Katherine V. Forrest
Encyclopedia
Katherine V. Forrest is an American
writer.
Forrest is best known for her eight novels about lesbian
police detective Kate Delafield. The character was the very first lesbian police detective in the American lesbian mystery genre and is described as "Miss Marple with k.d. lang, Sherlock Holmes with Candace Gingrich, and you've got Kate Delafield: ex-Marine, homicide detective for the LAPD, queer-as-the-day-is-long heroine". The second novel in the series, Murder at the Nightwood Bar, was optioned for film by director Tim Hunter
The screenplay had been written and roles cast with Mary Louise Parker as Delafield and Tom Arnold
as her police partner, but the project was ultimately shelved.
Her romance Curious Wine is considered a classic of American lesbian literature. In discussion of the "light" element of the lesbian romance Forrest said, "I think it's political as hell... Here were two women who had a lot of choices in life, a lot of options, and out of all of those options they chose the hardest one, which was to love each other." The novel is credited as one that "broke through many misconceptions about lesbians and lesbian relationships."
Of her personal political sensibilities, Forrest said, "We are the only subculture that incorporates both genders, all races, all colors, all creeds... Being visible can make us free...and give us a power we have never known." After relocating from Los Angeles to San Francisco, near The Castro district, she said, "It would be impossible to live here and not be political." This was a marked departure from her early life, of which she wrote, "Even after I committed the Big Sin and made that irrevocable passage, and even though I thereafter found women who loved me, and even though I had loving relationships, I remained essentially in the grip of all the early shame and my own powerful homophobia."
Her work is also noted for unprecedented eroticism and display of lesbian sexuality. Forrest noted that classic mysteries such as Agatha Christie might not even contain a hug. "Sexuality is a part of life and it's something that readers are interested in as far as characters... Love scenes are unparalleled opportunities to characterize a major character and bring out aspects of them that you can't in normal everyday scenes."
She also had a ten-year tenure as fiction editor at Naiad Press
and currently serves as Supervising Editor at Spinsters Ink. She has also written science fiction novels and edited numerous anthologies of gay and lesbian interest. As an editor she worked with hundreds of writers, including Jane Rule
and Lee Lynch, who wrote of Forrest's fiction, "Her stories embrace and strengthen us, and give us permission to live our lives fully just as we are."
Also known for her reviews and articles about lesbian and gay publishing, she authored book reviews appearing in the The Los Angeles Times
and San Francisco Chronicle
. Articles have appeared in Brother and Sister
, The Harvard Gay and Lesbian Review and The Lambda Book Report.
She was a recipient of the Lambda Literary Foundation
's Pioneer Award in 1998, and currently serves on their board of trustees. In 2008, she received the Bill Whitehead Lifetime Achievement Award from Publishing Triangle and the Trailblazer Award from the Golden Crown Literary Society
. She is also a recipient of The Alice B Readers Award
medal. She lives with her wife, Jo Hercus, in the San Francisco area.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer.
Forrest is best known for her eight novels about lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
police detective Kate Delafield. The character was the very first lesbian police detective in the American lesbian mystery genre and is described as "Miss Marple with k.d. lang, Sherlock Holmes with Candace Gingrich, and you've got Kate Delafield: ex-Marine, homicide detective for the LAPD, queer-as-the-day-is-long heroine". The second novel in the series, Murder at the Nightwood Bar, was optioned for film by director Tim Hunter
Tim Hunter (director)
Tim Hunter is an American television and film director. Since the late 1980s he has mostly worked on television, directing episodes for dozens of televisions series includingBreaking Bad,Carnivàle,...
The screenplay had been written and roles cast with Mary Louise Parker as Delafield and Tom Arnold
Tom Arnold (actor)
Thomas Dwaine "Tom" Arnold is an American actor and comedian. He has appeared in many films, perhaps most notably True Lies . He was the host of The Best Damn Sports Show Period for four years.-Early life:...
as her police partner, but the project was ultimately shelved.
Her romance Curious Wine is considered a classic of American lesbian literature. In discussion of the "light" element of the lesbian romance Forrest said, "I think it's political as hell... Here were two women who had a lot of choices in life, a lot of options, and out of all of those options they chose the hardest one, which was to love each other." The novel is credited as one that "broke through many misconceptions about lesbians and lesbian relationships."
