Diversity Rules Magazine

12 Diversity Rules Magazine September 2015 Amazon Trail - Con't from page 11 nated in Joan Nestle and Deb Edel's NYC apartment, "Oh children, I wish you could have seen that living room." Her words brought the audience to tears. e Golden Crown Literary Society (goldencrown. org), founded in 2004, is a 501(c)3 non-profit, all-vol- unteer organization whose mission is education, pro- motion and recognition of lesbian literature. Known for its well-attended annual conference and its pro- grams, including e Academy (for emerging lesbian writers), the Cate Culpepper Mentoring Program, and its awards—e Goldies—the GCLS brings authors, readers and publishers together for the betterment of lesbian literature. GCLS is for lesbians and like-minded women. Les- bian members run it, members do the teaching and mentoring, members staple and greet and administer and judge books for the Goldies. It is one of those in- credible institutions created out of sore need by a few dykes—writer Lori Lake, publisher Cathy Bryerose and promoter Kathy Smith—with stars in their eyes and ambition for their people. e annual conference draws lesbians from around the world, the U.S. and Canada. Seeing the other writers and readers is like going to a huge family reunion. ere is never enough time to spend with the women we want to see and want to meet. Yet meetups happen without planning and are some of the best experiences. My sweetheart and I bumped into author Catherine Friend the first morn- ing we were there and we took off on the typical NOLA adventure: Cafe du Monde beignets, a trolley ride and the French Market for Loretta's Pralines. One evening we happened across Donna McBride, co-founder of Naiad Press, who I hadn't see in many years. We strolled through the underground mall to the Mississippi River, catching up. Sandy ornton, organizer of the Jewel Book Club, a large lesbian readers group in Dallas, Texas, invited us to ac- company her while she picked up Dorothy Alli- son at the airport. I'll always remember a smiling dykey Dorothy slowly descending that escalator. Lesbian royalty. I could go on and on with my highlights, but would rather make more highlights with lesbian book lovers and writers in Alexandria, Virginia next year. Visit Lee's Website at: http://tinyurl.com/2vtuo9k

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