Madelyn Arnold

Madelyn Arnold (born 1950) is an American fiction writer. In 1989, she won the inaugural Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Debut Fiction for her novel Bird-Eyes.

Early life and education

Madelyn Arnold was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1950.[1] Her childhood was marked by poverty and abuse, and she became responsible for taking care of the household at only 8 years old.[1] She became involved in political activism as a teenager, joining the NAACP in high school and writing to Socialist political candidates for information.[2]

Arnold attended college at Ball State University starting around age 16, studying biology and medical illustration.[1] It was there that she discovered her lesbian identity, and after being outed she was forced to leave the school.[1] She did eventually obtain a bachelor's in microbiology from Indiana University Bloomington in 1973, but she also became homeless and was institutionalized for a period before finding a new home in Seattle, Washington, in 1975.[1][3][4]

In Seattle, she worked in labs, hospitals, and clinics throughout the 1970s and '80s.[1][4] She went on to obtain a master's in creative writing from the University of Washington.[1]

Writing career

Arnold's debut novel, Bird-Eyes, was published in 1988 to critical acclaim.[3][4] Distributed by Seal Press, it won the inaugural Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Debut Fiction in 1989.[1][3][4][5][6] It fictionalized her real experiences with institutionalization as a teenager, in a period when queer women were frequently committed to mental institutions.[1][7][8][9] It was later re-released by St. Martin's Press.[1]

In 1992, she released the short story collection On Ships at Sea, which included pieces she had been working on since 1976.[3][6] The collection, published by St. Martin's Press, features predominantly lesbian characters in a wide variety of circumstances.[3] It was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction the following year.[10]

Then, in 2000, she published the novel A Year of Full Moons, which tells the story of a tomboy girl named Josephine Margaret Butler growing up in Kentucky during the turbulent political year of 1963.[2][6][7]

Arnold has been a longtime contributor to the Seattle Gay News, for which she wrote the column "Not Thinking Straight."[1][2] She also wrote for the Zodiac News Service[1] and has taught fiction at the University of Washington and Seattle Central Community College.[3][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l James, Marcus (2009-06-26). "Girl disappearing: The legacy of Seattle author Madelyn Arnold". Seattle Gay News. Retrieved 2025-06-02.
  2. ^ a b c Nagle, Matt (2000-11-10). ""Through the eyes of a Queer young girl..."". Seattle Gay News.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Flint, Tom (1992-01-17). "Madelyn Arnold comes out with terrific new book". Seattle Gay News.
  4. ^ a b c d "Madelyn Arnold to hold reading from her latest novel, Divided by One". Seattle Gay News. 2006-05-19.
  5. ^ "Bimonthly review honors gay, lesbian authors with awards". Journal and Courier. 1989-06-13.
  6. ^ a b c "Madelyn Arnold". Macmillan Publishers. Retrieved 2025-06-02.
  7. ^ a b c Archer, Max (2002-06-21). "Madelyn Arnold: Local Girl Makes Good". Seattle Gay News.
  8. ^ Lynch, Lee (1988-12-09). "A holiday gift guide to books for lesbian readers". Dallas Voice. Archived from the original on 2025-06-04. Retrieved 2025-06-02.
  9. ^ McNamara, Mary (1988-10-02). "IN SHORT; FICTION". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2025-06-05. Retrieved 2025-06-02.
  10. ^ "5th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. 1993-07-14. Archived from the original on 2022-01-22. Retrieved 2025-06-02.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.