Sinister Wisdom

Happy New Year! As we give thanks for the old and look forward to the new, let’s take a look at the first piece of art from the Sinister Wisdom 2026 calendar. Pictured is Arden Eversmeyer's pin collection by Meghan McDonough @mmcdonough3 The piece is a film still from Old Lesbians, shown this past October in New York City at the 2025 Lesbian Lives Conference. About the history of the film, Meghan says, “Old Lesbians honors Arden's legacy by animating the resilient, joyful voices she preserved in the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project, from first crush to first love, from the closet to coming out, and finally from loss to connection.” Meghan McDonough is a filmmaker and journalist who directs and edits documentary shorts and series to better understand our world. She won Aesthetica/Audible’s Listening Pitch in 2023 to fund her documentary short Old Lesbians, which was featured on the 2024 IDA Documentary Awards Best Short Documentary Shortlist, commissioned by The Guardian, and has screened at institutions, community centers, and film festivals around the world, including the California State Capitol, the British Film Institute, and the American LGBTQ+ Museum. Meghan has worked as a staff video journalist at Quartz and a producer/editor at NBCUniversal Local. Her freelance work has also appeared in Scientific American, Thomson Reuters Foundation, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and more, and has been supported by the Pulitzer Center. She received her BA in Film and Media Studies from Amherst College. Please follow Meghan and support her beautiful art!

Here’s a bit about us, what we do, how to subscribe to the journal, and get involved! To learn more about Sinister Wisdom, read the archives, and subscribe, visit sinisterwisdom.org Don’t forget to subscribe and get four issues of Sinister Wisdom in your mailbox every year 🌱 Subscriptions are sliding scale and we also offer sustainer rates for folks who can give a bit more Free issues for incarcerated women and community members, as well as youth centers, LGBTQ studies and programs, libraries, and more! To submit your work, intern or guest edit email our editor and publisher Julie R. Enszer at [email protected]

Since our inception in 1976, Sinister Wisdom has remained committed to amplifying the voices of all marginalized people and speaking out against injustice everywhere. This support has always included the Palestinian people. As we bear witness to the atrocities happening to the Palestinian people in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli Occupation Forces, it is important we reaffirm our support and speak out against this oppression. This post aims to show our solidarity by sharing materials published by Sinister Wisdom either written by Palestinians, about the occupation, or about the necessity of protest as a tool for liberation. We hope you will take the time to read through these materials and take action to show your support and call for an immediate ceasefire and end of the occupation of Palestine. All of the materials included in these slides can be found at SinisterWisdom.org/Archive. Cover image credit: @TheDykeProject The comments will be left off for this post — emails can be directed to our editor and publisher Julie R. Enszer at [email protected]

Happy birthday to Cheryl Clarke, author of the Sapphic Classic Living as a Lesbian! Living as a Lesbian is Cheryl Clarke’s paean to lesbian life. Filled with sounds from her childhood in Washington, DC, the riffs of jazz musicians, and bluesy incantations, Living as a Lesbian sings like a marimba, whispering “i am, i am in love with you.” Living as a Lesbian chronicles Clarke’s years of literary and political activism with anger, passion, and determination. Clarke mourns the death of Kimako Baraka (“sister of famous artist brother”), celebrates the life of Indira Gandhi, and chronicles all kinds of disasters—natural and human-made. The world is large in Living as a Lesbian but also personal and intimate. These poems are closely observed and finely wrought, with Clarke’s characteristic charm and wit shining throughout. Join Sinister Wisdom and Cheryl Clarke on Zoom this Tuesday, May 19 at 7 p.m. ET to celebrate Clarke's newest Sapphic Classic, a collection titled Acts of Resistance: Essential Essays, Archival Encounters, and New Poems. All Sinister Wisdom events are free to attend. We welcome people to donate at the level you can to support our work, link to register and donate in bio. Sapphic Classics are reprint editions of iconic works of lesbian writing—or new works—from influential lesbian writers. Inaugurated in 2013 with Crime Against Nature by Minnie Bruce Pratt, the Sapphic Classics series brings important collections of lesbian writing back into print, making them available to reach new readers. You can find Sapphic Classics wherever you buy your books—or on our website, linked in bio.

