Lesbian full-text works on the web

We are looking for free Lesbian full-text resources on the internet and listing them here for your convenience. Some are comtemporary "born digital" works, and others are older, out of copyright, and scanned. The Lesbian in Literature, the 3rd edition of Barbara Grier's book (1981), is an indispensible aid for finding our literary history [and this title is available online! as pdf files]. We are using this classic when searching fulltext online repositories, including the Internet Archive texts and Project Gutenberg for lesbian titles that are out of copyright.

Scanned fulltext works are just - pages including all the marginal notes, flyspots etc etc scanned. All of which gets converted by software to "something" in the raw scanned text files. Project Gutenberg files are corrected by volunteers (hooray), but the Internet Archive has over 1.6 million texts - full of  "šomet#ing§". PDF files may be less frustrating to read, but are much bigger for downloading than text or html files, and Google charges for them. Files from the NZ Electronic Text Centre are well presented and free.

Most author names in the lists below are linked to biographical information, generally from Wikipedia. Some of the Wikipedia pages link to biographical information written from a queer perspective in the GLBTQ encyclopedia.

New Zealand lesbian history

• Lady-Husbands and Kamp Ladies: Pre-1970 Lesbian Life in Aotearoa/New Zealand - Alison Laurie's PhD thesis (pdf 2.5 Mb)
  This study explores pre-1970 lesbian life and lives in Aotearoa/New Zealand before the impact of women's and gay liberation and lesbian-feminism, using written sources and oral histories.
• The Trials of Eric Mareo - for the murder of his wife who had been having an affair with dancer Freda Stark. LILAC has a recent biography of Freda Stark which covers the events.
• The conquest of Mount Cook and other climbs : an account of four seasons’ mountaineering on the Southern Alps of New Zealand by Freda du Faur, an Australian lesbian who was the first woman to climb Mt Cook. Probably no lesbian content. LILAC has a recent biorgaphy of Freda.

New Zealand theses with lesbian themes

nzresearch.org.nz has access to full-text recent New Zealand theses - the link does the "lesbian" search for you.

Recent New Zealand lesbian writing

• My Dearest Navaz by Annamarie Jagose (from Sport 9, Spring 1992)
• Sappho Reclining by Stephanie Johnson (from Sport 5, Spring 1990)
• Love Scenes by Sara Knox (from Sport 16, Autumn 1996) - short story or biography?
• A conversation - Sara Knox & Elizabeth Knox (from Sport 17, Spring (1996)

Fiction

• Ladies Almanack - classic by Djuna Barnes, originally published in 1928 in Paris.
• The Unlit Lamp, and The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall
• Challenge by Vita Sackville-West (LILAC has a copy)
• Orlando, and Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
• The Lasf Leaf, a short story from 'The Trimmed Lamp' by O. Henry
• Still hunting for more - suggestions welcome

Biography, memoirs, etc.

• The Fiery Fountains - Margaret Anderson (one of the Americans in Paris in the 1920s) about her relationship with opera singer Georgette LeBlanc.
• A Narrative of the life of Mrs Charlotte Charke written by herself - Charlotte was a transgressive English actor who live from 1713-1760. Biographical notes at wikipedia and GLBTQ
• The Nun Ensign - Catalina de Erauso (ca 1592-ca 1650) - young Basque nun escapes the nunnery and washes up in South America passing as a man
• Charlotte Cushman: her letters and memories of her life by Emma Stebbins. Charlotte (1816-1876) was an American actress who spent part of her life in Europe, played men's roles on stage, and lived in all-female households with her partners and others. (LILAC has a recent biography of her).
• Michael Field by Mary C. Sturgeon. (LILAC has another biography). Information about Michael Field [Katherine Bradley (1846-1914) and Edith Cooper (1862-1913)]
• The Life And Death Of Radclyffe Hall - Una, Lady Troubridge
• Impressions that remained : memoirs Volume 1 and Volume 2, by Ethyl Smyth, 1858-1944

Gertrude Stein - various

Biographical information at Wikipedia and GLBTQ encyclopedia

• The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein [1933]
• Three Lives : stories of the Good Anna, Melanctha and the Gentle Lena [1909]
• Selected Writings of Gertrude Stein - includes The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, and Miss Furr and Miss Skeene
• Matisse Picasso and Gertrude Stein ; with A Long Gay Book and Many Many Women [1909-12]
• Tender Buttons : Objects—Food—Rooms [1914]
• Geography and Plays [1922]

