of Reggie Lauderdale in the midst of his crisis of faith. His cousin, Elmer Mott, dreams of becoming their hometown mayor. Both boys are doing their best to be adults in suburbia, but have yet to learn to be fully themselves.
Read on for Michael’s answers, some advance praise for Parade, and stay tuned – he’ll be a guest soon on the Live Mic Podcast in early October.
