LO C A L B O O KS
Ryan Schuessler and Kevin Whiteneir, Jr., ed. Sweeter Voices Still: An LGBTQ Anthology From Middle America BELT PUBLISHING
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he mythology of “the Heartland” (also called “Middle America” or the “flyover states”) is usually rooted in archaic abstractions such as “traditional family values” and conservative ideals. These parts of the American landscape are described as if they are closed off by narrow boundaries, with rigid attitudes imposed upon the diverse populations inhabiting them. As noted by historian Kristin Hoganson, “The heartland myth does a great injustice not only to the United States but also the people it purports to depict, because it distorts their history and hides far more fascinating stories.” Sweeter Voices Still is packed page to page with such stories. Co-editors Ryan Schuessler and Kevin Whiteneir, Jr. have assembled an impressive anthology of essays, poems, letters and stories from LGBTQ voices gathered from across the Midwest, the Rust Belt, the Great Plains, the Upper South, Appalachia and Amish Country (areas comprising the so-called “Heartland”). Since there are many wonderful sections of this work to choose from, I will highlight two of them from here in the Hawkeye State. The first is titled “Excerpts from the Memoirs of Gene Dawson” (Parnell, IA). The author was born in the Armah, Iowa area in 1931 and lived in St. Louis until his death in
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September 2020. Before his passing, he published his memoir Farm Boy, City Girl: From Gene to Miss Gina last April. Included in this volume are excerpts from the years 1951, 53 and 54. As a young man having difficulty coming to terms with his homosexuality, Dawson says he will “lead a double life and always be on guard or be ostracized by family, friends, community and church.” Within a few years, he instead embraces his new life of adventure. Jocelyn Krueger, a multidisciplinary artist with degrees from the University of Iowa and Indiana State University, crafts a powerful and poetic narrative capturing the pain of when self-acceptance clashes with the perceptions others cling to, tenderly capturing the agonies and heartbreak following the demise of a friendship with the story “Before there was, blink” (Cedar Falls, IA). “I would later learn that blinking is tied to how we remember, like bookmarking your thoughts and experiences for future recall,” Krueger writes. “Now I wish I had blinked less as a young girl. The violence throughout my life towards my girlhood hangs pearlescent over my memories.” Even if the reader has never been to the geographic locations described, they will recognize the places visited in these pages: the lingering feelings of guilt and rejection slowly cutting into the heart like rusty barbed-wire, the joys of discovery causing pulses to quicken, the heartaches of loves lost and the jubilations of new loves found, including the love of one’s self and love toward others. Sweeter Voices Still is a marvelous ode to humanity and its passions, but it is also a reminder that LGBTQ individuals and communities (and those who exist outside the confines of the acronym) have always kept the Heartland beating. May their voices continue singing their songs for all to hear. —Mike Kuhlenbeck
R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell, ed. Kink SIMON & SCHUSTER
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2018 study by sex toy company EdenFantasys revealed that 40 percent of respondents considered themselves kinky, with over one-third claiming a specific fetish. Still, there’s an overwhelming dearth of affirming literature out there: There’s a lot of exoticizing, quite a bit of shaming, but very little normalization.
THESE TALES TAKE US DEEP INTO THE LIVES OF A DIVERSE GROUP OF CHARACTERS, EXPLORING THEIR KINKS AND FETISHES IN EMPHATICALLY NORMAL WAYS. Enter Kink, a new anthology out Feb. 9, edited by Mission Creek Festival alum R.O. Kwon and Iowa City’s own Garth Greenwell. The stories in this collection are delightful twists on what is often presented as twisted. From a diverse collection of writers, these tales take us deep into the lives of an equally diverse group of characters, exploring their kinks and fetishes in emphatically normal ways. There’s a lot of sadness in these stories, but it’s not the sadness of shame—it’s the sadness that’s often found in any collection of love stories. It can be hard to write stories of successful love without devolving into triteness (although a few here, like Callum Angus’ deeply
beautiful snapshot story “Canada,” achieve it). The need for conflict to drive action and character choices often necessitates love stories that are tragic. But in this collection, it’s just another reminder that kink is simply another facet of love, another factor in our overall exploration of our partners and ourselves. The greatest strength of Kink is in the arc of its organization. It’s a masterful tease in itself, slowly ramping up the intensity of the stories, from the relatively straightforward opener, Melissa Febos’ look at self and power, “The Cure,” all the way to the arch, heady, academic, post-coital feel of Chris Kraus’ closer, “Emotional Technologies.” It goes from tentative to visceral to contemplative over the course of 14 fantastic stories. Among the stand-outs of the collection is Greenwell’s own heartbreaking “Godspar,” which feels like masochism just to read. It includes the thematic observation, “... there’s no fathoming pleasure, the forms it takes or their sources, nothing we can imagine beyond it; however far beyond the pale of our own desires, for someone it is the intensest desire …” UI Writers’ Workshop grad Carmen Maria Machado’s achingly beguiling period piece “High Priestess in the Temple of Horror,” the collection’s longest work, was a favorite of mine as well. And Kim Fu’s “Scissors” is a masterpiece of tension and perspective, binding a profoundly intimate portrait of a relationship between performers to the show they perform together. Kink is a must-read for anyone looking to expand their understanding of their own desires. Which is to say, everyone. No matter your definition of pleasure, you will find homage to it here. There is nothing voyeuristic about the experience of reading this collection (so apologies if that is your kink): These kinks are not exoticized or othered in any way. It’s not a collection of stories about “them,” but about “us.” Welcome home; get (un)comfortable. —Genevieve Trainor
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