Allen Barnett (May 23, 1955 – August 14, 1991) was an American writer.
. glbtq.com, 2006. Although he published only one volume of short stories, ''The Body and Its Dangers'', during his lifetime, the book is widely regarded as one of the most artistically significant depictions of

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

life at the height of the AIDS crisis.

Philip Gambone Philip Gambone (born July 21, 1948) is an American writer who has published both fiction and non-fiction. Biography Philip Gambone was born in Wakefield, Massachusetts, on July 21, 1948. He earned a BA from Harvard College and an MA from the Epi ...

, ''Something Inside: Conversations With Gay Fiction Writers''.

University of Wisconsin Press The University of Wisconsin Press (sometimes abbreviated as UW Press) is a non-profit university press publishing peer-reviewed books and journals. It publishes work by scholars from the global academic community; works of fiction, memoir and p ...

, 1999. . Born near

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will and Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 census, the city was the third-largest in Illinois, with a population of 150,362. Hist ...

, Barnett studied theatre at Loyola University Chicago. He later moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to work as an actor, pursuing further studies at The New School and Columbia University, where he earned his MFA in the Writing Division of the School of the Arts. He was also a cofounder of GLAAD, and an educator with

Gay Men's Health Crisis The GMHC (formerly Gay Men's Health Crisis) is a New York City–based non-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based AIDS service organization whose mission statement is to "end the AIDS epidemic and uplift the lives of all affected." His ...

."Allen Barnett, Author and Educator, 36"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', August 17, 1991. He worked for

Herbert Breslin Herbert Breslin (1 October 1924 – 17 May 2012) was an American music industry executive. He was influential in the careers of several musicians since the 1960s, the foremost of these being the tenor Luciano Pavarotti, with whom he started his c ...

in the late 1980s, and after Barnett published his first short story, "Succor", in ''

Christopher Street Christopher Street is a street in the West Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is the continuation of 9th Street west of Sixth Avenue. It is most notable for the Stonewall Inn, which is located on Christopher S ...

'' in 1986, Breslin forwarded Barnett's short stories to a friend who worked for

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

. The firm placed one of his stories, "Philostorgy, Now Obscure", in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', and published ''The Body and Its Dangers'' in 1990. The book won a

Ferro-Grumley Award The Ferro-Grumley Award is an annual literary award, presented by Publishing Triangle and the Ferro-Grumley Foundation to a book deemed the year's best work of LGBT fiction. The award is presented in memory of writers Robert Ferro and Michael Grum ...

and a

Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction The Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation to a work of fiction on gay male themes. As the award is presented based on themes in the work, not the sexuality or gender of the ...

in 1991. It was also a nominee for the

Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award The PEN/Hemingway Award is awarded annually to a full-length novel or book of short stories by an American author who has not previously published a full-length book of fiction. The award is named after Ernest Hemingway and funded by the Hemingwa ...

; while it did not win, it was given a special citation as one of the year's best works. Tom Cardamone, ''The Lost Library: Gay Fiction Rediscovered''. Haiduk Press, 2010. . Barnett died on August 14, 1991, of AIDS-related causes.

Works

*''The Body and Its Dangers'' ()

References

1955 births 1991 deaths 20th-century American short story writers LGBT people from Illinois American gay writers Writers from Illinois AIDS-related deaths in New York (state) Loyola University Chicago alumni The New School alumni Columbia University School of the Arts alumni American male short story writers Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction winners 20th-century American male writers 20th-century LGBT people {{US-story-writer-stub