Jewelle Gomez

Jewelle Gomez is an American author, poet, critic, and playwright born in 1948. Her extensive career spans over two decades in New York City, where she worked in public television, theater, and philanthropy before moving to the West Coast. Gomez's writing, encompassing fiction, poetry, essays, and cultural criticism, has been featured in various feminist and mainstream publications. Her work consistently centers on the experiences of women, with a particular focus on LGBTQ women of color, and has been recognized through numerous interviews for documentaries and articles on LGBT rights and culture.

Gomez's upbringing in Boston, influenced by her great-grandmother, a Native American of Ioway and African-American descent, and her Wampanoag great-uncle, has deeply informed her perspective. She recognized her lesbian identity at age 11 and began writing at a young age, inspired by authors like James Baldwin. After attending Northeastern University, she moved to New York to work on "The Electric Company" and later pursued a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University. Her involvement in Black theater and various philanthropic organizations further shapes her multifaceted career.

Jewelle Gomez is recognized as a significant voice, with some considering her a "foremother of Afrofuturism." Her most acclaimed work, the novel "The Gilda Stories," which has been in continuous print since 1991, reframes vampire mythology through a lesbian feminist perspective. The novel follows the journey of an escaped slave over two centuries, exploring themes of community and marginalization within American society. Gomez's writing is associated with the "women in print" movement, a feminist initiative to create independent media networks. Her other notable collections include "Don't Explain" (short fiction), "43 Septembers" (essays), and "Oral Tradition: Selected Poems Old and New." These works often employ an episodic structure, connecting contemporary struggles for freedom with historical social and political movements. Her fiction and poetry have been included in over a hundred anthologies, notably "Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora."

Beyond her prose and poetry, Gomez has made significant contributions to the theater. She authored the theatrical adaptation of "The Gilda Stories," titled "Bones and Ash," which toured extensively across the United States. Her playwriting also includes a work about James Baldwin, "Waiting For Giovanni," developed in collaboration with Harry Waters Jr., and "Leaving the Blues," a play about the singer Alberta Hunter. Both "Waiting for Giovanni" and "Leaving the Blues" have been produced by TOSOS Theatre Company in New York City, with "Leaving the Blues" receiving award nominations and wins. Her most recent play, "Unpacking in Ptown," premiered in 2024.

Gomez's activism is deeply rooted in her commitment to LGBTQ rights, informed by the intersection of race and gender in America. She was part of the original staff of "Say Brother" (now "Basic Black"), an early Black television program. Her foundational involvement extends to co-founding the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and serving on the early boards of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation and Open Meadows Foundation, both dedicated to supporting women's organizations. Gomez has also been active in archival work, serving on the board of the Cornell University Human Sexuality Archives and the endowment committee of the James Hormel LGBT Center in San Francisco. She was a member of the philanthropic collective "100 Lesbians and Our Friends," which aimed to educate lesbians about financial empowerment and philanthropy. Furthermore, she and her partner, Dr. Diane Sabin, were litigants in the legal battle for same-sex marriage rights in California.