Conditions (magazine)

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Conditions
Conditions (magazine) - Black Women's Issue.jpg
The Black Women's Issue, November 1979
FrequencyBiannual (1976 - 1980)
Annual (1980 - 1990)
Founder Elly Bulkin
Jan Clausen
Irena Klepfisz
Rima Shore
First issue1976
Final issue1990
Country United States
Based in Brooklyn, New York
LanguageEnglish
ISSN 2381-5620
OCLC 646884046

Conditions (full title: Conditions: a feminist magazine of writing by women with a particular emphasis on writing by lesbians) was a lesbian feminist literary magazine that came out biannually from 1976 to 1980 and annually from 1980 until 1990, and included poetry, prose, essays, book reviews, and interviews. [1] It was founded in Brooklyn, New York, by Elly Bulkin, Jan Clausen, Irena Klepfisz and Rima Shore. [2]

Contents

Publishing collective

Conditions was a magazine that emphasized the lives and writings of lesbians, and, throughout its history, maintained an all-lesbian collective. [3] This collective expressed a "long standing commitment to diversity; of writing style and content and of background of contributors", within the lesbian and feminist communities. [4] Conditions was especially dedicated to publishing the work of lesbians, in particular working-class lesbians and lesbians of color. [3] [4] While the founders were all white, Conditions was committed to promoting multiracial, multicultural, and multiethnic voices from its inception. By the early 1980s, the magazine had a diverse group of editors, especially under the leadership of Cheryl L. Clarke. [1]

The Black Women's Issue

The journal's fifth issue, published in November 1979, was edited by Barbara Smith and Lorraine Bethel. Conditions 5 was "the first widely distributed collection of Black feminist writing in the U.S.", [2] and was later to be the basis for the anthology Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology (1983), one of the first books released by Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press. [5] Conditions 5: The Black Women's Issue was hugely popular, and set a record in feminist publishing by selling 3,000 copies in the first three weeks it was available. [6]

Publication ceases

Conditions ceased publication in 1990. [3] [7] It ended because the existing collective members were focusing on other projects and they were unable to find new members. [1]

Editors

Selected contributors

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Enszer, Julie R. (2015). "'Fighting to create and maintain our own Black women's culture': Conditions Magazine, 1977–1990". American Periodicals: A Journal of History & Criticism. 25 (2): 160–176. doi:10.1353/amp.2015.0025. S2CID   110217804 . Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  2. 1 2 Smith, Barbara. The Truth That Never Hurts: Writings on Race, Gender, and Freedom, Rutgers University Press 1998, ISBN   0-8135-2761-9, p. ix.
  3. 1 2 3 Busia, Abena P. A. Theorizing Black Feminisms: The Visionary Pragmatism of Black Women, Routledge, 1993, ISBN   0-415-07336-7, p. 225n.
  4. 1 2 Allison, Clarke, Schaubman editorial. Conditions 11/12, p. 3.
  5. Munro, C. Lynn (1984). "Review: Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology. By Barbara Smith". Black American Literature Forum. 8 (4): 175. doi:10.2307/2904298. JSTOR   2904298.
  6. Smith, Barbara. Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology, Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 1983, p. 1.
  7. Armstrong, David. Trumpet to Arms: Alternative Media in America, South End Press, 1985, ISBN   0-89608-193-1, p. 240.
  8. "English.asu.edu" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 22, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2013.