622 Lesbians in the Archives (with Amelia Possanza)

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

Books, Arts, History

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 22 July 2024

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Lesbians have been around for thousands of years (at least!), but their voices have often fallen victim to censorship, oppression, and ostracization. In this episode, Jacke talks to author Amelia Possanza, whose new book Lesbian Love Story: A Memoir in Archives describes Possanza's research into seven love stories for the ages. What can these lesbians from the past, who persisted against numerous obstacles, teach us about love, care, and community? PLUS Jacke takes a look at Emily Dickinson's famous poem #314 ("'Hope' is the thing with feathers -"). Music Credits: "Tango de Manzana" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglamorate Network and LIT Hub Radio.
0:07.0	Hello, what would the world be like if we changed it a little?
0:13.2	What if, instead of erasing people from history, we gave them and their stories a full hearing?
0:20.4	What if their lessons and examples were part of our treasure chest of knowledge?
0:25.0	And in particular, what if we knew more about what lesbians,
0:29.0	who kept alive a spirit of caring and community in spite of ostracization, demonization and probably some other
0:37.0	terribleizations as well. Illegalization, literally, if that's a word, a probation.
0:45.0	And yet they persisted.
0:47.0	They not only persisted, they grew secret gardens, they shared secret flowers, and sometimes they smuggled truths into their writing.
0:58.0	Enter Amelia Possanza, who scanned the archives looking for these stories so she could give herself and the world
1:06.8	some role models and some collected wisdom.
1:10.8	She joins us to discuss her trips to the archives and what she found there today on the
1:17.0	history of literature. Okay, here we go. Welcome to the podcast. I'm Jack Wilson. Did you miss me? I doubt it, but have you missed Emily Dickinson?
1:32.2	Probably. We haven't done one of her poems. doubt it, but have you missed Emily Dickinson?
1:33.2	Probably, we haven't done one of her poems in a while.
1:35.6	Maybe we should check in.
1:37.5	How about we jump ahead to poem number 314 of hers
1:41.9	in our selected poems by Helen Vendler. May she rest in peace by the way, we lost a great one.
1:49.0	I'm guessing that she and Emily have found each other by now.
1:53.0	Maybe you've heard of number 314,
1:56.0	maybe you know it by its first line,
1:58.0	Hope is the thing with feathers,
	...

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