Of her personal political sensibilities, Forrest said, "We are the only subculture that incorporates both genders, all races, all colors, all creeds... Being visible can make us free...and give us a power we have never known." After relocating from Los Angeles to San Francisco, near The Castro district, she said, "It would be impossible to live here and not be political." This was a marked departure from her early life, of which she wrote, "Even after I committed the Big Sin and made that irrevocable passage, and even though I thereafter found women who loved me, and even though I had loving relationships, I remained essentially in the grip of all the early shame and my own powerful homophobia."
Her work is also noted for unprecedented eroticism and display of lesbian sexuality. Forrest noted that classic mysteries such as Agatha Christie might not even contain a hug. "Sexuality is a part of life and it's something that readers are interested in as far as characters... Love scenes are unparalleled opportunities to characterize a major character and bring out aspects of them that you can't in normal everyday scenes."
She also had a ten-year tenure as fiction editor at Naiad Press
Naiad press
Naiad Press was one of the first publishing companies dedicated to lesbian literature. At its closing it was the oldest and largest lesbian/feminist publisher in the world.-History:...
and currently serves as Supervising Editor at Spinsters Ink. She has also written science fiction novels and edited numerous anthologies of gay and lesbian interest. As an editor she worked with hundreds of writers, including Jane Rule
Jane Rule
Jane Vance Rule, CM, OBC was a Canadian writer of lesbian-themed novels and non-fiction.-Biography:Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, Jane Vance Rule was the oldest daughter of Carlotta Jane and Arthur Richards Rule. She claimed she was a tomboy growing up and felt like an outsider for reaching six...
and Lee Lynch, who wrote of Forrest's fiction, "Her stories embrace and strengthen us, and give us permission to live our lives fully just as we are."
Also known for her reviews and articles about lesbian and gay publishing, she authored book reviews appearing in the The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
and San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
. Articles have appeared in Brother and Sister
Brother and Sister
Brother and Sister is a well-known European fairy tale which was, among others, written down by the Brothers Grimm in their collection of Children's and Household Tales ...
, The Harvard Gay and Lesbian Review and The Lambda Book Report.
She was a recipient of the Lambda Literary Foundation
Lambda Literary Foundation
The Lambda Literary Foundation is the largest LGBT literary organization in the world. The foundation's mission is to nurture, celebrate, and preserve Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender literature through three programs that honor excellence, promote visibility and encourage development of...
's Pioneer Award in 1998, and currently serves on their board of trustees. In 2008, she received the Bill Whitehead Lifetime Achievement Award from Publishing Triangle and the Trailblazer Award from the Golden Crown Literary Society
Golden Crown Literary Society
The Golden Crown Literary Society is a 501 organization established in February 2004 as a literary and educational organization for the study, discussion, enjoyment, and enhancement of lesbian literature. The GCLS membership includes publishers, distributors, authors, and readers of lesbian fiction...
. She is also a recipient of The Alice B Readers Award
The Alice B Readers Award
The Alice B Readers Award is given annually to living writers of lesbian fiction whose careers are distinguished by consistently well-written stories about lesbians. Named for Alice B. Toklas, the award is given once, only, in appreciation of career achievement...
medal. She lives with her wife, Jo Hercus, in the San Francisco area.
