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Coming Out of Cancer: Writings from the Lesbian Cancer Epidemic

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"If you've ever looked for information about the personal battles of lesbians with cancer -- beyond the scope of statistics and risk factors -- and were disappointed, don't fret. An impressive new book, sponsored by the Mautner Project for Lesbians with Cancer, will soon hit the shelves. Coming Out of Cancer: Writings from the Lesbian Cancer Epidemic (Seal Press), edited by Victoria A. Brownworth, is the first anthology to address the devastating effects of cancer on the lesbian community. It offers candid, moving testimonies written by and for lesbians with cancer.

The book combines the voices of numerous writers in an extraordinary effort that began just November of last year. The publication coincides with Healing Works, the first-ever conference on lesbians and cancer, organized by the Mautner Project. The conference runs September 21 to 23.

...The Mautner Project, founded in 1990, is a national organization dedicated to fighting the lesbian cancer epidemic. It offers information and services to the lesbian community and to healthcare providers.

Brownworth, an award-winning writer and cancer-survivor, was the first to write about the increased risk for breast cancer among lesbians. In her introduction to the anthology, she eloquently recounts how the book came about. A detailed cancer diary written by Audre Lorde follows, along with personal stories, essays and poems by authors such as Sandra Steingraber, Rachel Carson, Joan Nestle, Pat Parker, Adrienne Rich, Marilyn Hacker, Ruthann Robson, Dr. Susan Love and others.

The stories explore the emotional and physical rigors of living with cancer, such as facing treatment decisions, addressing political and socio-economic concerns, and -- perhaps most compellingly -- wrestling with fear, illness and death on a daily basis. Proceeds from the book...will fund cancer education and direct services for women who partner with women.

'So many women, so many different cancers, such divergent experiences of treatment and care and survival -- or not. I could not include them all,' Brownworth writes. Indeed, Coming Out of Cancer is a testament to the power of sharing one's stories. This is a book to be read and discussed." --Sarah Albert...

"...Today, many of those middle-aged second wavers who finally mobilized for breast cancer are contributors to Coming Out of Cancer: Writings from the Lesbian Cancer Epidemic, edited by journalist and disability rights activist Victoria Brownworth. This...radical book focuses on lesbians with cancer.

The tone of the anthology is urgent. Audre Lorde writes about her fear of death in an excerpt from The Cancer Journals. Jackie Winnow, who started the nation's first feminist cancer project in San Francisco in 1986, begins her essay by declaring, 'Everything about cancer is political.' Mixed in with the activist fire and practical information (how to get decent insurance, when to fire your doctor, what the scar looks like) is the stuff of everyday life: sex and relationships. Winnow's essay is preceded by two poems written by her lover, Teya Schaffer. Both are about Winnow, and the latter movingly contemplates the few minutes after her death, 10 years ago, from metastatic disease.

Sometimes the fear and loss are transformed into erotic energy, making the connection between cancer and lesbianism not so incidental. The sense of feminine anomie that came with losing a breast leads one woman to take her first woman lover. Mona Oikawa's poem about monthly self-exams raises the specter of her mother's death from breast cancer. Oikawa purges the memory with the image of a woman's mouth on her breast, 'sucking me hard/making me hot with life...to fill this moment with/craving rage/instead of silent grief.' Poet Pat Parker describes a post-mastectomy massage loosening up her 'numb' body that no one except her surgeon and her lover had seen. 'Like fine bread I rise...I reawake/I want to kiss you/instead I say thank you/and go home.'" --Jennifer Baumgarder, Girlfriends Magazine

With a compelling introduction by Victoria A. Brownworth you know that you are going to be reading a tremendous collection of work.

Hilarious opening graphic by Alison Bechdel

Terrific dramatic and passionate short story by Tee Corinne.

With 32 Essays, poems, prose and fiction by outstanding writers including -

Katherine V. Forrest
Rachel Carson
Adrienne Rich
Audre Lorde
Barabra Smith
Pat Parker
Joan Nestle
Ruthann Robson

Book Description - One-third of women run a lifetime risk of developing cancer, and studies have shown that lesbians are especially at risk. They often don't access healthcare because of homophobia in the medical establishment and inadequate insurance coverage. With its diversity of views and experience, Coming out of Cancer includes contributions from Audre Lorde, Ruthann Robson, Pat Parker, Rachel Carson, and Dr. Susan Love and offers information and support for survivors, loved ones, and community activists.