Contra/diction: New Queer Male Fiction

Front Cover
Brett Josef Grubisic
Arsenal Pulp Press, 1998 - Fiction - 242 pages

Contra/Diction is an anthology of gay men's fiction to re-establish the queer in queer.



The book is a gay men's fiction anthology that represents the plurality of gay identity; an attempt to show that not all gay men "drive to Ikea, go to the gym, and buy new ties for their management-level positions before taking in the latest stage hit," as suggested in such well-known men's anthologies as the Men on Men series. Instead, the stories found in Contra/Diction are not easily digestible; their writers ask difficult questions of themselves and the world around them in a way which makes them truly "queer." The nightmare and paradise of sexuality, love, and community are viewed from different perspectives, along with issues of race, economics, violence, politics, and homophobia.



The 32 stories, by writers living in the US and Canada, include dark fantasies about hustlers and one-night stands, and cautionary tales about murderers and dreamers. As might be expected, AIDS is a spectre that haunts many of these stories, represented in themes of anger, beauty, and bereavement. In addition, there are statements from the contributors, in which they write about their motivations and concerns as queer male writers at the cusp of the millennium.



Contra/Diction wishes to speak loudly from the margins, articulating a specific storytelling "queerness" that is politicized, sexualized, and without mercy.



Shortlisted for the American Library Assoc. Award for Gay Literature

From inside the book

Contents

Acknowledgements
7
GEORGE ILSLEY The Relative Bargain
15
FRANCISCO IBAŅEZCARRASCO Hurt Me Mi Amor
23
Copyright

24 other sections not shown

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About the author (1998)

Brett Josef Grubisic is the author of the novel The Age of Cities, published in 2006 and a finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award, as well as co-author of American Hunks, editor of Contra/Diction: New Queer Male Fiction and co-editor (with Carellin Brooks) of Carnal Nation: Brave New Sex Fictions. He teaches English at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

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