The Fitful Sleep of Immigrants – Orlando Ortega-Medina (Amble Press)

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Amble Press/Bywater Books

A successful lawyer confronts personal demons while fighting for asylum for his undocumented partner. Set in the 1990s, Ortega-Medina’s latest novel is strong in themes of persecution and forced displacement, from the inherited traumas of Syrian-American Jews to the plight of Central American political refugees seeking harbor in the United States.

Marc, the lawyer, is the main character and the product of a rabbinical family, which in the span of two generations had to flee from Syria to Cuba and then from Cuba to the U.S. to escape religious intolerance. That background is important, though Marc enters the 90s narrative as a thirty-something, high powered lawyer who appears to have his life well in-hand. He’s a partner in a thriving, boutique firm and coupled-up with a live-in boyfriend, Isaac. They live comfortably in San Francisco, the perfect place for gay men to enjoy freedom and community, albeit in a time before marriage equality.

Quickly, Marc’s facade of happiness erodes. A caseload of ethically-questionable clients is burning him out and leaving him distracted and at risk of falling back into addiction. Isaac wants more from Marc, who works long days and forgets their plans to meet for lunch. Marc has a dream to move to the Napa Valley where he could build his own practice, and he and Isaac would be happier together. Then Marc is drawn into a fascination with a charismatic client, Alejandro, who has a sexual harassment suit against a gay employer. Soon after, a crisis hits. Isaac receives a summons from immigration court that could result in his expulsion to El Salvador. A decade earlier, Isaac crossed the border to the United States to escape the bloody civil war that took the lives of both his parents and his brother.

Flawed heroes can make for compelling reads, or, when the crafting is off-balance, they can turn the reader off. Given the rawness of American immigration politics, it’s possible that some will have a hard time finding sympathy with Marc’s missteps when he ought to be supporting the man he loves who’s undergoing a terrifying ordeal. The author has a lot to juggle here. Marc’s recovery from drug and alcohol addiction is on thin tethers. He’s in the midst of reconciling with his conservative family that cannot fully accept his gayness. He’s haunted by memories of his first boyfriend, a free-spirited, hallucinogenic-friendly young Israeli, whose death left Marc with scars of guilt.

That’s all relatable stuff, but as the story progresses, Marc scarcely resists the sketchy charms of Alejandro, whose history with gay men rather obviously suggests opportunism rather than victimization. Marc lies to Isaac about the nature of their relationship, and his actions jeopardize Isaac’s case for asylum. He’s so consumed by unresolved issues with his Israeli lover, he justifies his affair with Alejandro as a way to repair himself.

The author’s portrayal of Marc’s position has more compelling moments, particularly when his parents come into the picture, and one can feel Marc’s psychic toll from rejecting the religious aspects of his identity in order to live an authentic life. To his rabbi father, he’s rejecting a tradition of cultural pride against a world that sought to annihilate Jews or at least expel them. Marc is pulled in many directions. Isaac’s own traumatic history is a lot to deal with, and he withholds feelings and disappears for stretches at a time. Is Marc just doing the best he can? Is his entanglement with Alejandro forgivable, given Marc’s longtime struggle to distinguish love from emotional harm? At the very least, Ortega-Medina can be credited with creating a deeply thought-provoking story, whether it has you in its grip to see what happens next or has you screaming at your tablet at times.

As Isaac’s legal battle heats up, the story becomes more of a courtroom drama. The author is a lawyer himself and renders many procedural details that are educative to readers who want to take a deep dive into immigration law, while others may find themselves skimming through the pages. Where the story succeeds the most is in illuminating how the lived experiences of Jewish immigrants, Hispanic refugees, and LGBTQ+ people intersect around exclusion and the very right to exist. For that alone, it’s a noteworthy novel that will have resonance for many readers.

