Amy Hoffman | |
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Born | 1952 (age 72–73) |
Occupation |
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Alma mater | Brandeis University |
Genre |
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Notable works | An Army of Ex-Lovers |
Website | |
amyhoffman |
Amy Hoffman (born 1952) is an American writer, editor, and community activist. [1]
Hoffman was born to a traditional Jewish family. [2] She was the eldest of six children, and grew up in Rutherford, New Jersey. [3]
Hoffman graduated from Brandeis University in 1976. [1]
Hoffman worked as an editor for Boston's Gay Community News from 1978 to 1982. [4] As features editor, she was responsible for putting together the June 1979 Stonewall tenth anniversary issue. [5]
During the mid 1980s Hoffman worked with Cindy Patton to publish a sex-positive magazine for several years. Named Bad Attitude it was part of what became known as the lesbian sex wars. Lesbian pornography had previously been created with the pleasure of straight men in mind. Patton and Hoffman sought to create a magazine that would celebrate the erotic potential of women with women in a way that affirmed lesbian sexuality, and de-centered straight men's pleasure. [6]
Hoffman published her first book, Hospital Time, in 1997, with a foreword by Urvashi Vaid. [7] [8] The book recollects her friendship with Mike Riegle in the wake of his death from AIDS. [9]
In 2007, Hoffman wrote the memoir An Army of Ex-Lovers about her time as an editor for Gay Community News. [4] The memoir was met with positive reviews in LGBT and mainstream media, and was a finalist for the Publishing Triangle Judy Grahn Award and a Lambda Book Award in 2008. [1] [2] [4] [7] [10] [11] [12]
Hoffman was editor-in-chief of Women's Review of Books from 2003 to 2004 and from 2006 to 2018. [1] [7] Women's Review of Books had shut down between these periods due to lack of financing; Hoffman was the party most responsible for reviving the magazine. [3]
Amy Hoffman is married to Roberta Stone. [1]