Hello, Dear Readers-
Welcome to Gertrude’s third on-line issue—and our 25th overall. YES, 25! Befitting its age, this issue is a big one, featuring work from six states and three countries: Austria, France, and Nigeria.
Our cover art comes to us from France. This powerful series—“Princesses of Sheba at Night”—pairs photographs of gay Arabs from Marseille, France (photographed by Jean-Christopher Husson) with their stories, taken from interviews with Delphine Gubert. These photographs have stayed with me in my dreams…
Jean-Christophe and Delphine were also kind enough to be interviewed for this issue. As you’ll read, they are amazing people who candidly share how the creation of this project changed their lives—and how they hope it will change the lives of the people who see the exhibit (currently in the Netherlands) and the people photographed. If you’d like to follow where the exhibit is showing or reach out to Delphine about how you can continue to spread the word/host a showing of this important work, please follow her on Facebook.
Our second interview is with Paul J. Willis, Executive Director at the Saints and Sinner LGBTQ Literary Conference in New Orleans. In addition to SAS, Paul manages the Tennessee Williams Festival, which happens (luckily for us!) at the same time. I have no idea how he found the time to respond to us with such insightful and thoughtful answers to our questions, but he did—including some fantastic pictures of past conferences! Enjoy.
On the literary side, Issue 25 is packed with amazing fiction and non-fiction that is as diverse as the backgrounds of the writers, including the story of a queer crush with guitars; a moving memoir excerpt; a poetic, experimental piece; a piece that starts “Joe had almost died three times in his life”; an honest coming-to-acceptance essay; a slice of life from Nigeria; and the fable of a grandfather and a shark named Sultan. You'll want to settle into this issue, friends. Trust me.
We publish issues three times a year, so look for our next issue on May 15 (sign up for our newsletter below if you don’t want to miss it). For now, let's continue to read our stories, tell our stories, and get together with our friends. Oh, and drink more water. Seriously.
On this day, I'll end with a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. that I've seen recently on signs around Portland: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
Keep on loving-
Tammy Lynne Stoner
Welcome to Gertrude’s third on-line issue—and our 25th overall. YES, 25! Befitting its age, this issue is a big one, featuring work from six states and three countries: Austria, France, and Nigeria.
Our cover art comes to us from France. This powerful series—“Princesses of Sheba at Night”—pairs photographs of gay Arabs from Marseille, France (photographed by Jean-Christopher Husson) with their stories, taken from interviews with Delphine Gubert. These photographs have stayed with me in my dreams…
Jean-Christophe and Delphine were also kind enough to be interviewed for this issue. As you’ll read, they are amazing people who candidly share how the creation of this project changed their lives—and how they hope it will change the lives of the people who see the exhibit (currently in the Netherlands) and the people photographed. If you’d like to follow where the exhibit is showing or reach out to Delphine about how you can continue to spread the word/host a showing of this important work, please follow her on Facebook.
Our second interview is with Paul J. Willis, Executive Director at the Saints and Sinner LGBTQ Literary Conference in New Orleans. In addition to SAS, Paul manages the Tennessee Williams Festival, which happens (luckily for us!) at the same time. I have no idea how he found the time to respond to us with such insightful and thoughtful answers to our questions, but he did—including some fantastic pictures of past conferences! Enjoy.
On the literary side, Issue 25 is packed with amazing fiction and non-fiction that is as diverse as the backgrounds of the writers, including the story of a queer crush with guitars; a moving memoir excerpt; a poetic, experimental piece; a piece that starts “Joe had almost died three times in his life”; an honest coming-to-acceptance essay; a slice of life from Nigeria; and the fable of a grandfather and a shark named Sultan. You'll want to settle into this issue, friends. Trust me.
We publish issues three times a year, so look for our next issue on May 15 (sign up for our newsletter below if you don’t want to miss it). For now, let's continue to read our stories, tell our stories, and get together with our friends. Oh, and drink more water. Seriously.
On this day, I'll end with a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. that I've seen recently on signs around Portland: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
Keep on loving-
Tammy Lynne Stoner