Reviewed by Andrew J. Peters

Spring Poetry Roundup

April being National Poetry Month, I thought it would be a good time for the Spring Poetry Roundup, highlighting four spectacular releases from four extremely talented writers. I try to do two roundups a year, in the spring and fall, though I don’t always have enough material to make that happen. If you have suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at pfloydian191@hotmail.com and let me know. And now, on to our poets:

The Pressure of All That Light – Holly Painter (Rebel Satori Press)

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Rebel Satori Press

Holly Painter’s third collection of poetry is separated into three sections, each a different locale and stage of her life–Michigan, California, and New Zealand, each part charting a path of discover. The poems comprising Michigan are uncertain and searching, many of them characterized by her reactions to the italicized speech of others: the gym teacher in “Assembly” or the woman who finds her boyish-looking and insists she’s in the wrong restroom in “Please don’t hurt me,” one of my favorites here. The California pieces are far more assured. speaking to a clarity and cleverness only possible from someone who thinks they’ve figured out what things are all about, such as the then-and-now rhythm of her “Apologetics of a College Freshman” and the summation of a life so-far-lived in “San Francisco Self-Examiner,” the title of which still makes me smile. But the surety of these poems is totally undercut by the disconnects of the New Zealand poems, characterized by jarring images such as the “asterisk-headed dandelions” and “metal trees” of “Dandelion,” and the dead man’s suit in “Shipwrecked, I Arrive.” Painter finds grace in disarray but no comfort in travel in this thoughtful and accessible collection.

Saints of the Republic – Chip Livingston (Spuyten Duyvil)

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Spuyten Duyvil

Unlike Painter, queer/two-spirit, mixed blood Cree writer Chip Livingston, author of two previous collections of poetry and a number of other works, is not only comfortable in travel but rhapsodic about settling in his newfound home of Uruguay, well-represented in his latest release, Saints of the Republic. Like Painter, the collection is split into three parts: “Santos de La Republica,” “Home Catechism,” and the titular “Saints of the Republic.” Livingston delights in removing the worship of convention from his saints, transmogrifying them to a more visceral level, as in “San Vitalis of Fetishes,” which name-checks Mapplethorpe’s Piss Christ, or providing choices in the path a poem is read, such as “San Timotheos’ Line” or “San Judas Tadeo, Apostle of God’s Image.” The longest poem in the first section, “Alphabet of the Republic,” proclaims the reasons for Livingston’s joy in his adopted country, and is so convincing you might find yourself checking airfare prices. But there are interesting pieces anywhere you look here: the backward thrust of “The Heat Run,” the freewheeling tilt of “52 Hawks,” and the possibilities of “Could Be You.” But above all, this is a very earthy, elemental compendium of pieces. Body parts and images abound. culminating in pieces like “War Pornography,” Finding Love in Chelsea,” and especially the intimate “I Remember Joe Brainard’s Cock Pics,” a piece as thoughtful as it is delightfully pornographic. A rumination on the body as well as the spirit, Saints of the Republic paints a frank portrait of both sides of that dichotomy as well as all points between.

limerance – Octavio R. Gonzalez (Queer Mojo/Rebel Satori Press)

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Rebel Satori Press

As visceral as Chip Livingston, yet in a different way, Octavio Gonzalez’s limerance has its roots in the body but concerns itself more with the buildup and aftermath than the moment itself. Not that he never explores the right-now, but even the pieces which do so don’t linger there. Although all the pieces are interesting, my particular favorites are the prose poems “when i was little (ii)” and “begging for quarters,” which seem to have a sense of place you don’t often find in poetry. But Gonzalez also works well with transcience–the fleeting encounters in “shrink (i)” and “shrink (ii),” the reminiscence of “rooftop (i)” and “rooftop (ii),” the inherent longing of “love cycle,” the freedom and movement in “glide with you”–all of these are both enjoyable on their own but also as part of an indelible whole. limerance is a study in contrasts: ethereal yet earthy, static but in motion. It’s much like the cover–sharp focus in front of a hazy background.

The Old Ambassador and Other Poems – Wayne Courtois (Spartan Press)

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Barnes & Noble

It’s been too long since we heard anything from Wayne Courtois. His fiction and memoir always has a fresh point of view and impeccable follow-through, and his poetry is no exception, so I was anxious to dive into his latest, The Old Ambassador and Other Poems, which did not disappoint. As he’s primarily a fiction writer, Courtois’s work is often rooted in reality rather than imagery. His images are certainly telling, but he approaches them from a more grounded perspective, telling the reader what’s on his mind. And what’s on Courtois’s mind lately seems to be mortality, evident from the first piece, “When It Comes,” about the moment of death. He does approach other subjects such as the normalcy of gay couples, as in one of my favorites here, “Heteronormative Bar-B-Q Sandwich,” which illustrates the difference between a straight couple and a gay couple waiting in line for food, but the long centerpiece of the book, “The Old Ambassador” reeks of age, must, and death. A piece about the demise and refurbishment of an old hotel in Kansas City, Courtois’s current home base, it leaves plenty of room for thinking about finality as well as renewal and how to embrace both with equal fervor. It’s solemn yet hopeful, focusing on transition–as you can tell from the cover. Skilled and assured, The Old Ambassador and Other Poems is a welcome return from one of our finest writers.

