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List of lesbian fiction

This is a List of lesbian-themed fiction. It includes books and plays. The lists of adult and of YA-appropriate works are split into separate headings.

Below the main list, the article also includes:

  • information on particularly prolific publishing subcultures like fanfiction and mysteries;
  • a list of lesbian and feminist publishing houses; and
  • a list of nonfiction works on this topic.

Works of Lesbian fiction, in chronological order

Pre-1700

  • Symposium. By Plato. c. 300s BC. (There's a story about how all soulmate couples, including female-female couples, used to be joined into one two-faced body.)
  • Dialogues of the Courtesans. By Lucian of Samosata. c. 100s AD. (A character Leaina confesses to having a relationship with another woman, Megilla.)
  • Epigrams. By Martial. c. 100s AD. (Contains satirical poems about a masculine lesbian character named Philaenis.)
  • Waga mi ni tadoru himegimi () (The Princess in Search of Herself). Author unknown. c.1259-1276. (A passage in volume 6 describes a former priestess and her lady-in-waiting having sex.)

1700-1799

1800-1899

  • Mademoiselle Maupin. By Théophile Gautier. 1835. (A fiction work inspired by Julie d'Aubigny, who had relationships with both women and men.)
  • La Fille aux yeux d'or. By Honoré de Balzac. 1835.
  • Carmilla. By Sheridan Le Fanu. 1872.
  • Der Liebe Lust und Leid der Frau zur Frau. Author unknown. 1895. (The only known exemplar is in the Berlin State Library ( Yx 27911)).
  • Nana. By Émile Zola. 1880. (An extended description of Chez Laure, a Parisian restaurant that caters to a lesbian clientele; the relationship of Nana and the unfaithful Satin, "with her blue eyes and schoolgirlish look", "bitten and beaten and torn this way and that by the two women".)
  • Mademoiselle Giraud, My Wife. By Adolphe Belot. 1891.
  • 鳳雙飛 (Feng shuangfei) (A Pair of Male Phoenixes Flying Together). By Cheng Huiying (程蕙英). 1899.

1900-1949

1950-1999

2000-present

Young adult fiction

This section is intended for lesbian-themed fiction that is suitable in complexity and content for teenage readers. Since there is some variability in these individual judgments, a work being marketed under "YA" is sufficient to meet the criteria for inclusion. It can include novels, graphic novels, and plays.

Modern Lesbian Fiction Subcultures

In addition to the ongoing publication of lesbian novels, plays, and stories, several lesbian publishing subcultures have emerged in modern times.

Fanfiction

Fanfiction writers have produced many works in which female characters from fictional sources (such as television shows, movies, video games, anime, manga or comic books) are paired in romantic, spiritual, or sexual relationships. The genre is known by a variety of terms, including femslash, saffic, yuri and f/f slash. Lesbian content in fanfiction dates at least to 1977, but has become more popular during the 1990s and 2000s.

Mystery Series

There is also a thriving culture of mystery novels and series starring lesbian detectives. This includes lengthy mystery series by Kate Calloway, Cheryl A Head, Claire McNab, Mary Wings, Penny Mickelbury, Sarah Caudwell, Ellen Hart, Katherine V. Forrest, Laurie R. King, Manda Scott, Sandra Scoppettone, Lori L. Lake, J.M. Redmann, Amelia Ellis, Nikki Baker, Sarah Dreher, Stella Duffy, and Jessie Chandler, among many others.

Lesbian and feminist publishing houses

Further reading

  • The Lesbian in Literature by Gene Damon (Barbara Grier) – bibliography of any title with lesbian content through 1969
  • Chloe plus Olivia – An Anthology of Lesbian Literature from the Seventeenth Century to the Present, ed. Lillian Faderman, Penguin Books 1995
  • Las Tortilleras: Hispanic and U.S. Latina Lesbian Expression, edited by Inmaculada Perpetusa-Seva and Lourdes Torres, Temple University Press 2003
Thesis

See also

Notes

References

External links