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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1992)
just out ▼ may 1002 T 0 Third annual OutWrite conference ^Jlqiuirian BENEFIT FOR NO ON F U IE PAC Starrin DANNO To not tell the truth o f our lives is the worst crime we can put to our writers ” (in M Iiilm iim q IU Donation by Jan Nathan Long he third annual OutWrite conference for lesbian and gay writers was held in Boston on March 20-22, drawing over 1,500 participants and200 work shop speakers. There was an aware ness drawn to the racial and cultural within the lesbian and gay community and our need to address those concerns in our writing. “When is an ending closure? When does closure become a new beginning? Closure in volves the will to remember, to pull disparate threads and put them together,” spoke poet Melvin Dixon at the close of the third annual OutWrite conference to a crowd of over 1000. Dixon was addressing how to deal with death (“I may not be here next year for this conference but I ’ll be somewhere, listening for my name”) as much as he was writing. At OutWrite '92 there were many reminders that lesbian and gay writers needed to work through both. One way for many o f those who spoke was to simply make lists. As the world comes to us like the rapid flipping of cable channels it’s no wonder the most lucid reaction is to simply list what is being said, and more importantly, what is not, in the hopes that it will point to something clearer, fuller, less schizophrenic. Like Alan Bell’s initiation of the calling o f the names : the audience standing one by one to list the names of those who have died. One person saying simply, “ Unknown.” Like Mariana Romo-Carmona’s list of South American and North American tribes, of people never mentioned in her history class. “And so with this we were taught that some lives were important and others were not,” she said as those with indigenous American ancestry performed a blessing ceremony. Like John Manzone's list of the 11 concentra tion camps where over 120,000 Japanese-Ameri cans were sent exactly 50 years ago. Like Leslea Newman’s found poems: ‘T o m a toes,” a list of sexually provocative words taken from a seed catalogue; and “ Road Signs,” a sen sual journey through orgasm using only words found on signs (slow, proceed with caution, slip pery when wet...). The opening speeches were on survival, Romo- Carmona beginning with a demand from the audi ence of writers: “Every lesbian and gay writer is faced with the truth. We cannot pretend not to know. History is never so important except when we have no access to it.” She then reviewed a history of indigenous American people from the time of the first European explorers. “If what we are talking about is survival, it has to be for all of us.” Dorothy Allison, the second opening speaker, began with a similar plea: “The world needs to be remade. The world needs more people with large ambitions. The world needs more revolutionar ies,” Allison said to a packed auditorium opening night. ‘T o not tell the truth o f our lives is the worst crime we can put on our writers. I want to talk about the truths in our lives. More than that, I want you to do it. I want you to do more than just survive.” If the message was to write truth, and to write that from the gut, there was also a message to beware of false desires. There was much pub lisher bashing at the conference, with sessions on how to self publish, and how to create your own zine. Rachel Pepper, publisher of'zines Cunt and T Tickets available at Artichoke Music. Catbird Seat Bookstore. Ladd s Edition. Music Millenium & Sparttcus. I M ay t e sumac l to service charqe.) diversity AT TRIANGLE PRODUCTIONS THEATER PARIS 6 SOUTHWEST THIRD AVENUE. PORTLAND Authorized by No On Hate Metro. Portland PAC PO Box 2725 Porfland 97208 222 9885 A stro lo g ic a l S ervices Know about YOU, how and why you operate. 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Name Address >lace o f Birth___ Time o f Birth____ Current residence 2 £ Send check o r money o rd e r payable to Aquarian Astrological Services PO Box 14441 Portland,Or.97214 QUEER NATION Essex Hemphill Queer City, was leery of even mainstream lesbian and gay magazines, such as the Advocate and OUT ¡LOOK, as having “a lust for change [which] changed to a lust for profit,” stating that only “photocopied acts of terrorism” offer a relief from “ the lobotomisation of culture.” Roxxie, of Girljock, presented a history of her 'zine, and the power of'zines in the past few years. “If you’re upset with [big publications], thanks to desktop publishing and copying, you can make a statement that they can no longer ignore us.” Criticism also turned to one of the conference’s sponsors, OUT/LOOK magazine, as well as queer publisher Alyson Press, concerning the newly formed Joseph Beam Award. Named after the black gay activist and writer, the awards, spon sored by Alyson Press, were designed to honor any socially active gay or lesbian writer. Contro versy arose when the first year’s nominations had no writers of color. Six prominent lesbian and gay writers o f color formed a caucus and prepared a statement to address this. Both Alyson and Jeff Escoffier, who selected the nominees, delivered statements including apologies, and what looked to be a major contro versy quickly resolved itself primarily because of Tongues United co-producer Essex Hemphill’s insistence that the caucus concentrate on creating an award that would honor black gay writers. “I don’t want to beat these men,” Hemphill said. “W e’re not an S/M group.” The question Hemphill concentrated on instead was, “What are we going to leave the young black gay and lesbian writers when we are gone?” The award by Alyson was canceled and plans for a Joseph Beam Award, honoring black gay activist writers is currently in progress. The lesson it provided to the mixed audience was more significant: Devote your energy toward a solution rather than a reaction. Perhaps in this light, Dorothy Allison’s comments, to write from a place that demands resolution, solution, prove to be a real challenge. Then you put things to gether, then you arrive at closure. 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