Meet Our Guest Author
Ann Bannon
According to one writer, Ann Bannon never considered that her stories would become legends, inspiring countless fledgling dykes to flock to Greenwich Village, dog-eared copies of her books in hand, to find their own Beebos and Lauras and others who shared that unnamable love.
Ann Bannon is an American writer best known for writing a series of six lesbian pulp-fiction books (1957-1962) known as The Beebo Brinker Chronicles. These books were popular when first published and have proved remarkably long-lived, especially for pulp fiction. This iconic longevity, the characters and the books themselves have earned her the title of ”Queen of Lesbian Pulp Fiction.”
Her first in the series, Odd Girl Out was the second best-selling paperback of 1957, a fact she did not learn until 30 years later after references to her characters began to show up in poems and other works of literature.
Ann now tours the country visiting paperback-collecting conventions and speaking at colleges and universities about her writings and experiences. She is featured in Terry Gross’ recent book, All I Did Was Ask, a collection of transcripts from “Fresh Air”. She also speaks at gay-themed events around the country. The Beebo Brinker Chronicles was adapted as a play by an off-Broadway group called The Hourglass Group and debuted September 27, 2007.
