Maureen Brady (born June 7, 1943) is an American writer, editor and educator. She is best known for her novels[1] Ginger's Fire, Folly,[2] and Give Me Your Good Ear.[3][4][5][6] She currently lives and works in New York City and Woodstock, NY.

Personal life

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Brady was born on June 7, 1943, in Mount Vernon, New York and spent her adolescence in Florida. She practised as a physical therapist and also taught physical therapy at Russell Sage College, Troy, New York.[7] In 1977, she attended a New School workshop in writing which gave her the confidence to begin writing.[8] She currently lives in New York with her partner, Martha.[9]

Career

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In 1982, she wrote the novel Folly out of a desire to cast a woman who was an outsider in her community splintered by racism, homophobia, patriarchy and capitalism as a hero.[8][10] The novel focuses on a workers strike of North Carolina garment workers with various sub-plots about the diverse set of characters lives in a segregated town.[8][11] The novel has been described as "pro-labor, feminist, anti-racist, queer positive."[2] In 1994, it was reprinted as a classic by The Feminist Press.[12]

Brady has received awards and fellowships from the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, the New York State Creative Arts Public Service program[7] of the New York State Council on the Arts, the Briarcombe Foundation, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.

In 1978, Brady founded the lesbian feminist publishing company Spinsters Ink with Judith McDaniel.[13] As one of the oldest lesbian feminist publishers in the world, Spinsters Ink is widely regarded as a pioneering feminist institution.[14][15][16][17] Brady has served as the editor of many books, including The Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde, Spinsters Ink (1980), and The Words of a Woman Who Breathes Fire: Poetry and Prose by Kitty Tsui, Spinsters Ink (1983).[18]

A page from one of Brady's manuscripts was included in "Statements from Lesbian Artists", which accompanied the 1978 exhibition A Lesbian Show.[19] Curated by Harmony Hammond, the show was the first lesbian-identified art exhibition in the United States.[20][19]

Brady has taught writing at Skidmore College, Bard College, and The Resource Center for Accessible Living in Kingston, NY. She currently teaches creative writing at New York University, the New York Writers Workshop and the Peripatetic Writing Workshop.[21][22]

Brady serves as the board president of the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund.[23]

Bibliography

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  • Give Me Your Good Ear, Spinsters Ink (1979)
  • Folly, Feminist Press at the City University of New York (1982)[24][25]
  • The Question She Put to Herself, Crossing Press (1987)
  • Daybreak: Meditations for Women Survivors of Sexual Abuse, Hazelden Publishing (1991)[26]
  • Beyond Survival: A Writing Journey for Healing Childhood Sexual Abuse, HarperCollins (1992)[27]
  • Midlife: Meditations for Women, HarperCollins (1995)
  • Ginger's Fire, Alice Street Editions/Harrington Park Press (2005)[28]
  • Getaway, Bacon Press Books (2018)

Anthologies

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  • Lesbian Texts and Contexts: Radical Revisions, NYU Press (1990)[29]
  • Lovers: Stories by Women, Crossing Press (1992)
  • Catholic Girls, Plume (1992)[30]
  • Contemporary Lesbian Writers of the United States: A Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook, Greenwood Press (1993)[31]
  • A Loving Testimony: Remembering Loved Ones Lost to AIDS, Crossing Press (1995)
  • Cabbage and Bones: An Anthology of Irish-American Women's Fiction, Holt Paperbacks (1997)
  • Touching Fire: Erotic Writings by Women, Running Press (1998)[32]
  • Queer View Mirror 2: Lesbian and Gay Short Fiction, Arsenal Pulp Press (2002)[33]
  • Queer View Mirror: Lesbian and Gay Short Fiction, Arsenal Pulp Press (2002)