And there we have the Spring Poetry Roundup–four great volumes that are sure to keep you thinking until the fall. We’re always looking for titles, so if you have something coming out this summer, please let us know at pfloydian191@hotmail.com.

JW

© 2023 Jerry L. Wheeler

New April Releases

What’s new with some of our favorite independent presses? We’ll try to answer that question on a monthly basis with our latest feature, beginning with April. There are some fine books here you should know about, and where better to find them than Out in Print? We’re all you need to read about all you need to read. If you are a publisher or self-publisher and would like to see your books featured here, please contact us at pfloydian191@hotmail.com. Happy reading!!

From Rebel Satori Press:

limerance – Octavio R. Gonzales (April 4)

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Performer Non Grata – Brian Alessandro (April 18)

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Time Bomb – John Patrick (April 23)

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From Queen of Swords Press:

Death By Silver – Melissa Scott & Amy Griswold (April 13)

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From Amble Press:

The Fitful Sleep of Immigrants – Orlando Ortega-Medina (April 18)

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From Bywater Books:

Live It Out – Jenn Alexander

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From Rattling Good Yarns Press:

Widower, 48, Seeks Husband – Raymond Luczak (April 4)

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Twilight Manors in Palm Springs: The Peculiar Case of the Follies Dancer, A Brian and Stephane Adventure – St. Sukie de la Croix (April 11)

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From Bold Strokes Books:

Curse of the Gorgon – Tanai Walker (April 11)

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Dance With Me – Georgia Beers (April 11)

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Gin and Bear It – Joy Argento (April 11)

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Harvest Dreams – Jacqueline Fein-Zachary (April 11)

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Outside the Lines – Melissa Sky (April 11)

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The No Kiss Contract – Nan Campbell (April 11)

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The Value of Sylver and Gold – Michelle Larkin (April 11)

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When It Feels Right – Tagan Shepard (April 11)

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The Teachers’ Room – Lydia Stryk (Bywater Books)

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Bywater Books

Being a former teacher, I’m always up for reading books about the profession, especially those which feature LGBT protagonists. Bywater Books also seems to love the topic, publishing a number of books about teachers, including Beowulf for Cretins (Ann McMan) and Testimony (Paula Martinac). But while both those books deal with adults teaching high school or college, books about elementary school teachers are rarer. Lydia Stryk’s The Teachers’ Room fills that gap nicely, providing an insightful and absorbing look at the lives of teachers without the complication of a distracting student body.

Karen Murphy is in her first year of teaching, taking on a fifth-grade class in a Midwestern school in 1963, but in addition to the challenges and rewards of dealing with her students, she finds she’s developing feelings for Esther Jonas, a fourth-grade teacher who already lives with a woman named Lee Anne. As their relationship deepens, they walk a fine line between professionalism and the carefree abandon of new love. When Jonas is outed by a fellow teacher, complications arise, and although Murphy is devastated, that act also begins her politicization.

Stryk is a former award-winning playwright attempting her first novel, which is evident by her dialogue–it crackles, moving the narrative along just quickly enough. It sounds true and spontaneous, both with adults and in her classroom interaction. And she captures that classroom dynamic beautifully, distilling the problem children we’ve all known down to Lydie, a headstrong yet creative free spirit with a penchant for making trouble. Is the author, Lydia, channeling her younger self? Only she knows for sure, but the portrait is both deft and sincere.

And Stryk is just as adept when dealing with her adult characters, especially Karen’s lover, Esther. She paints Esther as both desireable and mysterious, having an unnamed heartbreak in her background in Germany before coming to this country. The revelation there comes slowly, but it constantly influences how their relationship progresses, leaving Karen in a precarious affair of the heart. Esther can’t be totally Karen’s as she can’t be totally Lee Anne’s–or anyone’s, for that matter–until she works out her demons. Coming together seems hopeless, but Karen is determined to be the one who sees it to its logical conclusion with all the joy and heartbreak the journey has to offer.

