‘Looking For Lesbians’ at ONE Archives Explores Lesbian Pulp Fiction

Author: Christine Linnell

Lesbian pulp novels are a form of literature that grew from the 1950s and 60s, when the LGBTQ+ community was part of a growing counterculture that was still outlawed by mainstream society. Marketed with pin-up cover art and taglines about forbidden love and seduction, these cheap paperbacks sold at drugstores or ordered through the mail were often the only available novels about lesbian women. Popular authors included Valerie Taylor, Vin Packer, Ann Bannon and Orrie Hitt. 

Discussing Ford’s residency with ONE Archives, Johnson suggested the organization’s collection of these books as a starting point, as it was often overlooked in favor of literature aimed at gay men. “There’s a size discrepancy between gay male pulps that have been published versus lesbian pulps, especially lesbian pulps meant for a lesbian audience, written by women or lesbians, rather than written for a male gaze or heterosexual gaze,” she said.

Credit: Little Sister’s Classics

Original Article on The Advocate
Author: Christine Linnell