Nonfiction - assorted works

• Lesbian Avengers Handbook, 3rd ed.
• Selected Writings of Gertrude Stein - includes The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, and Miss Furr and Miss Skeene
• A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

Lesbian poetry

• H.D.'s poetry: Hymen and Sea Garden.
• Archways of life - Mercedes de Acosta, 1893-1968
• Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson - info about Emily Dickinson
• Isle of Lesbos - an extensive selection of lesbian poetry by various authors, beginning with Sappho up to more contemporary poets; also excerpts from letters and journals

Humour

• Dykes to watch out for - Alison Bechdel. We have all the books in LILAC in the Humour section.
• Masculine women and feminine men - an exhibition of early 20th century postcards at Outhistory.org

Lesbian lit websites

• Canadian lesbian literature - an annotated bibliography of Canadian literature with a lesbian content
• Bibliographies at outhistory.org - annotated bibliographies of books and articles on various themes in 20th century American lesbian history
• Lesbian e-books - has free downloads
• Gormglaith - Radical lesbian separatist novel set in a plausible future with a witchy bent.
• Second helpings - Read these lips - lesbian e-lit in free form - anthologies (pdf files) and a bibliography of anthologies in print
• LibraryQ's lesbian bookmarks - a treasure trove of links to bibliographies, full-text resources, archives, libraries, etc etc

Early Feminist writing, from past centuries

• A Description of Millenium Hall by Sarah Scott, 1723-1795. There is a description of the work at Wikipedia.

Lesbian wellbeing resources

• Lesbian Zest: tips on how to survive and flourish - brings together stories from 27 Australian lesbians about where they get support and what helps them to flourish. It includes advice and tips on how to thrive as a lesbian. Based on original research by Ea Mulligan and Mary Heath of Flinders University, Australia (pdf 2 Mb).
• Thriving as a bisexual or queer woman: tips on how to flourish - brings together stories from 20 Australian women who identify as bi or queer and who are leading thriving lives. Based on original research by Mary Heath and Ea Mulligan (pdf 1.4 Mb)
• About us - an online legal resource for lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, takataapui, fa'afafine, transsexual, transgender and intersex people [home page has a link to the pdf file]
• Leaflet on breast and cervical cancer prevention - produced by ILGA, together with the Belgian Foundation against Cancer and Belgian lesbian groups (pdf 197kb)
• We’re a family - a study for the Families Commission of how lesbians and gay men are creating and maintaining family in New Zealand
• Exploring the Experiences of GLBTI Seniors in Aged Care - a project by the by the Matrix Guild of Victoria with a number of other groups. There are two reports available as pdf files: Stage One - 'My People' (362 kb), and Stage Two - 'Permission to Speak' (511kb)
• We don’t have any of those people here - a 2007 report by the by the GLBTI Retirement Association of Western Australia (pdf files)

GLBT resources

• GLBTQ - an Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture
• Lodestar Quarterly - a journal of LGBT literature, publishing both established and new writers of fiction, poetry, drama, and non-fiction. Produced 2002-2005
• Blithe House quarterly - an online literary magazine featuring new short stories by emerging and established gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered authors
• Genders - peer-reviewed academic journal publishing essays about gender and sexuality in relation to social, political, artistic, and economic concerns.
• OutWeek magazine - This site contains the entire 105 issues of OutWeek Magazine, published in New York from June, 1989 to July, 1991. OutWeek Magazine was the seminal lesbian and gay publication during the peak era of AIDS activism in the late 80s and early 90s. It redefined the role of the activist gay press, not only by reporting the news but also by frequently making news itself. Its aggressive coverage, incisive commentary and in-depth investigative articles on gay rights, politics, AIDS, the arts and popular culture made it a must-read publication far beyond the usual scope of gay magazines. The archive is digitized in a high-resolution pdf format suitable for printing.
• Bint el Nas: do you understand me - a journal for women who are identified ethnicially or culturally with the Arab world and also identify with lesbian/queer community.
• QueerMap.com - invites visitors to explore the cultural meanings and social power of homosexuality. Includes a gallery of queer images from throughout history and around the world.

We welcome information about other free lesbian full-text resources on the internet.

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