Apr 01, 2005  |  By: Mike Fleming  | COMMENTS     

The gay literary machine never stops rolling. Just as national gay book awards races heat up spring with nominations for the best of 2004, hundreds of new titles are hitting stores to become next year’s contenders.

The year has already seen releases of gay and lesbian fiction, biographies, memoirs, history and academic studies that are drawing attention from readers and critics. It’s impossible to cover the constant deluge of offerings from gay and mainstream publishers, but here are a few spring titles worth seeking.

One of the most highly anticipated novels to come out in the next few months is the final entry in James Earl Hardy’s wildly popular B-Boy Blues series about a group of African-American gay men. “A House is Not a Home” is set for release in June.

Other works of fiction include Douglas McKeown’s “Queer Stories for Boys,” Kevin Bentley’s gay romance “Let’s Shut Out the World,” and “The Order of the Poison Oak,” the coming-of-age sequel to “Geography Club” by Brent Hartinger.

Humor, tongue-in-cheek advice, anthologies and other non-fiction works keep their place in readers’ hearts this spring as well. Look for Dave Singleton’s “Behind Every Great Woman, There’s a Fabulous Gay Man,” and Camper English’s “Party Like a Rock Star, Even When You’re Poor as Dirt.”

Camp king John Waters lends his name on two books this season. “Pink Flamingos and Other Filth” compiles three screenplays for films starring Waters’ most famous muse, Divine. “Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste” rounds up photographic and textual examples of American schlock with Waters’ particular brand of sick humor.

Another fun book that readers can take in doses for a quick read is “The Quotable Queer,” due out in April.

“Worth the Room” by Paul Lachlan Peck is an upcoming memoir of note. Peck, 77, overcame abuse, prejudice and scorn to come to terms with his gender identity and become a minister, healer and psychic.

And from world-renowned gay author Felice Picano comes his memoir of 70s Greenwich Village told through adventures with his cat, “Fred in Love.” Picano is already on tour with the book and is scheduled to read at Lambda Rising at 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 6.

Also based on real-life adventures, “Superstar in a Housedress: the Jackie Curtis Story” releases in conjunction with a DVD on the legendary drag personality and Andy Warhol minion.

Gay publishing houses are churning out a consistent set of interesting spring titles in every literary genre.

In addition to “Party Like a Rock Star” and scores of other titles, Alyson Publications also offers Jay Quinn’s “Back Where He Started” in April. It’s a touching story of a man in his 40s who forges a new life after his partner of 20 years dumps him for a woman. Quinn tours with the book in June.

Cleis Press, perhaps best known for its “Best Lesbian Erotica” and “Best Gay Erotica” series, offers more of those compilations as well as “Lesbian Pulp Fiction” over the next few months. The publisher also recently released “I Am My Own Wife,” the real-life transgender story that inspired the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play. Cleis also plans another installment in its “Queer Anthology” series on gay arts.

Other publishers worth watching this spring are Haworth Press, Arsenal Pulp Press, Akashic Books, Kensington, W. W. Norton & Co., Chronicle Books, Houghton Miflin as well as Talk Miramax Books, a division of Hyperion Books and several specialty divisions of Harper Collins Publishers.