Bonnie Morris presents at author series

Over the last three years, BALA has been presenting events that celebrate and honor Bay Area lesbian history.

This past spring, we launched a popular monthly author series at Laurel Book Store in Oakland. The series, called Lesbian Identity and History and the Importance of Archives, has featured authors Michael Helquist, author of the biography Marie Equi: Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions; Emily Hobson, who documents San Francisco Bay Area history in Lavender and Red: Liberation and Solidarity in the Gay and Lesbian Left; and Lucy Bledsoe, author of the biographical novel A Thin Bright Line about her lesbian aunt.

In September we presented Bonnie Morris, feminist scholar, reading from her book, The Disappearing L: The Erasure of Lesbian Spaces and Culture, and we were delighted to bring Bonnie back in December, to read from her new novel, Sappho’s Bar and Grill, which is a sexy, funny and romantic lesbian time travel fantasy. Bonnie is a great storyteller, and in person is as warm and funny as her writing. While reminding the audience about the crucial work of preserving and educating the public about lesbian and women’s histories, she also steamed up the room as she read from some of the sexy scenes in the novel. BALA predicts it will become a lesbian classic.