Conditions (magazine)
![]() The Black Women's Issue, November 1979 | |
Frequency | Biannual (1976 - 1980) Annual (1980 - 1990) |
---|---|
Founder | Elly Bulkin Jan Clausen Irena Klepfisz |
First issue | 1976 |
Final issue | 1990 |
Country | United States |
Based in | Brooklyn, New York |
Language | English |
ISSN | 2381-5620 |
OCLC | 646884046 |
Conditions (full title: Conditions: a feminist magazine of writing by women with a particular emphasis on writing by lesbians) was a lesbian feminist literary magazine that came out biannually from 1976 to 1980 and annually from 1980 until 1990, and included poetry, prose, essays, book reviews, and interviews.[1] It was founded in Brooklyn, New York, by Elly Bulkin, Jan Clausen, Irena Klepfisz and .[2]
Publishing collective[]
Conditions was a magazine that emphasized the lives and writings of lesbians, and, throughout its history, maintained an all-lesbian collective.[3] This collective expressed a "long standing commitment to diversity; of writing style and content and of background of contributors", within the lesbian and feminist communities.[4] Conditions was especially dedicated to publishing the work of lesbians, in particular working-class lesbians and lesbians of color.[3][4] While the founders were all white, Conditions was committed to promoting multiracial, multicultural, and multiethnic voices from its inception. By the early 1980s, the magazine had a diverse group of editors, especially under the leadership of Cheryl L. Clarke.[1]
The Black Women's Issue[]
The journal's fifth issue, published in November 1979, was edited by Barbara Smith and Lorraine Bethel. Conditions 5 was "the first widely distributed collection of Black feminist writing in the U.S.",[2] and was later to be the basis for the anthology Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology (1983), one of the first books released by Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press.[5] Conditions 5: The Black Women's Issue was hugely popular, and set a record in feminist publishing by selling 3,000 copies in the first three weeks it was available.[6]
Publication ceases[]
Conditions ceased publication in 1990.[3][7] It ended because the existing collective members were focusing on other projects and they were unable to find new members.[1]
Editors[]
- Barbara Smith
- Lorraine Bethel
- Dorothy Allison
- Cheryl L. Clarke
- Jewelle Gomez
- Nancy Clarke Otter
- Debbi Schaubman
- Elly Bulkin
- Jan Clausen
- Irena Klepfisz
- Rima Shore
- Melinda Goodman
- Paula Martinac
- N. Mirtha Quintanales
- Randye Lordon
Selected contributors[]
- Wilmette Brown
- Joy Harjo
- Cherríe Moraga
- Joan Nestle
- Amber Hollibaugh
- Donna Allegra
- Becky Birtha
- Audre Lorde
- Ann Allen Shockley
- Beverly Smith
- Gloria Anzaldúa
- Joan Larkin
- Paula Gunn Allen
- Jacqueline Lapidus
- Adrienne Rich
- Michelle Cliff
- Hattie Gossett
- Chrystos
- Marilyn Hacker
- Mitsuye Yamada
- Jo Carillo
- Toi Derricotte
- Minnie Bruce Pratt
- Bonnie Zimmerman
- Elly Bulkin
- Cheryl Clarke
- Dorothy Allison
- Irena Klepfisz
- Jewelle Gomez
- Honor Moore
- Luzma Umpierre
- Linda Smukler (Samuel Ace)
- Ramina Mays
- Barbara Banks
- Mab Segrest
- Sapphire[8]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ a b c Enszer, Julie R. (2015). "'Fighting to create and maintain our own Black women's culture': Conditions Magazine, 1977–1990". American Periodicals: A Journal of History & Criticism. 25 (2): 160–176. doi:10.1353/amp.2015.0025. S2CID 110217804. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
- ^ a b Smith, Barbara. The Truth That Never Hurts: Writings on Race, Gender, and Freedom, Rutgers University Press 1998, ISBN 0-8135-2761-9, p. ix.
- ^ a b c Busia, Abena P. A. Theorizing Black Feminisms: The Visionary Pragmatism of Black Women, Routledge, 1993, ISBN 0-415-07336-7, p. 225n.
- ^ a b Allison, Clarke, Schaubman editorial. Conditions 11/12, p. 3.
- ^ Munro, C. Lynn (1984). "Review: Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology. By Barbara Smith". Black American Literature Forum. 8 (4): 175. doi:10.2307/2904298. JSTOR 2904298.
- ^ Smith, Barbara. Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology, Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 1983, p. 1.
- ^ Armstrong, David. Trumpet to Arms: Alternative Media in America, South End Press, 1985, ISBN 0-89608-193-1, p. 240.
- ^ "English.asu.edu" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 22, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
- Annual magazines published in the United States
- Defunct women's magazines published in the United States
- Feminism in New York City
- Feminist magazines
- History of women in New York City
- Lesbian culture in New York (state)
- LGBT history in New York City
- Lesbian feminist literature
- Lesbian history in the United States
- Lesbian working-class culture
- Multicultural feminism
- Magazines established in 1976
- Magazines disestablished in 1990
- Magazines published in New York City
- Biannual magazines published in the United States
- 1976 establishments in New York City
- 1976 in LGBT history