Myriam Gurba

Last updated
Myriam Gurba
MyriamGurba.jpg
Born1977 (age 46–47)
Santa Maria, California, U.S.
Alma mater University of California, Berkeley
Occupation(s)Artist and writer
Website https://www.myriamgurba.com

Myriam Gurba Serrano (born 1977) is an American author, editor, and visual artist. She is best known for her true crime memoir, Mean, and her review, in Tropics of Meta, of American Dirt . She is a co-founder of the grassroots campaign #DignidadLiteraria (Literary Dignity) which seeks to provide "greater inclusion of Chicanx and Latinx authors, editors, and executives, and to combat the exclusion and erasure of Latinx and Chicanx literature within the publishing industry in the USA.” [1]

Contents

Career

Gurba's literary career began in the queer publishing industry. Her first job after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley was at On Our Backs magazine, a lesbian erotic magazine "made by lesbians for lesbians". [1] She toured the United States with Sister Spit, a "lesbian-feminist spoken-word and performance art collective" [2] in 2011 and 2015. [1]

She has exhibited art works at the Museum of Latin American Art [3] and The Center Long Beach. [4]

Works

Gurba is the author of Creep: Accusations and Confessions (Avid Reader Press, 2023), [5] Mean (Coffee House Press, 2017), [6] [7] Dahlia Season: Stories and a Novella (Manic D Press/Future Tense, 2007), [8] [9] and Painting Their Portraits in Winter: Stories [10] which explores Mexican stories and traditions through a feminist lens. [11] She is also the author of various chapbooks including Wish You Were Me (Future Tense Books, 2011), Sweatsuits of the Damned (RADAR Productions, 2013), and River Candy (eohippus labs, 2015).

Gurba is the Editor-in-Chief of Tasteful Rude, an online magazine published by The Brick House Cooperative. Tasteful Rude showcases "criticism, analysis, and commentary about [...] art, culture, technology, religion, [and] politics". [12]

She has written for Time , The Paris Review , American Book Review , ColorLines , and Believer Magazine . [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]

Gurba's review of the book American Dirt in Tropics of Meta sparked controversy about cultural appropriation, the white gaze, racism, #ownvoices, and lack of diversity in the publishing industry. [18] [19] [20] [21] The review for Tropics of Meta was written after a previous review, commissioned by Ms. Magazine, was rejected for being too negative. Gurba's review, along with the hashtag #DignidadLiteraria, went viral in early 2020.

Since 2017, she and fellow author MariNaomi have been hosting an advice podcast called AskBiGrlz Archived 2021-11-26 at the Wayback Machine where they answer listener questions. [22]

Awards

Gurba's debut novel Dahlia Season [23] won The Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction from Publishing Triangle, and was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award. [24] [25] Dazed ranked Dahlia Season among their list of queer lit classics. [26] Emily Gould described Gurba as "a new writer for the first time whose voice is different from any you've heard before and who you want to keep hearing forever." [27] Gurba's third book Mean was a finalist for the Judy Grahn Award in 2018. [28] Her fourth book Creep was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist for criticism [29] and was shortlisted for the 2024 Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Nonfiction. [30] Her chapbook, Sweatsuits of the Damned, won the Eli Coppola Memorial Chapbook Prize in 2013.

Reception

In 2019, O, The Oprah Magazine called Gurba's work Mean (2017) one of the "Best LGBTQ Books of All Time". [6] In The New York Times , literary critic Parul Sehgal described Mean as a "scalding memoir" and Gurba as having a "distinct and infectious" voice. [31]

The New York Times' Meghan Daum calls Mean one of the five best memoirs of 2017, writing "Gurba has a voice as distinct and infectious as any I've discovered in recent years. "Mean" contains the usual childhood confusions and adolescent humiliations, but it's also a meditation on race, class, sexuality and the limits of niceness." [32]

New York Times' Parul Sehgal calls Mean "a scalding memoir that comes with a full accounting of the costs of survival, of being haunted by those you could not save and learning to live with their ghosts." It also "adds a necessary dimension to the discussion of the interplay of race, class and sexuality in sexual violence." [33]

Reviews of Gurba's work appear The Iowa Review, [34] The Paris Review, [35] The Lesbrary, [36] Rain Taxi, [37] BIG OTHER [38] and Wing Chair Books. [39] Jill Soloway blurbs for Mean, describing Gurba's voice as, "an alchemy of queer magic feminist wildness, and intersectional explosion." [40] Michelle Tea reviews Mean as a book that mesmerizes with prose, stating that, "there is no other writer like Myriam Gurba and Mean is perfection." [40]

