Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme

Flamingo Rampant (a fantastic project co-created by S. Bear...

Mon, 07 May 2012 11:11:01 -0700

Flamingo Rampant (a fantastic project co-created by S. Bear Bergman) is now taking pre-orders for its two children’s books, written especially for gender independent children. The books are The Adventures of Tulip, Birthday Wish Fairy and Backwards Day. Pre-order yours today!

Both books are written by S. Bear Bergman, with illustrations by Suzy Malik (The Adventures of Tulip) and KD Diamond (Backwards Day).

Butches + choir FTW! Introducing… Leadfoot,...

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:10:54 -0700

Butches + choir FTW!

Introducing… Leadfoot, Vancouver’s brand-new, butch-laden choir! They make their debut at Ivan’s book launch on May 3rd.

We’re so excited to tell you that Persistence contributor...

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:10:30 -0700

We’re so excited to tell you that Persistence contributor and amazing musician Rae Spoon has a book of their own coming out! Rae’s book, First Spring Grass Fire (Arsenal Pulp Press), tells the story of a young person growing up queer in a strict Pentecostal family in Alberta. The book will be out in September 2012. Stay tuned for updates!

Gender Failure: The Haircut Edition Ivan Coyote and Rae Spoon...

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:17:19 -0700

Gender Failure: The Haircut Edition

Ivan Coyote and Rae Spoon are premiering their brand-new show, Gender Failure, in New York, NY and Toronto, ON this week. In honour of their show, they also got brand-new haircuts.

New York event info (Wed., April 11 and Thurs., April 12, 2012) can be found here.

Toronto event info (Sat., April 14, 2012) can be found here.

Persistence nominated for a Lambda Literary Award We just found...

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 08:43:44 -0700

Persistence nominated for a Lambda Literary Award

We just found out that Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. I’d be doing jazz hands of excitement right now if it wouldn’t render it impossible to type.

Even better, several Persistence contributors received nominations of their own: Karleen Pendleton Jiménez received a nomination for her memoir How to Get a Girl Pregnant, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha recieved a nomination for her poetry collection Love Cake, and Jeanne Córdova received a nomination for her memoir When We Were Outlaws: A Memoir of Love and Revolution.

Congratulations to all the finalists!

Ivan Coyote - Dear Younger Self Check out Ivan’s newest...

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 08:59:43 -0700

Ivan Coyote - Dear Younger Self

Check out Ivan’s newest video - “Dear Younger Self,” shot at Seattle’s Empty Sea Studios at a recent show with S. Bear Bergman.

Rae Spoon - Ocean Blue Rae Spoon, in typical sartorial...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 10:56:08 -0700

Rae Spoon - Ocean Blue

Rae Spoon, in typical sartorial splendour, premieres their newest video, “Ocean Blue.” Makes me want to go to Venice right now. Ideally with Rae, who knows where to buy the best shoes.

The Radical Doula Guide Persistence contributor Miriam Zoila...

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 07:23:04 -0800

The Radical Doula Guide

Persistence contributor Miriam Zoila Pérez has launched an exciting new project - The Radical Doula Guide.

Doulas provide emotional support during pregnancy and childbirth. The guide is a political primer to doula work as activism, and how being a doula connects to and must take into consideration things like race, class, sexuality, ability, immigration status and much, much more. Want to support the project? Check out its Indie GoGo site!

Sex + writing = awesome We’re proud to tell you that Amber...

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 08:33:38 -0800

Sex + writing = awesome

We’re proud to tell you that Amber Dawn’s piece “To All the Butches I Loved Between 1995 and 2005: An Open Letter About Selling Sex, Selling Out and Soldiering On” from Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme is featured in the anthology Best Sex Writing 2012: The State of Today’s Sexual Culture, edited by the lovely and talented Rachel Kramer Bussel. As big fans of sex, writing and Amber Dawn, we’re thrilled!

In plain sight

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:08:59 -0800

Sometimes I can spot a femme a mile away, even in trackpants. Hard to describe, but I know it when I feel it. A certain curl of lip, or an almost too-long look hello. But sometimes it is hard to tell, especially if I’m not looking.

Sometimes the radar is muted outside of gayland or a super queer literary thing, in places you don’t go looking for femmes, necessarily. But there they are. Everywhere. Just like the rest of us.

