From the FLP mailbox:
2016 will mark the fortieth anniversary of the only spoken word album produced by Olivia Records, Where Would I Be Without You? Featuring the poems of Judy Grahn and Pat Parker, Where Would I Be Without You? introduced Grahn and Parker to a wide array of women making the two beloved poet/troubadours during the 1970s. While both enjoyed enormous popularity, scholarly treatments of their work and its lasting significance have been sparse. This special issue of *The Journal of Lesbian Studies* will continue to redress the lack of critical engagement with these two important and iconic lesbian-feminist poets.
*The Journal of Lesbian Studies* is an interdisciplinary journal, thus, multi- and inter-disciplinary approaches are encouraged. What is the importance of the work of Pat Parker and Judy Grahn? What is the significance of the San Francisco/Bay Area in their work–and how does their work speak to the work of east coast poets? How can we read their work in relationship to political and social formations of feminism and lesbianism during the 1970s and 1980s? How can their work speak to contemporary audiences? While we welcome articles about single poems or comparisons of Parker and Grahn’s work with one another or with other poets, we also welcome proposals that explore Parker and Grahn and the intersections of lesbian literary history, the lesbian feminist movement, feminist presses, lesbian feminist publishing. Delight and surprise us with exciting engagements in the challenging, provocative, and beautiful work of Pat Parker and Judy Grahn.
Cheryl Clarke, Julie R. Enszer, and Lisa M. Hogeland are the guest editors for this special issue. Please direct inquiries or submit a proposal of 500 words with a brief CV to the guest editors in care of Julie R. Enszer (JulieREnszer@gmail.com) by April 1, 2014 (no joke!). Please put JLS Special Issue: YOUR NAME in the subject line.
The guest editors will respond to proposals by May 1st. Complete manuscripts of approximately 5,000-7,500 words will be due September 15, 2014.
More information about the iconic album is available here.
-Bridget Crawford