Articles about her appears in KQED , [41] The Edge LB [42] and Confessions of a Boy Toy. [43]

Interviews with the author appear in The Los Angeles Review of Books, [44] Contemporary Women's Writing , [1] OC Weekly , [45] MOLAA, [46] The Normal School, [47] Weird Sister [48] and Otherppl. [49] Playlists for Gurba's writing appear in Largehearted Boy. [50] [51]

Personal life

Gurba was born in Santa Maria, California, United States in 1977. She identifies as queer [52] and as of 2016 lived in Long Beach, California. [41] Gurba attended the University of California, Berkeley.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Allison</span> American writer (born 1949)

Dorothy Allison is an American writer from South Carolina whose writing focuses on class struggle, sexual abuse, child abuse, feminism and lesbianism. She is a self-identified lesbian femme. Allison has won a number of awards for her writing, including several Lambda Literary Awards. In 2014, Allison was elected to membership in the Fellowship of Southern Writers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michelle Tea</span> American writer

Michelle Tea is an American author, poet, and literary arts organizer whose autobiographical works explore queer culture, feminism, race, class, sex work, and other topics. She is originally from Chelsea, Massachusetts and has identified with the San Francisco, California literary and arts community for many years. She currently lives in Los Angeles. Her books, mostly memoirs, are known for their exposition of the queercore community.

Lambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the United States-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works that celebrate or explore LGBT themes. The awards are presented annually for books published in the previous year. The Lambda Literary Foundation states that its mission is "to celebrate LGBT literature and provide resources for writers, readers, booksellers, publishers, and librarians—the whole literary community."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samiya Bashir</span> American writer

Samiya A. Bashir is a queer American artist, poet, and author. Much of Bashir's poetry explores the intersections of culture, change, and identity through the lens of race, gender, the body and sexuality. She is currently the June Jordan visiting professor at Columbia University of New York. Bashir is the first black woman recipient of the Joseph Brodsky Rome Prize in Literature. She was also the third black woman to serve as tenured professor at Reed College in Portland, Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivan Coyote</span> Canadian spoken word performer and writer

Ivan E. Coyote is a Canadian spoken word performer, writer, and LGBT advocate. Coyote has won many accolades for their collections of short stories, novels, and films. They also visit schools to tell stories and give writing workshops. The CBC has called Coyote a "gender-bending author who loves telling stories and performing in front of a live audience." Coyote is non-binary and uses singular they pronouns. Many of Coyote's stories are about gender, identity, and social justice. Coyote currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation to a work of fiction on gay male themes. As the award is presented based on themes in the work, not the sexuality or gender of the writer, women and heterosexual men may also be nominated for or win the award.

The Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation to a work of fiction on lesbian themes. As the award is presented based on themes in the work, not the sexuality or gender of the writer, men and heterosexual women may also be nominated for or win the award.

The Lambda Literary Award for Debut Fiction is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation to a debut work of fiction on LGBT themes. Formerly presented in two separate categories for gay male and lesbian debut fiction, beginning the 25th Lambda Literary Awards in 2013 a single award, inclusive of both male and female writers, was presented. The award was, however, discontinued after the 28th Lambda Literary Awards in 2016.

Bisexual literature is a subgenre of LGBT literature that includes literary works and authors that address the topic of bisexuality or biromanticism. This includes characters, plot lines, and/or themes portraying bisexual behavior in both men and women.

The Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation to a lesbian-themed book of poetry by a female writer. At the first two Lambda Literary Awards in 1989 and 1990, a single award for LGBT Poetry, irrespective of gender, was presented. Beginning with the 3rd Lambda Literary Awards in 1991, the poetry award was split into two separate awards for Lesbian Poetry and Gay Poetry, which have been presented continuously since then except at the 20th Lambda Literary Awards in 2008, when a merged LGBTQ poetry award was again presented for that year only.

Anna-Marie McLemore is a Mexican-American author of young adult fiction magical realism, best known for their Stonewall Honor-winning novel When the Moon Was Ours, Wild Beauty, and The Weight of Feathers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MariNaomi</span> American cartoonist and database maintainer

MariNaomi is an American graphic artist and cartoonist who often publishes autobiographical comics and is also well-known for creating three online databases of underrepresented cartoonists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kacen Callender</span> Saint Thomian author

Kacen Callender is a Saint Thomian author of children's fiction and fantasy, best known for their Stonewall Book Award and Lambda Literary Award-winning middle grade debut Hurricane Child. Their fantasy novel, Queen of the Conquered, is the 2020 winner of the World Fantasy Award and King and the Dragonflies won the 2020 National Book Award for Young People's Literature and the 2021 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Children's/Middle Grade.