References

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  1. ^ Ferguson, Mary Anne (1980). "Images of Women in Literature: An Evolution". The Radical Teacher (17): 34–36. ISSN 0191-4847. JSTOR 20709278.
  2. ^ a b "The Labor Movement and Maureen Brady's Folly". blog.pshares.org. October 2017. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
  3. ^ "Maureen Brady". Feminist Press. 29 January 2016. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
  4. ^ stevens, wendy (1979). Brady, Maureen (ed.). "give me your good ear". Off Our Backs. 9 (4): 22. ISSN 0030-0071. JSTOR 25773043.
  5. ^ Short, Kayann (1996). Arnold, June; Nachman/Dykewomon, Elana; Harris, Bertha; Brady, Maureen (eds.). "Do-It-Yourself Feminism". The Women's Review of Books. 13 (4): 20–21. doi:10.2307/4022268. ISSN 0738-1433. JSTOR 4022268.
  6. ^ dejanikus, tacie (1980). "our legacy". Off Our Backs. 10 (10): 17–25. ISSN 0030-0071. JSTOR 25773355.
  7. ^ a b "Writer awarded grant". The Post-Star. Glens Falls, New York. 3 April 1979. p. 8. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  8. ^ a b c Sorrel, Lorraine; Sojourner, Susan; Brady, Maureen (1983). "interview: Maureen Brady: envisioning possibilities". Off Our Backs. 13 (4): 14–16. ISSN 0030-0071. JSTOR 25774961.
  9. ^ "Maureen Brady - Biography". www.maureenbradyny.com. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  10. ^ Brady, Maureen (2016-08-15). Folly. The Feminist Press at CUNY. ISBN 9781558614154.
  11. ^ Stein, Julia (1998). "Tangled Threads: Two Novels About Women in the Textile Trades, "Call the Darkness Light" by Nancy Zaroulis and Folly by Maureen Brady". Women's Studies Quarterly. 26 (1/2): 98–112. ISSN 0732-1562. JSTOR 40003463.
  12. ^ "Folly". Feminist Press. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
  13. ^ DeBold, Kathleen (September 2000). "Bellas Lettres". Lambda Book Report. 9 (2): 13. ISSN 1048-9487. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  14. ^ Nelson, Emmanuel S. (2009-07-14). Encyclopedia of Contemporary LGBTQ Literature of the United States [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780313348600.
  15. ^ Stone, Amy L.; Cantrell, Jaime (2015-11-20). Out of the Closet, Into the Archives: Researching Sexual Histories. SUNY Press. ISBN 9781438459035.
  16. ^ "Lesbian Feminism, 1960s and 1970s · Lesbians in the Twentieth Century, 1900-1999 · outhistory.org". outhistory.org. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  17. ^ wilson, barbara (1984). "European Feminist Publishing". Off Our Backs. 14 (5): 14–15. ISSN 0030-0071. JSTOR 25775107.
  18. ^ LeVay, Simon; Nonas, Elisabeth (1997). City of Friends: A Portrait of the Gay and Lesbian Community in America. MIT Press. ISBN 9780262621137.
  19. ^ a b Robbins, Jill (2011-06-21), "Toward Lesbian Visibility", Crossing through Chueca, University of Minnesota Press, pp. 117–124, doi:10.5749/minnesota/9780816669899.003.0007, ISBN 9780816669899
  20. ^ "White Columns Archive". www.whitecolumns.org. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
  21. ^ "Faculty Profile: Maureen Brady, Adjunct Assistant Professor | NYU SPS Professional Pathways". www.sps.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  22. ^ "Faculty". New York Writers Workshop. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
  23. ^ "Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Inc. : Our Board & Staff". demingfund.org. Retrieved 2019-04-12.
  24. ^ Taylor, Rebecca (15 January 1983). "Folly (Book)". Library Journal. 108 (2): 144. ISSN 0363-0277. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  25. ^ Rogers, Michael (August 1994). "Book reviews: Classic returns". Library Journal. 119 (13): 141. ISSN 0363-0277. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  26. ^ "Book reviews: BRADY, Maureen. DAYBREAK: Meditations for Women Survivors of Sexual Abuse". Adolescence. 28 (112): 991. Winter 1993. ISSN 0001-8449. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  27. ^ "Dykes to Watch Out For: ONE AFTERNOON IN THE GROVES OF ACADEME". Off Our Backs. 18 (6): 22. 1988. ISSN 0030-0071. JSTOR 25796412.
  28. ^ Eklund, Jane (February 2004). "From the Ashes". Lambda Book Report. 12 (7): 18–19. ISSN 1048-9487. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  29. ^ Jay, Karla; Glasgow, Joanne; Vivien, Renee; Young, Allen (1990). Lesbian Texts and Contexts: Radical Revisions. NYU Press. ISBN 9780814741771.
  30. ^ CATHOLIC GIRLS by Sumrall Amber Coverdale & Patrice Vecchione--Eds. | Kirkus Reviews.
  31. ^ "Contemporary lesbian writers of the United States : a bio-bibliographical critical sourcebook". bepl.ent.sirsi.net. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  32. ^ "Touching Fire: Erotic Writings by Women". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
  33. ^ "Queer View Mirror 2: Lesbian and Gay Short Short Fiction". Quill and Quire. 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
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