Rachel Gold and Student Editors Talk the Newest Issue of Sinister Wisdom, “Lesbian Stories,” in Literary Salon
By Sarah Tachau ‘27
In the last Literary Salon of March, Professor Rachel Gold was joined by two of her student interns and co-editors, Ella Stern ’27 and Beja Puškášová ’26 to talk about the newest issue of Sinister Wisdom. The quarterly literary and art journal is the oldest lesbian venue for creative work, founded in 1976 by Harriet Desmoines and Catherine Nicholson. Since its founding, Sinister Wisdom has welcomed a handful of prominent lesbian and feminist writers, such as Adrienne Rich, Michelle Cliff, and Audre Lorde — the former two serving as co-editors.
Prof. Gold began the evening with a brief overview of the journal’s history and current work. Aside from promoting multi-generational lesbian voices through themed issues, Sinister Wisdom runs a book review column, the Wild Shrew Literary Review. This bi-weekly community newsletter includes an art calendar and promotes Sinister Wisdom’s “Sapphic Classics” series, a project that involves republishing out of print books from lesbian authors. The journal takes editorial interns to assist with sorting through the slush pile, voting on submissions, retrieving archival materials, and interviewing past and current editors.
“I saw the best side of it — the variety of voices we had,” Stern said. “Intergenerationality is something typically missing in queer spaces.”
She was tasked with the archival work for Sinister Wisdom’s 50th anniversary, interviewing past editors such as Judith Katz, Prof. Gold’s former professor, and sorting through 1970s footage of lesbian mothers raising their kids. The project proved to be valuable in her academic life as she considers intergenerationality as documented through oral histories.
Prof. Gold highlighted the vast span of ages represented amongst writers in the journal’s 138th issue, “Lesbian Stories.” The age of the writers spanned from 16 to 86, while the editors ranged from Macalester students to Prof. Gold, Katz, and established playwright Penny Mickelbury.
“This issue pushed the bounds on what a lesbian story is,” Prof. Gold explained. Her and Puškášová highlighted the diversity of subjects, from the healthcare industry to internal revelations of identity; the submissions were not purely romantic.
“I developed trust in the editors,” Puškášová said. “It’s good to know that lesbians aren’t excluding other lesbians, like trans lesbians.”
Her internship with Sinister Wisdom revolved largely around editorial work, such as sorting through the slush pile of submissions and voting on possible stories. “It’s interesting to think ‘what do we want to publish,’” Puškášová continued, drawing on her experience reading submissions and sending in her own work.
Prof. Gold ran through an overview of the publishing process: every piece is either solicited or taken from the pool of submissions, line edited, and formatted — a difficult step for some pieces, such as a zine that was accepted into the “Lesbian Stories” issue. Thanks to Submittable, the works that are not accepted remain in the pool of submissions for consideration in later issues. After an undesirable cover was proposed by the journal’s publisher, Prof. Gold’s partner crafted the front graphic: a collaged scene depicting the diversity of generations represented within the pages. As for publicity, Sinister Wisdom hosted a live launch on YouTube where the journal’s new and established authors were welcome to read.
Sinister Wisdom celebrated its 50th anniversary and the publication of its newest issue “Golden” on Zoom last Tuesday. The journal hosts several Zoom events, serving as a consistent literary community.
The Words would like to thank Professor Rachel Gold and student editors Ella Stern and Beja Puškášová for taking the time out of their Wednesday evening to answer student questions.