<i>DignidadLiteraria</i> Hashtag and grassroots campaign

#DignidadLiteraria is a Spanish-language hashtag, used chiefly on Twitter, and a grassroots campaign for greater Latino inclusion in the U.S. publishing industry.

Rebekah Weatherspoon is an American author and romance novelist. Her books often feature heroines who are Black, plus-size, disabled, and/or LGBTQ. She founded the website WOC in Romance. Weatherspoon received a 2017 Lambda Literary Award for her novel Soul to Keep and was an honoree at the inaugural Ripped Bodice Awards for Excellence in Romance Fiction for Xeni.

The Lambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works that celebrate or explore LGBT themes. The organization is considered to be one of the main promoters of new and emerging LGBT writers.

The Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Graphic Novel is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation, to a graphic novel with LGBT themes. As the award is presented based on themes in the work, not the sexuality or gender of the writer, non-LGBT individuals may be nominated for or win the award.

The Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Memoir/Biography is an annual literary award established in 1994, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation, to a memoir, biography, autobiography, or works of creative nonfiction by or about lesbians. Works published posthumously and/or written with co-authors are eligible, but anthologies are not.

<i>My Autobiography of Carson McCullers</i> 2020 book by Jenn Shapland

My Autobiography of Carson McCullers is a memoir by Jenn Shapland, published April 2, 2020 by Tin House Books. In 2021, the book won the Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction, the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Memoir, and the Phi Beta Kappa Christian Gauss Award. Along with being longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, it was a finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction and a Stonewall Book Award Honor Book.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Spruce, Hannah (July 21, 2023). "Atypical True Crime, Laughing at Offenders, and the Publishing Industry: An Interview with Myriam Gurba". Contemporary Women's Writing. 16 (3): 289–304. doi:10.1093/cww/vpad005 . Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  2. ↑ "Long Beach authors to share their humor, discomfort at Sister Spit tour". www.presstelegram.com. 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  3. ↑ Morris, Asia. "Local Artists Explore Identity and Diversity in WHO ARE YOU, MOLAA's First Exhibit of 2016". Long Beach Post. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  4. ↑ "Opening Reception Featuring Myriam Gurba and Denise Rivas The Center Long Beach". The Center Long Beach. Archived from the original on 2020-09-09. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  5. ↑ Gurba, Myriam (2023-09-05). Creep: Accusations and Confessions. Avid Reader Press. ISBN   978-1-9821-8647-0.
  6. 1 2 Hart, Michelle (2019-06-04). "50 Queer Authors Share Their All-Time Favorite LGBTQ Books". Oprah Magazine. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
  7. ↑ Gurba, Myriam (Nov 7, 2017). Mean. Coffee House Press. ISBN   978-1-56689-491-3. Archived from the original on September 9, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  8. ↑ Gurba, Myriam (May 1, 2007). Dahlia Season: stories & a novella . Future Tense. ISBN   978-1933149165 . Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  9. ↑ "Dahlia Season eBook by Myriam Gurba". Kobo. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  10. ↑ "2015 Latino Books: 8 Must-Reads from Indispensable Small Presses". NBC News. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  11. ↑ "2015 Latino Books: 8 Must-Reads from Indispensable Small Presses". NBC News. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  12. ↑ "About Us". Tasteful Rude. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  13. ↑ "Why I Use Humor When Talking About My Sexual Assault". Time. 2018-03-30. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  14. ↑ "Myriam Gurba". The Paris Review. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  15. ↑ Gurba, Myriam (2019). "Essay: Laugh Lines". American Book Review. 40 (3): 10–11. doi:10.1353/abr.2019.0030. ISSN   2153-4578.
  16. ↑ Rao, Sameer (17 March 2016). "READ This Exhilarating History of L.A.'s Super-Badass 'Ovarian Psychos' Bicycle Brigade". ColorLines. race forward. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  17. ↑ Gurba, Myriam (2020-12-01). "Chismosa Bitch". Believer Magazine. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  18. ↑ "'American Dirt' is a novel about Mexicans by a writer who isn't". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  19. ↑ Hampton, Rachelle (2020-01-21). "Why Everyone's Angry About American Dirt". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  20. ↑ Shephard, Alex (2020-01-22). "How Not to Write a Book Review". The New Republic. ISSN   0028-6583 . Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  21. ↑ "Pendeja, You Ain't Steinbeck: My Bronca with Fake-Ass Social Justice Literature". Tropics of Meta. 2019-12-12. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  22. ↑ Gurba, Myriam; MariNaomi. "AskBiGrlz". AskBiGrlz. Archived from the original on 2021-05-13. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