Mandy Wallace’s piece “Plantinting” glows off the pages of the third issue of Sinister Wisdom, published in 1977. The drawing was partially inspired by a friend she met at a separatist group, who spent a summer on a “Back to the Land” farm. Read more about Mandy Wallace's early work and why the piece is called "Plantinting" in Sinister Wisdom in Sinister Snapshot 98. Also inside: Our Cheryl Clarke Sapphic Classic launch, a huge number of writing opportunities, and more! - https://mailchi.mp/sinisterwisdom/snapshot98

Thank you to all who participated in the Sinister Wisdom 50th Anniversary Auction! A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Sinister Wisdom is powered by and for the community. If you missed the auction and want to make a gift to Sinister Wisdom, please consider making a donation, link in our bio. Your donations support our mission to create radical, empowering, resilient, and joyous sanctuaries that build and sustain vibrant lesbian futures. Those who made a purchase through the auction are invited to share a photograph with your new item, to be featured on our Instagram. We are delighted and honored to share in celebrating 50 years of herstory with you!

We loved the Rainbow Book Fair 🏳️‍🌈 at NY's LGBT Center! Pictured are Sinister Wisdom Managing Editor Shawn Smith-Cruz with Avery Irons, and Steven Fullwood holding up the Essential Poems of Pat Parker. Thank you to all who stopped by and volunteered at our table!

Sinister Wisdom’s event season will conclude with a celebration of a new Sapphic Classic: The Dyke & the Dybbuk by Ellen Galford. Originally published in 1993, The Dyke & The Dybbuk remains strikingly relevant today. Witty, satirical, and full of heart, The Dyke & The Dybbuk is a sharp comedy about religion, family, queer identity, and the absurdities of modern life. Register now at sinisterwisdom.org/events to join us to celebrate with Ellen Galford the re-release of this wonderful novel as a Sapphic Classic. This event will be held over Zoom on Tuesday, June 2 at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT. All Sinister Wisdom events are free to attend. We welcome people to donate at the level you can to support our work, link to register and donate in bio.

A message from Julie Enszer, editor and publisher of Sinister Wisdom: With our 50th Anniversary Auction drawing to a close, we would like to thank our supporters from the bottoms of our hearts for your ongoing patronage. While many of our fabulous items have been snapped up already, we still have a wide variety left available to bid on or buy directly. The auction closes tonight so now is the perfect time to start bidding. You might find something for a steal! We have a wonderful mix of books, magazines, artwork, and crafts up for grabs, our favorites of which are highlighted below: The Blatant Image: A Magazine of Feminist Photography (1983). Photos from the US and other countries. Rare, out of print, and hard to find! Current bid $75, buy now price $200. This catalog of feminist artist Judy Chicago's work was published by the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Edited by Dr. Elizabeth A. Sackler, with essays by Lucy Lippard and Dr. Viki Thompson Wylder and an Introduction by Edward Lucie-Smith. Over 100 color photographs documenting Chicago's career. You won't find this book anywhere else! Current bid $20, buy now price $200. Embroidering Our Heritage: The Dinner Party Needlework by Judy Chicago. Book features embroidery panels and other works of art connected with Judy Chicago's Dinner Party mixed media sculpture. Over 100 color and black and white illustrations of embroidery, ceramic, metals and other works of art and crafts. Photos of the artists. Includes glossary and endnotes. Softcover. 1980. Current bid $15, buy now price $50. Last Impressions: Jane Austen's Endings by Theresa Kenney. "Last Impressions offers an in-depth analysis of the literary strategies Austen employs to conclude her novels." 2025. Starting price $5, buy now price $40. Penelope's Bones: A New History of Homer's World through the Women Written Out of It By Emily Hauser. "Essential reading for anyone who loves the novels of Madeline Miller, Pat Barker, or Natalie Haynes, this riveting new history reveals the real women of the Bronze Age Aegean." Hardcover. 2025. Current bid $15, buy now price $50. Shop the auction until midnight at givebutter.com/c/sinisterwisdom50!