Daughters Of A Coral Dawn
- Daughters Of A Coral Dawn. 1984, ISBN 0-930044-50-9
- Daughters Of An Amber Noon. 2002, ISBN 1-55583-663-1, Lambda Literary AwardLambda Literary AwardLambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
finalist - Daughters Of An Emerald Dusk. 2005, ISBN 1-55583-823-5, Lambda Literary AwardLambda Literary AwardLambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
Winner
Kate Delafield Mysteries
- Amateur City. 1984, ISBN 0-930044-55-X
- Murder At The Nightwood Bar. 1987, ISBN 0-930044-92-4
- The Beverly Malibu. 1989, ISBN 0-941483-47-9, Lambda Literary AwardLambda Literary AwardLambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
Winner - Murder By Tradition. 1991, ISBN 0-941483-89-4, Lambda Literary AwardLambda Literary AwardLambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
Winner - Liberty Square. 1996, ISBN 0-425-15467-X, Lambda Literary AwardLambda Literary AwardLambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
finalist - Apparition Alley. 1997, ISBN 978-1883523800, Lambda Literary AwardLambda Literary AwardLambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
finalist - Sleeping Bones. 1999, ISBN 0-425-17029-2, Lambda Literary AwardLambda Literary AwardLambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
finalist - Hancock Park. 2004, ISBN 0-425-19598-8, Lambda Literary AwardLambda Literary AwardLambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
Winner
Other Novels
- Curious Wine. 1983, ISBN 0-930044-43-6
- An Emergence of Green. 1986, ISBN 0-930044-69-X
- Flashpoint. 1994, ISBN 1-56280-043-4
Short Stories
- Dreams And Swords. 1987, ISBN 0-941483-03-7
- The Gift
- Jessie: A Kate Delafield Story
- Benny's Place
- Xessex
- Force Majeur
- Mother Was an Alien (excerpt from Daughters of a Coral Dawn)
- Mandy Larkin
- Survivor
- O Captain, My Captain
- The Test
Short Stories In Anthologies
- Jeanie featured in the Lambda Literary Award Finalist, The Milk of Human Kindness: Lesbian Authors Write About Mothers and Daughters edited by Lori L. LakeLori L. LakeLori L. Lake is an Oregon writer, teacher, speaker, and author of mystery, drama, romance, and general fiction, most of which is about lesbian protagonists...
. 2005, ISBN 1-932300-28-7.
Editor
- The Erotic Naiad – Love Stories by Naiad Press Authors. 1992, with Barbara GrierBarbara GrierBarbara Grier was an American writer and publisher most widely known for co-founding Naiad Press and writing and editing The Ladder under the pseudonym Gene Damon.-Early life:...
, ISBN 1-56280-026-4 - Diving Deep – Erotic Lesbian Love Stories. 1993, with Barbara Grier, ISBN 1-872642-14-4
- The Romantic Naiad – Love Stories by Naiad Press Authors. 1993, with Barbara Grier, ISBN 1-56280-054-X
- The Mysterius Naiad – Love Stories by Naiad Press Authors. 1994, with Barbara Grier, ISBN 1-56280-074-4
- Diving Deeper – More Erotic Lesbian Love Stories. 1994, with Barbara Grier, ISBN 1-872642-22-5
- Deeply Mysterious – Erotic Lesbian Stories. 1995, with Barbara Grier, ISBN 1-872642-31-4
- All in the Seasoning – And Other Holiday Stories. 2002, ISBN 1-887237-04-6
- Women of Mystery. 2005, ISBN 978-1560235439, Lambda Literary AwardLambda Literary AwardLambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
finalist - Lesbian Pulp Fiction – The Sexually Intrepid World of Lesbian Paperback Novels 1950-1965. 2005, ISBN 1-57344-210-0, Lambda Literary AwardLambda Literary AwardLambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
finalist - Love, Castro Street – Reflections of San Francisco. 2007, with Jim Van Buskirk, ISBN 978-1-555839-97-0, Golden Crown Literary SocietyGolden Crown Literary SocietyThe Golden Crown Literary Society is a 501 organization established in February 2004 as a literary and educational organization for the study, discussion, enjoyment, and enhancement of lesbian literature. The GCLS membership includes publishers, distributors, authors, and readers of lesbian fiction...
Award Winner
See also
- Golden Crown Literary SocietyGolden Crown Literary SocietyThe Golden Crown Literary Society is a 501 organization established in February 2004 as a literary and educational organization for the study, discussion, enjoyment, and enhancement of lesbian literature. The GCLS membership includes publishers, distributors, authors, and readers of lesbian fiction...
- Lambda Literary FoundationLambda Literary FoundationThe Lambda Literary Foundation is the largest LGBT literary organization in the world. The foundation's mission is to nurture, celebrate, and preserve Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender literature through three programs that honor excellence, promote visibility and encourage development of...
- Lesbian FictionLesbian fictionLesbian fiction is a subgenre of fiction that involves one or more primary female homosexual character and lesbian themes. Novels that fall into this category may be of any genres, such as, but not limited to, historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and romance.-History:The first...
- Naiad PressNaiad pressNaiad Press was one of the first publishing companies dedicated to lesbian literature. At its closing it was the oldest and largest lesbian/feminist publisher in the world.-History:...
- Spinsters Ink