On this page you will find a broad overview of all things lesbian pulp fiction. Toggle between the menus to find definitions of lesbian pulp fiction as well as other key terms, historical context, notable authors, publishers, and cover artists, and a list of literary themes.
Definitions of key terms used throughout this LibGuide:
Lesbian pulp fiction books share the following characteristics:
[This definition was adapted from The Lesbian Pulp Fiction Collection at Mount Saint Vincent University.]
Throughout this LibGuide, I use the term ‘Virile Adventure’ to describe the lesbian pulps written by male authors, and some straight women.
Common aspects of virile adventures:
This subset of pulps describes those books that were for and by women, often written by lesbian authors.
Common aspects of pro-lesbian pulps:
[These definitions were adapted from Yvonne Keller's article Ab/normal Looking: Voyeurism and Surveillance in Lesbian Pulp Novels and US Cold War Culture.]
The rise of lesbian pulp fiction relied on several economic, legal, and social factors.
For more information, visit Montana State University Billings Library Guide on LGBTQ History.
For more information, visit the University of Minnesota's Library Guide on Dime Novels, Story Papers, Series Books, and Pulps
For more information, visit The Lesbian Pulp Fiction Collection @ Mount Saint Vincent University
For more information, visit The Lesbian Pulp Fiction Collection @ Mount Saint Vincent University
Lesbian pulp books can be identified through many reoccurring themes. The following bulleted lists describe some of the most common tropes and literary motifs that are found across many lesbi-pulp titles.
The front and back covers of pulp books often include specific language or ‘code words’ to notify the reader that the book will contain lesbian themes.
Examples of such language:
Examples of the most common settings found in lesbian pulps:
The text itself also contains recurring literary themes and motifs:
Age difference relationships
Predatory or Aggressive Lesbian - lure a submissive lesbian into a ‘lesbian prostitution ring’ or unequal power dynamic relationship
Racism
Love triangles
Bisexual love triangle
A woman must choose between a woman or man suitor
Straight man attempts to reform a lesbian
Lesbian love triangle
Gender dynamics
Many pulp lesbian relationships center on the butch/femme dynamic, in which one is the more masculine/androgynous presenting lesbian, and the other, the femme, is completely feminine-presenting
Identity Formation
Many pulps explore the question of the origins of homosexuality in an individual:
Biological determinism
‘Born’ a lesbian
Psychological determinism
Rape/Incest/Abuse by a man or family member
Absence of a mother or father figure
Alcoholism/Addiction
Choice
A cognitive choice to become a lesbian
Certain lesbian pulps employ genres other than romance:
Over time, lesbian authors, and some straight men and women, began to write lesbian pulps of their own, putting forth more sympathetic portrayals of lesbian love. These 'Pro-Lesbian Pulps' became survival literature for queer people in the 50s and 60s who had few other positive representations of their identity in media. Given that gay and lesbian lifestyles were illegal in the United States in the 1950s, many of the pro-lesbian pulp authors published their work under pseudonyms to protect their true
identities.
This is a list of some of the most notable pro-lesbian pulp authors and their pseudonyms if they used one. In many cases, there is little information about authors and whether they used a pseudonym at all.
Name | Pseudonym | Note |
---|---|---|
Radclyffe Hall | Wrote The Well of Loneliness, a classic of lesbian fiction which was republished in paperback | |
Patricia Highsmith | Claire Morgan | The Price of Salt was one of the first lesbian pulps to end with the lesbian couple staying together. In 1990, Highsmith republished this book under her own name and with a new title: Carol. It was adapted into the 2015 film starring Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett. |
Tereska Torrés | A French novelist who wrote 'the first lesbian pulp,' Women's Barracks | |
Marijane Meaker | Vin Packer, Ann Aldrich | Was in a relationship with Patricia Highsmith! |
Ann Weldy | Ann Bannon | Ann Bannon is known as the Queen of lesbian pulp fiction. Her books helped shape the modern lesbian identity, putting forth the first compassionate depictions of butch and femme dynamics in lesbian relationships. |
Velma Nacella Young | Valerie Taylor | Young became known for writing characters and plots which deal with and experience life in the working class, as well as the imbalance of social and economic power between male employers and female employees |
Sally Singer | March Hastings, Laura DuChamp | Was one of the few lesbian pulp authors that lived openly as a lesbian for nearly her whole life, purportedly being linked romantically with another lesbian pulp author, Pat Perdue (who wrote as Randy Salem) |
Marilyn Wasserman | Joan Ellis, Julie Ellis, Jill Monte | Purportedly, Wasserman was not a lesbian, but she used her status as a heterosexual woman Midwood writer to insist to her publishers that her books with lesbian characters end happily, which lauded her praise and adoration from lesbian readers |
Elaine Williams | Sloan Britton, Sloane Britain | Her early works were praised for their positive portrayal of lesbian relationships, but her later works became more cynical, with dismal endings. |
Ron Singer | Jay Warren, Greg Hamilton | The brother of Sally Singer, Ron was a male author who wrote positive portrayals of lesbians. It was also rumored that he was bisexual himself. |
Alma Routsong | Isabel Miller | The Isabel Miller Papers are housed in the Sophia Smith Collection of Women’s History at Smith College! |
When the commercial market for pulps with lesbian subject matter was first discovered, the genre was controlled by male authors who depicted ridiculously fetishized portraits of lesbian life. They usually used female pseudonyms to seem more authentic. These male-authored lesbian pulps are known as ‘Virile Adventures’ because they were made by and for the male heterosexual gaze.
This is a list of the most notable male authors of virile adventure pulps and their pseudonyms if they used one. In many cases, there is little information about authors and whether they used a pseudonym at all.
Name | Pseudonym |
---|---|
Gilbert Fox | Kimberly Kemp, Dallas Mayo, Paul Russo, among others |
Donald Edwin Westlake | Edwin West, Don Holiday |
Harry Whittington | Suzanne Stephens |
Bela William Von Block | Lucchesi Aldo, W.D. Sprague |
Don Rico | Donna Richards |
Paul Hugo Little | Sylvia Sharon |
Richard E. Geis | Peggy Swenson |
For more information, visit The Lesbian Pulp Fiction Collection @ Mount Saint Vincent University
Paperback presses had very specific tactics for marketing their lesbian pulp books:
After the Golden Age:
For more information, read Jaye Zimet’s Strange Sisters: The Art of Lesbian Pulp Fiction of 1949-1969