Ivan Coyote, In Plain Sight

Exciting news! Persistence co-editor and butch storyteller...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:26:25 -0800

Exciting news! Persistence co-editor and butch storyteller extraordinaire Ivan E. Coyote has a collection of stories for young adults coming out this spring. The book’s called One in Every Crowd and it’ll be out in April.

(cover art by the very talented Elisha Lim)

Shit People Say to Femmes We sincerely hope that no one in your...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:39:46 -0800

Shit People Say to Femmes

We sincerely hope that no one in your life says these things to you. If they do, however, you might want to remind them of this. Or this. Or this.

Call Me They by Elisha Lim and Coco Riot Elisha Lim (the artist...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:53:57 -0800

Call Me They by Elisha Lim and Coco Riot

Elisha Lim (the artist who drew our beautiful book cover) and Coco Riot collaborated on this stop-motion animation video, “Call Me They.” They dedicate it to their trans community.

Elisha and Coco post new trans pride art on their blog every Thursday.

Help Tara Hardy, amazing queer femme poet, get well! Tara Hardy...

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:02:26 -0800

Help Tara Hardy, amazing queer femme poet, get well!

Tara Hardy is a working class queer femme poet who writes and teaches in Seattle. She’s also one of our heroes, and a dear friend.

Tara’s recently been having serious health problems - basically, she’s got incredibly low platelets (cells that help our blood clot). To help Tara, a full-time working artist who earns her living from writing, performing, and teaching, cover the cost of her medical expenses, a group of Tara’s friends have organized a fund drive. Want to know more? Want to support an amazing femme artist? Check out Boost Tara’s Platelets.

(The video embedded here is Tara performing her poem “Femme Mystique.” Another favourite of ours is “Femme Alphabet.”)

Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme recognized in 2012...

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:47:06 -0800

Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme recognized in 2012 Stonewall Book Awards

We love librarians (and lesbrarians). A lot. They’re defenders of intellectual freedom and they work hard to keep our libraries stocked with queer and trans literature.

So naturally we were super delighted to find out that the American Library Association named Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme an Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award Honor Book as part of the 2012 Stonewall Book Awards (which recognize English-language works of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience).

Thanks, American Library Association! Thanks, librarians!

Photo credit: Sarah Leavitt

Flamingo Rampant! Gender Independent Kids Books Persistence...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:52:37 -0800

Flamingo Rampant! Gender Independent Kids Books

Persistence contributor S. Bear Bergman has launched an amazing new project - Flamingo Rampant!, a children’s book series featuring trans characters. You can support this project through Kickstarter. Tell your friends!

In December Ivan appeared on the CBC radio program Definitely...

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:54:46 -0800

In December Ivan appeared on the CBC radio program Definitely Not the Opera, telling a story about an unexpected gift.

Videographer: Ken Stewart

The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch We both just...

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 09:40:23 -0800

The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch

We both just finished reading The Chronology of Water, a memoir by Lidia Yuknavitch. The writing is so beautiful, so powerful that it brought us to tears more than once. Do yourself a favour and add this book to your 2012 reading list.

Stream Rae Spoon's new album "I Can't Keep All of Our Secrets"

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:06:32 -0800

Stream Rae Spoon's new album "I Can't Keep All of Our Secrets":

Rae Spoon fans! Lovers of the song “Stand By Your Trans!”

It’s your lucky day, ‘cause you can stream Rae Spoon’s forthcoming album “I Can’t Keep All of Our Secrets” on the exclaim! website.

Femme activist and author Minnie Bruce Pratt recently published...

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:01:39 -0800

Femme activist and author Minnie Bruce Pratt recently published an essay called “The Struggle to Write.” In it, she talks about the connections between art and activism. You can read the piece in full here.

“What kind of woman, what kind of person is she who has not been imagined yet? We knew only—from memory and scraps of story and flimsy pages—that we were the daughters of the great mass liberation movements of the United States in the 20th century. We knew that living on within us were the people who had fought the labor union battles of the ’30s, the people who shaped the Black civil rights and other national liberation movements of the ’50s and ’60s, the anti–Vietnam war and women’s liberation movements of the ’60s and ’70s.

We were creating in a space that had been cleared by these people, those struggles, a space into which we were writing our lives and histories.”

- Minnie Bruce Pratt, The Struggle to Write

Photo credit: Leslie Feinberg