  23. ↑ Gurba, Myriam (2007). Dahlia Season: Stories & a Novella - Myriam Gurba . ISBN   9781933149165 . Retrieved 2016-12-09– via Internet Archive.
  24. ↑ "Publishing Triangle". www.publishingtriangle.org. Archived from the original on 2019-03-23. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  25. ↑ "20th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. Archived from the original on 2017-07-31. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  26. ↑ Dazed (14 October 2014). "Come out with the best characters in queer lit". Dazed. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  27. ↑ "The Millions : A Year in Reading: Emily Gould". www.themillions.com. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  28. ↑ "The Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction - The Publishing Triangle". publishingtriangle.org. 28 October 2022. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
  29. ↑ "National Book Critics Circle Announces Finalists for Publishing Year 2023". bookcritics.org. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  30. ↑ "Announcing the Finalists for the 36th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". them. 2024-03-27. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  31. ↑ Daum, Meghan (2017-12-22). "In Search of Lost Time". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-08-08.
  32. ↑ Daum, Meghan (2017-12-22). "In Search of Lost Time". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2020-02-05.
  33. ↑ Sehgal, Parul (2017-12-19). "An Account of Surviving Assault Mixes Horror and Humor". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  34. ↑ "Myriam Gurba's MEAN | The Iowa Review". iowareview.org. Archived from the original on 2020-09-09. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  35. ↑ "Staff Picks: Morphine, Martyrs, Microphones". The Paris Review. 2017-09-15. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  36. ↑ Ellis, Danika. "Danika reviews Painting Their Portraits in Winter by Myriam Gurba". The Lesbrary. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  37. ↑ Attaway, Jacklyn (27 November 2013). "DAHLIA SEASON". Rain Taxi. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  38. ↑ Gaudry, Molly (3 April 2011). "Sentences and Fragments: Prathna Lor's VENTRILOQUISIM and Myriam Gurba's WISH YOU WERE ME". BIG OTHER. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  39. ↑ Filippone, Michael. "Wish You Were Me by Myriam Gurba". Wing Chair Books. Michael Filippone. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  40. 1 2 "Mean – Emily Books". emilybooks.com. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  41. 1 2 Clark, Leilani. "For Mexican Girls Who Paint Their Fingernails Black". KQED Arts. KQED. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  42. ↑ Rasmussen, Emily. "What's The Deal With Frida Kahlo's Cult Following?". The Edge LB. The Edge: The Independent Voice of Long Beach. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  43. ↑ Darling, Nikki. "Myriam Gurba: Required Reading for Mexican Girls Who Paint their Fingernails Black". Confessions of a Boy Toy. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  44. ↑ "LARB Radio Hour: Queer Memoir Part Two: Feeling Mean with Myriam Gurba". Los Angeles Review of Books. 19 January 2018. Archived from the original on 2020-09-09. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  45. ↑ Nericcio, William. "Author-Artist Myriam Gurba is a Bettie Page-Susan Sontag Hybrid". OC Weekly. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  46. ↑ "Who Are You? Artist: Myriam Gurba". MOLAA. Retrieved 2016-12-09.[ permanent dead link ]
  47. ↑ Quintana, Monique. "A Normal Interview with Myriam Gurba". The Normal School. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  48. ↑ Abelkop, Gina (14 March 2016). "It's Kinda Creepy Because I Am: An Interview with Myriam Gurba". Weird Sister. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  49. ↑ Listi, Brad. "Otherppl with Brad Listi: Episode 388 - Myriam Gurba". Otherppl. Brad Listi. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  50. ↑ Gurba, Myriam. "Largehearted Boy: Book Notes - Myriam Gurba "Painting their Portraits in Winter"". Largehearted Boy. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  51. ↑ Gurba, Myriam. "Largehearted Boy: Book Notes - Myriam Gurba ("Wish You Were Me")". Largehearted Boy. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  52. ↑ Soto, Christopher (9 May 2015). "'Neplantla: A Journal Dedicated to Queer Poets of Color: Issue Two Representatives". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.