S. Bear Bergman
Encyclopedia
S. Bear Bergman is a transgender
author, poet
, playwright
, and theater artist. Bergman identifies as neither male nor female and prefers pronouns "ze" and "hir".
, was one of the founders of the first Gay–straight alliance and a member of the Governor of Massachusetts
' Safe Schools Commission for LGBT
youth, and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts
degree from Hampshire College
in 1996.
Bergman's first book, Butch Is A Noun, was released in September 2006 by Suspect Thoughts Press and was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award
in the GLBT Nonfiction category. Bergman's second book, The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You, was released by Arsenal Pulp Press
in the fall of 2009 and is a Lambda Literary Award
finalist. Hir most recent book, co-edited with transsexual author Kate Bornstein
is Gender Outlaws: The next Generation, which won a 2011 Lambda Literary Award
in the LGBT Anthology category and a special Judges Award from the Publishing Triangle
In addition, Bergman continues to lecture and perform solo shows at colleges and universities throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. These solo shows have received judges' awards at each of the last three the biennial National Gay & Lesbian Theatre Festival in Columbus, Ohio
, including Best Of The Festival and Best New Work. In 2005, Bergman was awarded a Massachusetts Cultural Council grant for playwriting, as well as a Millay Colony for the Arts
Fellowship award.
Bergman lives in Toronto, Ontario, and is married to activist j wallace. They have one son, Stanley.
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
author, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, and theater artist. Bergman identifies as neither male nor female and prefers pronouns "ze" and "hir".
Biography
Bergman was educated at Concord AcademyConcord Academy
Concord Academy is a coeducational, independent, college preparatory school for grades nine through twelve, located in Concord, Massachusetts...
, was one of the founders of the first Gay–straight alliance and a member of the Governor of Massachusetts
Governor of Massachusetts
The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...
' Safe Schools Commission for LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
youth, and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
degree from Hampshire College
Hampshire College
Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1965 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts...
in 1996.
Bergman's first book, Butch Is A Noun, was released in September 2006 by Suspect Thoughts Press and was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Award
Lambda 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...
in the GLBT Nonfiction category. Bergman's second book, The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You, was released by Arsenal Pulp Press
Arsenal Pulp Press
Arsenal Pulp Press is a Canadian independent book publishing company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company publishes a broad range of titles in both fiction and non-fiction, and is noted for founding the annual Three-Day Novel Contest .Authors who have been published by Arsenal Pulp ...
in the fall of 2009 and is a Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Award
Lambda 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. Hir most recent book, co-edited with transsexual author Kate Bornstein
Kate Bornstein
Kate Bornstein is a Jewish-American author, playwright, performance artist, and gender theorist.-Biography:Born in Neptune City, New Jersey, Bornstein studied Theater Arts with John Emigh and Jim Barnhill at Brown University . Bornstein joined the Church of Scientology but later became...
is Gender Outlaws: The next Generation, which won a 2011 Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Award
Lambda 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...
in the LGBT Anthology category and a special Judges Award from the Publishing Triangle
In addition, Bergman continues to lecture and perform solo shows at colleges and universities throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. These solo shows have received judges' awards at each of the last three the biennial National Gay & Lesbian Theatre Festival in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, including Best Of The Festival and Best New Work. In 2005, Bergman was awarded a Massachusetts Cultural Council grant for playwriting, as well as a Millay Colony for the Arts
Millay Colony for the Arts
The Millay Colony for the Arts is an artist residency program in Austerlitz, New York. The colony offers one month residencies to visual artists, writers, poets and composers. The Millay Colony for the Arts was founded in 1973 by Norma Millay Ellis, sister of the poet Edna St...
Fellowship award.
Bergman lives in Toronto, Ontario, and is married to activist j wallace. They have one son, Stanley.
Books
- Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation co-edited with Kate BornsteinKate BornsteinKate Bornstein is a Jewish-American author, playwright, performance artist, and gender theorist.-Biography:Born in Neptune City, New Jersey, Bornstein studied Theater Arts with John Emigh and Jim Barnhill at Brown University . Bornstein joined the Church of Scientology but later became...
