Lesbian and Gay Writing

The conventional academic view of lesbian/gay writing forms the subject of the introduction to the present volume. This is followed by five essays on lesbian writers: a study of Ivy Compton-Burnett's dissection of family life, a comprehensive guide to the fiction of Maureen Duffy, the notion of lesbian identity in the work of Ann Bannon, a study of the poetry of Sylvia Townsend Warner and Valentine Ackland, and a survey of contemporary erotic poetry. In the second section, dealing with gay men's writing, there are essays on the theme of alientation (Rechy, Holleran, Orton and Hart Crane), the drama of Tennessee Williams, an exploration of gay sexual desire as represented in soft porn magazines, a view of certain characteristic features of gay poetry, and a study of the fiction of Ronald Firbank. The author has also written "Shakespeare's Measure for Measure" and "The Naational Council for Civil Liberties: the First Fifty Years".