Cleis Press is an American independent publisher of books in the areas of sexuality,

erotica Erotica is literature or art that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erotic art may use a ...

, feminism, gay and lesbian studies, gender studies, fiction, and human rights. The press was founded in 1980 in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. It later moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and was based out of

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

until its purchase by Start Media in 2014. It was founded by Frédérique Delacoste,

Felice Newman Felice Newman is an American author, publisher, sex educator, and coach of soma studies (unconscious patterns of muscular activity rooted in past experience). Education Newman has a somatic coaching certificate through the Strozzi Institute in ...

and Mary Winfrey Trautmann who collectively financed wrote and published the press's first book ''Fight Back: Feminist Resistance to Male Violence'' in 1981. In 1987, they published ''Sex Work: Writings by Women in the Sex Industry'' by Delacoste with Priscilla Alexander.

History

Over the years, Cleis Press has published nonfiction books by

Susie Bright Susannah Bright (born March 25, 1958) is an American feminist, author, journalist, critic, editor, publisher, producer, and performer, often on the subject of politics and sexuality. She is the recipient of the 2017 Humanist Feminist Award, and ...

Annie Sprinkle Annie M. Sprinkle (born Ellen F. Steinberg on July 23, 1954) is an American certified sexologist, performance artist, former sex worker, and advocate for sex work and health care. Citing: Sprinkle has worked as a prostitute, sex educator, femi ...

Edmund White Edmund Valentine White III (born 1940) is an American novelist, memoirist, playwright, biographer and an essayist on literary and social topics. Since 1999 he has been a professor at Princeton University. France made him (and later ) de l'Ordr ...

Essex Hemphill Essex Hemphill (April 16, 1957 – November 4, 1995) was an openly gay American poet and activist. He is known for his contributions to the Washington, D.C. art scene in the 1980s, and for openly discussing the topics pertinent to the African-Am ...

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and ...

Christine Jorgensen Christine Jorgensen (May 30, 1926 – May 3, 1989) was an American trans woman who was the first person to become widely known in the United States for having sex reassignment surgery. She had a career as a successful actress, singer and rec ...

, Matthue Roth,

Patrick Califia Patrick Califia (born 1954; formerly also known as Pat Califia and by the last name Califia-Rice) is an American writer of non-fiction essays about sexuality and of erotic fiction and poetry. Califia is a bisexual trans man. Prior to transition ...

Violet Blue (author) Violet Blue is an American journalist, author, editor, advisor, and educator. Blue wrote a weekly sex column for the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' until 2010. In her podcast, Open Source Sex, she reads erotica and discusses topics such as feti ...

, Mark A. Michaels and Patricia Johnson and

Tristan Taormino Tristan Taormino (born May 9, 1971) is an American feminist author, columnist, sex educator, activist, editor, speaker, radio host, and pornographic film director. She is most recently known for her book ''Opening Up: A Guide to Creating and Susta ...

, among others. Fiction includes works by

Achy Obejas Achy Obejas (born June 28, 1956) is a Cuban-American writer and translator focused on personal and national identity issues, living in Benicia, California. She frequently writes on her sexuality and nationality, and has received numerous awards fo ...

Stephen Elliott Stephen Elliott may refer to: Entertainment *Stephen Elliott (actor), (1918–2005), American actor * Stephen Elliott (author) (born 1971), American author and activist Sport *Steve Elliott (footballer, born 1958), English footballer *Steve Ellio ...

Erastes (author) Erastes is the pen name of a female author from the United Kingdom, known for writing gay-themed historical and romantic fiction. Erastes initially began writing gay fiction after initially having a start writing slash fiction set in the Harry ...

, reissues of classic

lesbian pulp fiction Lesbian pulp fiction is a genre of lesbian literature that refers to any mid-20th century paperback novel or pulp magazine with overtly lesbian themes and content. Lesbian pulp fiction was published in the 1950s and 60s by many of the same paper ...

(including

Ann Bannon Ann Weldy (born September 15, 1932), better known by her pen name Ann Bannon, is an American author who, from 1957 to 1962, wrote six lesbian pulp fiction novels known as ''The Beebo Brinker Chronicles''. The books' enduring popularity and impac ...

's historic Beebo Brinker series), the Nancy Clue series by

Mabel Maney Mabel Maney is an artist and author from San Francisco, California known for her lesbian pulp fiction. She is the author of the Nancy Clue series, a lesbian parody of the Nancy Drew, Cherry Ames, and Hardy Boys series. More recently, she ...

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

’s first completed novel, ''Melymbrosia'', and an English-language novel set in North Korea, ''Jia'' by Hyejin Kim. Other Cleis Press authors are

Lori Bryant-Woolridge Lori Anne Bryant-Woolridge (born May 25, 1958) is an African-American/Chinese-American author and speaker, known for contributions to the chick-lit genre. Early life Bryant-Woolridge was born in the San Francisco Bay Area to a biracial father, ...

