LOCAL FEATURE

Writing from the margins
Williamsburg reading series taps the voices of a young, queer generation of writers

By JERRY PORTWOOD
Friday, December 16, 2005

Since June, Will Fabro has been organizing a monthly reading of queer-identified writers under 30 at Galapagos Artspace in Williamsburg. He calls the event, “This Is Not the New Minstrel Show,” his reaction to what he believes the mainstream gay and lesbian publishing industry has been representing in terms of gay life — beefy boyfriend tales and juicy erotica-laced thrillers. The works he’s chosen are meant to highlight “transgressive, subversive and marginalized voices within the community and present experiences that largely go ignored,” as stated in a call for submissions earlier this year.

The title of the reading takes a jab at the media’s portrayal of gays. In Fabro’s view, the straight community is embracing a flattened caricature of what it means to be gay or lesbian: the mincing queen, the straight-acting gym bunny, butch bull-dyke, super-femme lesbo played by mostly straight actors. In other words, it’s a repeat of the 19th century minstrel shows with white performers acting in blackface.

“It’s an amusing, silly representation of what gay and lesbians are. Sexuality, being sexualized, has to be brought into the picture as well. We can’t shy away from actual life,” he explains. “We’re creating a queer space to hopefully showcase different modes of experience … instead of those general, campy, entertaining images.”

So what does “transgressive, subversive” writing actually mean?

Fabro’s own work often deals with the combination of sex and violence, so it may be no surprise that he lists Dennis Cooper, Sarah Schulman and Eileen Myles as major influences. He’s drawn to works by young and emerging writers who are interested in a similar vein. Works dealing with self-mutilation have been presented, but so has a coming-of-age story about a young athlete’s burgeoning desires for a teammate. The reading series goes for unusual explorations of sexuality and favors innovative formats.

As for the quality of the writing, Fabro readily admits that young writers often have problems with attempts at this sort of confrontational or uncomfortable material and can affect a detached, insincere style.

“There’s a large level of craft that goes into works that deal with sexuality and aspects of desire, but a lot of times it comes across in young writers’ works as gratuitous and they try to imitate what appears easy,” he says.

Fabro himself is still new to the publishing scene. He got his big break last year, at the age of 23, after he moved from L.A. to New York . He attended a Lambda Literary Foundation function and read a story he’d been working on. Afterward Don Weise, senior editor at Carroll & Graf and a co-chair of the Publishing Triangle, asked him to submit the piece to “Fresh Men,” an anthology he was editing to promote “new voices in gay fiction.” Fabro’s story, “First Sex,” about a nine-year-old boy repeatedly raped by a cousin, was selected by Edmund White for the anthology. Later, Weise suggested he organize a reading to continue to foster a space for young gay writers. It was meant as a one-time affair, but after its initial popularity, Galapagos asked him to continue it.

Over the past few months he’s also set other goals for the event.

While perusing the Poetry Project archives, he came across some small, independent publications self-published by poets that functioned for him like a timecapsule from 15 or 20 years ago. “It was like a way of seeing exactly what it felt at this age, this time, in New York City.” Fabro hopes to do something similar to document the work that’s been showcased. He also plans to begin including writers over the age of 30 but doesn’t want to lose the young vibe that has attracted a crowd that might not normally frequent more established literary events.

“For the most part, it’s been a wonderful experience. It’s been great to see others get really excited to have a space for queer writers. For so long I felt like I was alone doing this.”

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