Today is the last day to place your bids on a piece of herstory from the Sinister Wisdom 50th Anniversary Auction! Bidding at givebutter.com/c/sinisterwisdom50 will close tonight, May 5 at 9 p.m. PT / midnight ET. There are still lots of goodies to discover--including this rare and hard to find LGBTQ+-focused board game from 1992. The Rainbow Gayme is "a combination of trivia, drawing and charades, kind of like a gay-themed Cranium." Designed by Mary George, Pennie Rose, and Linda Winters, with art by Oliver Ferrasci, Victor Flores, Kent Judkins, and Gale Steelman. "Begin the gayme by coming out of the closet. "Follow a path of rainbow-colored stepping stones.... "The Rainbow Gayme is a fun way to learn more about the myth, magic and lore of our gay culture." Proceeds of the Sinister Wisdom 50th Anniversary Auction support our mission to create radical, empowering, resilient, and joyous sanctuaries that build and sustain vibrant lesbian futures. Sinister Wisdom, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Sinister Wisdom publishes lesbian and queer literature, including four issues of the journal every year; a vital community newsletter twice a month; the Wild Shrew Literary Review of queer and lesbian books; a lesbian art calendar; and the Sapphic Classics series, reissuing beloved, out of print titles by iconic lesbian writers including Minnie Bruce Pratt, Cheryl Clarke, Beth Brant, Tatiana de la tierra, Joan Nestle, and Pat Parker. Sinister Wisdom also hosts lively, dynamic events throughout the year online and in-person, including book clubs, issue launches, discussions with authors, and more. Sinister Wisdom provides free subscriptions to women in prison and mental institutions and offers reduced price subscriptions for lesbians/queer women with limited or fixed incomes. We welcome all to join us in celebration of 50 years of publishing lesbian and queer literature. Thank you for supporting Sinister Wisdom! Credit: IdleRemorse.com & BoardGameGeek.com

@butch_fever and Sinister Wisdom love rock ‘n roll and hate creeps 🤘 Joan Jett has spent her decades-long career combatting sexism while navigating the male-dominated music industry. Invasive questions about female sexuality were par for the course, both on and off screen. And though she shouldn’t have to, she holds her own every time. A true rockstar. #joanjett #lesbian #musichistory #queer #butch

SOLD! "Women of Hawaii" pictures by Pegge Hopper. Upon moving to Hawai‘i, Pegge worked as an art director for an advertising agency. After visiting the State Archives and seeing old photographs of Native Hawaiians, she was inspired to start painting again. The Pegge Hopper Gallery opened in 1983 and is located in Honolulu’s Historic Chinatown, where Pegge’s original paintings, drawings, ceramics, limited edition prints and posters are available. Her works are represented in many prominent private and public collections such as the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (Honolulu), Honolulu Advertiser, The Pacific Club and the renowned Bishop Museum. (Imago Mundi Collection). Ka Leo O Hawai'i staff writer Natanya Friedheim writes: "If people in Hawai‘i don’t recognize Pegge Hopper by name, they likely recognize her work: flat planes of pastel colors, accents of tropical flora and, featured most prominently, a lounging Hawaiian woman... this symbolism disturbs [University of Hawai'i art professor Gaye] Chan and other onlookers who see Hopper’s work as part of an artistic legacy that has commodified people indigenous to the Pacific islands while masking dispossession and continuing racial inequality." "“This woman that I paint is androgenous. She is, to me, tough. She’s not skinny. She owns herself.” (Pegge Hopper) "Even though the women in Hopper’s popular paintings are passive, many feel a sense of empowerment in viewing the work. Others say the repetition of this imagery plays into a stereotype that associates women’s power with nature and fertility." (Ka Leo O Hawai'i @kaleoohawaii ) The Sinister Wisdom 50th Anniversary Auction has raised $1,780, with 30 supporters, and is still going strong! Bid now until May 5th midnight E.T. at givebutter.com/sinisterwisdom50. Proceeds of the Sinister Wisdom 50th Anniversary Auction support our mission to create radical, empowering, resilient, and joyous sanctuaries for vibrant lesbian futures. In 2026, Sinister Wisdom is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Please join us for all of the celebrations, including this auction! #aapiheritagemonth #feminism #art