. 2010, Seal Press ISBN 9781580053082 - The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You 2009, Arsenal Pulp PressArsenal Pulp PressArsenal Pulp Press is a Canadian independent book publishing company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company publishes a broad range of titles in both fiction and non-fiction, and is noted for founding the annual Three-Day Novel Contest .Authors who have been published by Arsenal Pulp ...
, ISBN 9781551522647 - Butch Is A Noun 2006, ISBN 0-9771582-5-X
Poetry
- "Day Of Remembrance." Online copy
- "The Place We Don't Name."
- "Protection." Homewrecker. New York: Soft Skull Press, 2005, ISBN 1-932360-93-X
- "Broken Open." Lodestar Quarterly, 2005
- "Skin." Gay and Lesbian Review. Jan/Feb 2006
- "Shameless" and "In My Mouth." Pinned Down By Pronouns. Boston: Conviction Books, 2004, ISBN 0-9727027-1-7
- "Dragon" and "Liar's Dice." The Second Coming. Boston: Alyson Publications, 1998, ISBN 1-55583-281-4 (writing as Bear).
Non-Fiction
- "The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You." From Discord to Discourse: A Collection of Contemporary Canadian Essays. Whitby, ON: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2011
- “Brother Dog” Persistence: Still Butch and Femme. Vancouver, BC: Arsenal Pulp 2011
- “Sex, Lies, and Communication” Jewish Voice, Jewish Choices: Sex and Ethics. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2010
- “Part Time Fatso.” The Fat Studies Reader. New York: NYU Press 2009
- “Just A Phase.” I Like It Like That. Vancouver, BC: Arsenal Pulp, 2009
- “(Open) Log.” XYZ Journal Of Urban Space. Spring, 2009
- "A Letter To My Mother." Second Person Queer. Vancouver, BC: Arsenal Pulp PressArsenal Pulp PressArsenal Pulp Press is a Canadian independent book publishing company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company publishes a broad range of titles in both fiction and non-fiction, and is noted for founding the annual Three-Day Novel Contest .Authors who have been published by Arsenal Pulp ...
, 2009 - "Open Log." with j wallace Women & Environments. Vol 78/79, Fall/Winter 2009.
- "Fair Weather Fatso." Fat Studies Reader. New York: NYU, 2008 (forthcoming)
- “Transgender Health Issues.” LGBTQ America Today. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008
- "O Unwelcome Herald." Breakthrough Bleeding. San Francisco: She Devil Press, 2008 (forthcoming)
- "Gay Men, Queer Men, and Me" Invert(e). San Francisco: Suspect Thoughts, 2007, ISBN 0978902335
- "On Politeness." First Person Queer. Vancouver, BC: Arsenal Pulp PressArsenal Pulp PressArsenal Pulp Press is a Canadian independent book publishing company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company publishes a broad range of titles in both fiction and non-fiction, and is noted for founding the annual Three-Day Novel Contest .Authors who have been published by Arsenal Pulp ...
, 2007 ISBN 1551522276 - "The Sadder But Wiser Bear." Sodom and Me. San Francisco: Suspect Thoughts, 2007 ISBN 0976341174
- "Breasts" and "Fire The Copyeditor." Transgender Tapestry, Winter 2007
- "Pardon Me, Have You Seen My Sexual Orientation?" Labris: 2005 (Serbian translation. “Izvinite, da li ste videle/i moju seksualnu orijentaciju?”)
- "Forget Marriage, Have a Wedding." I Do/I Don't:Queers On Marriage. San Francisco: Suspect Thoughts, 2004, ISBN 0-9746388-7-0
- "Lifeguard." Pinned Down By Pronouns. Boston: Conviction Books, 2004, ISBN 0-9727027-1-7
- "Lesbears & Transbears." Bears On Bears. San Francisco: Alyson Publications, 2002, ISBN 1-55583-578-3
- Foreword. National Transgender Theater Festival Reader. New York: Renegade, 2005.
Solo theater performances
- Monday Night in Westerbork
- Clearly Marked
- You'll Never Piss In This Town Again
- Ex Post Papa
External links
- sbearbergman.com
- S. Bear Bergman's Author page at Arsenal Pulp Press
- Butch Is A Noun ISBN 9781551523699
- The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You ISBN 9781551522647