bbiuary 21 . 2 fl 0 a
BOOKS
T
Sexpert witness
Happy Susie Bright Day! Have some pom.
by
B
E rin S exton
I
uying an
anthology of
5
pom or eroti
ca is a lot like
¡8
buying a scratch-off
lottery ticket. You
might get lucky
and break even and
sometimes you hit
it big, hut most of
the time the best
part is over when
you’ve scratched
the ticker or
cracked the spine.
For the past 10
years, though, many
have awaited the
annual release of
The Best American
Erotica, Susie
Bright s handpicked
collection of the
finest dirty stories of
the year. The
renowned queer
writer and sexpert
comes to Powell’s on Susie “ Sexpert” Bright comes in, er, to Portland Feb. 24
Feh. 24 to promote
the release of the brand new 2003 edition.
ES: The 2003 edition has a good sampling
Busy on tour, Ms. Bright swapped e-mails
of all types of styles, fetishes, sexualities and
gender expressions. Do you genuinely like
with Just Out to talk about, what else, pom.
most of the stories and subjects?
Erin Sexton: Congratulations on having a
SB : Yes, 1 fall in love with them. But maybe
day named after you in your hometown of
you mean, Can I jill off to every story in my
Santa Cruz, Calif. How did this come about?
book? No. Some stories 1 pick because they
Susie Bright: Every year the arts editors
make me laugh or cry. They get to me emo
at our kx:al paper honor a number o f artists
tionally, and I feel their genuine erotic pulse.
There’s something universal they’re touching
living in our area who they believe are
upon.
“making a difference,” so to speak. When
the paper announced its awards and held a
Then there’s the ones that have me fanning
cerem ony...the mayor cam e and presented
myself briskly.. .and they often come as a com
me with this incredible declaration of “ my
plete surprise. I never came in my pants to a
day.” I had never met the man before or had | gay male fantasy in my life until I read Aaron
Travis’ “The Hit.” ...That story is so insane, so
a clue that he was so familiar with my work.
His pronouncement of my day made me cry!
hot, I defy anyone of any sexual preference to
resist it. You’re screaming (it’s a crime thriller)
and reaching for the vibrator at the same time.
E S: Were there any special festivities for
Susie Bright Day?
E S: What do you see as the “ next fron
SB : I had a party. I encouraged my fans on
tier” in pom and erotica?
my mailing list to have some sort of celebra
tion, and I got the funniest reactions. Lots of
S B : In both the first Gulf War and now, in
Bush’s latest aggression, I’ve seen an upsurge in
people had special orgasms for me.
manuscripts by men where the story concerns a
man who “gives up” his masculine assertiveness
ES: Best Am erican Erotica is celebrating
in some fashion. He gets fucked in the ass, he
its 10th anniversary. What are people writing
wears a pink baby-doll nightie, he gets sexually
about that they didn’t write about 10 years
overwhelmed and is “taken.”
ago?
S B : Much more far-reaching material
The first time I saw this, I thought it was
about gender identity and, you might say,
just because a lot of people had been watching
“gender disposal.” And more than that,
videos like Bend Over Boyfriend, and it was just
the effect of gay sex loosening straight men up.
women don’t feel like they’re charged with
writing “as women” for the feminist cause.
But since now I see that this has only hap
Women authors who want to speak in the
pened in wartime situations, I have a new
theory, which is that this is the side of men
voice of a male protagonist will just go ahead
that spills forth from the unconscious when
and do it.
the iihcrman is called upon to go forth and
ES: Not only have you written an obscene
invade, halls out. In erotica, the balls are des
amount of erotica and pom, it seems you’ve
perately pulling up j n
read a lot of it. Can you speak to the quality
as of late?
SUSIE B r ig h t reads from The Best American
Erotica 2003 7:30 pm Feb. 24 at Potvell's Books,
SB : [There’sJ more than ever, and so the
cream is still the top 10 percent, hut it’s a big
1005 W. Burnside St.
ger p<x)l of cream! Tremendous variety in the
point of view and voices I hear from; it’s like a
When not selling advertising at Just Out,
road trip across sexual America.
E rin S exton reads a lot of pom.
ju s t r m
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