Stryk sticks very closely to her timeline, including JFK’s assassination as well as the nascent civil rights movement, but she shines in her portrayal of the women in the Daughters of Bilitis meetings she attends. Those chapters dealing with her political coming of age are particularly poignant, combining the celebration of new-found freedom with the realization that she’s still bound by the age-old constraints of fear and the threat of crippling her own career by associating with other lesbians. Stryk walks this chalk line with delicacy and passion, driving Karen Murphy forward while simultaneously keeping her in check.

The Teachers’ Room is both rewarding and entertaining, giving us a fully rounded picture of closeted teachers in the early 60s both in terms of career and their private lives. The characters are spot-on, the plot is engaging, and it’s well worth your reading time. Move it up to the head of the class.

JW

© 2023 Jerry L. Wheeler

Saints & Sinners: New Fiction from the Festival 2023 – Tracy Cunningham & Paul J. Willis, eds. (Rebel Satori Press)

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Rebel Satori Press

As regular readers of Out in Print know, Saints & Sinners is a yearly LGBTQ literary festival that takes place in New Orleans, and their short story contest produces some of the finest LGBTQ fiction collected. This 2023 edition is no exception. As with all short story collections, however, some tales will pique your interest more than others, but these anthologies have a particularly high batting average as far as I’m concerned. The contest this year was judged by Lambda Literary Award winning mystery author Michael Nava, who I’m sure had some difficult choices to make.

The winner of this year’s competition is Ariadne Blayde’s “Minor Difficulties In BigEasyWorld,” an interesting look at love between two boys working in a futuristic New Orleans theme park, the real thing having been destroyed by unnamed forces some years back. The park has neighborhoods like Bourbon Street and Storyville that tourists roam through drinking Hurricanes, Hand Grenades, and Voodoo Daquiris (which are the same thing in different collectible glasses), experiencing characters like Ambient Alcoholic, Upstairs Ghost, Jazz Musician, and Enslaved Person, all overseen by the Historical Truth and Reconciliation Coordinator. As a current NOLA tour guide, Blayde’s barbs hit with deadly accuracy, and the disconnect with reality is alarmingly real, but the facades and fakery never obscure the love story between teenagers Wes and Neal. Well-balanced and solidly constructed, this story is a delight.

Also set in New Orleans, but in the present rather than the future, is William Christy Smith’s charming “By Hook or By Crook,” which features one of those NOLA “characters” who seem to populate every block, this one a delicate antique collector named Bug DeCote. DeCote’s health is failing, and the members of his writing group are tasked with cataloguing, unbeknownst to him, the items in house to sell after his imminent demise. Also set in the South is J. R. Greenwell’s “Water Between My Legs,” an atmospheric and immersive story of a gay teen coming to terms with himself in small town Appalachia, a milieu Greenwell writes most comfortably about.

But there are wonderful stories here also taking place above the Mason-Dixon line. Powell Burke’s “Man In Sunglasses With Newspaper” is a Fire Island oriented look at pre-Stonewall gay life in that enclave as seen through the lens of a photographer named Harry. Slightly surrealistic, this story floats with a languorous intricacy bound to capture your imagination. Philip Gambone blends two Boston couples together, striking sparks of betrayal and jealousy in “Big Boy,” while John Whittier Treat takes a New York City couple to Broadway to see the Boys in the Band revival in “The Boys Not In The Band,” but he doesn’t let them sit together, creating some interesting tension.

For my money, however, the story which most captivated my attention was Eric Peterson’s “Banjo.” Like his “Little Boy Blue” from last year, it tugs all the right heartstrings only this time with a dog named Banjo who helps grief-stricken Arturo move forward through the death of his partner, Ben. The turn near the end of the story keys in to so many emotions, I ended up ugly-crying at Gate B7 in the Dallas airport on my way home from Saints & Sinners.

I’ve submitted to this anthology more than once in the twenty years of the conference but have never yet made it to finalist. Career goals, right? But I’ll try again this year and hope to find myself in company this fine in 2024. Wish me luck.

JW

© 2023 Jerry L. Wheeler