Cole Riley Cole may refer to: Plants * Cole crops of the genus ''Brassica'', especially cabbage, kale, or rape (rapeseed). People * Cole (given name), people with the given name Cole * Cole (surname), people with the surname Cole Companies *Cole Motor C ...

Mitzi Szereto Mitzi Szereto is an author of multi-genre fiction and nonfiction. She has written novels and short stories, and edited fiction and nonfiction anthologies, including her popular true crime franchise "The Best New True Crime Stories." Her books to ...

, Neil Plakcy,

Radclyffe Radclyffe (real name Dr. Lenora Ruth Barot, born 1950) is an American author of lesbian romance, paranormal romance, erotica, and mystery. She has authored multiple short stories, written fan fiction, and edited numerous anthologies. Radclyffe i ...

, James Lear, and Richard Labonté. Cleis Press' erotic anthologies have included work from well known story writers Sacchi Green, Shanna Germain, Jeremy Edwards, Michelle Augello-Page, Charlotte Stein, ADR Forte, and Teresa Noelle Roberts. Cleis Press produces many erotica collections and self-help sex guides, including ''The Ultimate Guide to Fellatio, The Whole Lesbian Sex Book,'' and ''

The Good Vibrations Guide to Sex ''The Good Vibrations Guide to Sex'' is a sex manual co-written by Cathy Winks and Anne Semans, and published by Cleis Press. The authors run the Good Vibrations sex shop chain. The book is billed as "the most complete sex manual ever written". R ...

.'' Some of their collections include ''Best Gay Asian Erotica,'' ''Best Bisexual Women's Erotica,'' and ''Best Lesbian Bondage Erotica,'' and annual anthologies titled ''Best Gay Erotica,'' ''Best Lesbian Erotica,'' and ''Best Women's Erotica.'' In winter of 2010, they began of yearly anthology of bondage erotica, starting with ''Best Bondage Erotica 2011.'' Cleis Press also publishes a wide variety of other thematic collections, including

Rachel Kramer Bussel Rachel Kramer Bussel (born 1975) is an author, columnist, and editor, specializing in erotica. She previously studied at the New York University School of Law and earned her bachelor's degree in political science and women's studies from the U ...

's ''Please, Ma'am: Erotic Stories of Male Submission, Caught Looking: Erotic Tales of Voyeurs and Exhibitionists'',

Alison Tyler Alison Tyler (born 1969) is the pseudonym of an American author, editor and publisher of erotica living in Northern California. She has authored over 20 explicit novels, hundreds of short stories and has edited more than 60 erotic anthologies. S ...

's ''Frenzy: 60 Stories of Sudden Sex'',

's multiple-genre anthologies and Kristina Wright's genre-themed erotic romance anthologies and ''Best Erotic Romance'' series. In 2000, Cleis Press founded Midnight Editions, a human rights imprint that aims to present fiction, nonfiction, and photojournalism from regions where repression and censorship are endangering creative expression. Midnight Editions published ''The Little School: Tales of Disappearance and Survival in Argentina,'' a 1986 memoir by former political prisoner and

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

board member

Alicia Partnoy Alicia Mabel Partnoy (born 1955 in Bahía Blanca, Argentina) is a human rights activist, poet, college professor, and translator. After Argentinian President Juan Perón died, the students from the left of the Justicialist Party, Peronist politica ...

, as well as ''The Diary of a Political Idiot: Normal Life in Belgrade'' by Jasmina Tešanović. Cleis Press has also published a number of books on

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

issues, including

's ''Sex Changes: Transgender Politics'' and Loren Cameron's ''Body Alchemy: Transsexual Portraits.'' More recently, they also published ''The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals,'' by Stephanie Brill and

Rachel Pepper Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her au ...

, a guidebook for the friends and families of transgender and gender-nonconforming children, which addresses significant social, legal, and medical issues. In 2014, Cleis, along with the imprints Viva Editions and Tempted Romance, was purchased by Start Publishing, the book division of Start Media. The remaining staff members of Cleis departed shortly after the transition. Cleis is currently run by Start Publishing in Jersey City, NJ. The press has been the recipient of many awards, including several

Lambda Literary Awards Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

References

External links

*
Interview with Cleis Press co-founders Frédérique Delacoste and Felice NewmanMinds.wisconsin.edu
{{Authority control Book publishing companies of the United States Book publishing companies based in Berkeley, California Book publishing companies based in California Feminism in the United States LGBT-related mass media in the United States Publishing companies established in 1980 Feminist book publishing companies