''Conditions'' (full title: ''Conditions: a feminist magazine of writing by women with a particular emphasis on writing by lesbians'') was a

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

literary magazine that came out biannually from 1976 to 1980 and annually from 1980 until 1990, and included poetry, prose, essays, book reviews, and interviews. It was founded in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, by

Elly Bulkin Elly Bulkin (born December 17, 1944) is an American writer. A founding editor of two nationally distributed periodicals: '' Conditions'' and ''Bridges: A Journal for Jewish Feminists and Our Friends.'' ''Bridges'' mission statement explains that th ...

Jan Clausen Jan Clausen is an American writer. She has co-edited '' Conditions'', a journal of women's writing, with Elly Bulkin Elly Bulkin (born December 17, 1944) is an American writer. A founding editor of two nationally distributed periodicals: '' Con ...

, Irena Klepfisz and Rima Shore.Smith, Barbara. ''The Truth That Never Hurts: Writings on Race, Gender, and Freedom'', Rutgers University Press 1998, , p. ix.

Publishing collective

''Conditions'' was a magazine that emphasized the lives and writings of lesbians, and, throughout its history, maintained an all-lesbian collective. Busia, Abena P. A. ''Theorizing Black Feminisms: The Visionary Pragmatism of Black Women'', Routledge, 1993, , p. 225n. This collective expressed a "long standing commitment to diversity; of writing style and content and of background of contributors", within the lesbian and feminist communities.Allison, Clarke, Schaubman editorial. ''Conditions'' 11/12, p. 3. ''Conditions'' was especially dedicated to publishing the work of lesbians, in particular

working-class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

lesbians and lesbians of color. While the founders were all white, ''Conditions'' was committed to promoting multiracial, multicultural, and multiethnic voices from its inception. By the early 1980s, the magazine had a diverse group of editors, especially under the leadership of Cheryl L. Clarke.

The Black Women's Issue

The journal's fifth issue, published in November 1979, was edited by

Barbara Smith Barbara Smith (born November 16, 1946) is an American lesbian feminist and socialist who has played a significant role in Black feminism in the United States. Since the early 1970s, she has been active as a scholar, activist, critic, lecturer, au ...

and Lorraine Bethel. ''Conditions 5'' was "the first widely distributed collection of

Black feminist Black feminism is a philosophy that centers on the idea that "Black women are inherently valuable, that lack women'sliberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's but because our need as human persons for autonomy." Race, gen ...

writing in the U.S.", and was later to be the basis for the anthology '' Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology'' (1983), one of the first books released by Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press. ''Conditions 5: The Black Women's Issue'' was hugely popular, and set a record in feminist publishing by selling 3,000 copies in the first three weeks it was available.

Publication ceases

''Conditions'' ceased publication in 1990. It ended because the existing collective members were focusing on other projects and they were unable to find new members.

Editors

* Lorraine Bethel *

Dorothy Allison Dorothy Allison (born April 11, 1949) is an American writer from South Carolina whose writing focuses on class struggle, sexual abuse, child abuse, feminism and lesbianism. She is a self-identified lesbian femme. Allison has won a number of a ...

* Cheryl L. Clarke *

Jewelle Gomez Jewelle Gomez (born September 11, 1948) is an American author, poet, critic and playwright. She lived in New York City for 22 years, working in public television, theater, as well as philanthropy, before relocating to the West Coast. Her writing� ...

* Nancy Clarke Otter * Debbi Schaubman * Elly Bulkin * Jan Clausen * Irena Klepfisz * Rima Shore * Melinda Goodman * Paula Martinac * N. Mirtha Quintanales * Randye Lordon

Selected contributors

* Wilmette Brown *

Joy Harjo Joy Harjo ( ; born May 9, 1951) is an American poet, musician, playwright, and author. She served as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate, the first Native American to hold that honor. She was also only the second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetr ...

Cherríe Moraga Cherríe Moraga (born September 25, 1952) is a Chicana writer, feminist activist, poet, essayist, and playwright. She is part of the faculty at the University of California, Santa Barbara in the Department of English. Moraga is also a founding m ...

Joan Nestle Joan Nestle (born May 12, 1940) is a Lambda Award winning writer and editor and a founder of the Lesbian Herstory Archives, which holds, among other things, everything she has ever written. She is openly lesbian and sees her work of archiving hi ...

Amber Hollibaugh Amber L. Hollibaugh (born 1946) is an American writer, filmmaker and political activist, largely concerned with feminist and sexual politics. Career and writings Hollibaugh is the daughter of a dark-skinned Romany father, and a white Irish-Ame ...

* Donna Allegra *

Becky Birtha Becky Birtha (born October 11, 1948) is an American poet and children's author who lives in the greater Philadelphia area. She is best known for her poetry and short stories depicting African-American and lesbian relationships, often focusing on ...

Audre Lorde Audre Lorde (; born Audrey Geraldine Lorde; February 18, 1934 – November 17, 1992) was an American writer, womanist, radical feminist, professor, and civil rights activist. She was a self-described "black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet," who ...

Ann Allen Shockley Ann Allen Shockley (born June 21, 1927) is an American journalist and author, specialising in themes of interracial lesbian love, especially the plight of black lesbians living under what she views as the ‘triple oppression’ of racism, sexism ...

Beverly Smith Beverly Smith (born November 16, 1946) in Cleveland, Ohio, is a Black feminist health advocate, writer, academic, theorist and activist who is also the twin sister of writer, publisher, activist and academic Barbara Smith. Beverly Smith is an inst ...

Gloria Anzaldúa Gloria may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music * Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise * Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise ** Gloria (Handel) ** Gloria (Jenkin ...

Joan Larkin Joan Larkin (born April 16, 1939 in Boston) is an American poet and playwright. She was active in the small press lesbian feminist publishing explosion in the 1970s, co-founding the independent publishing company Out & Out Books. She is now ...

Paula Gunn Allen Paula Gunn Allen (October 24, 1939 – May 29, 2008) was a Native American poet, literary critic, activist, professor, and novelist. Of mixed-race European-American, Native American, and Arab-American descent, she identified with her mother's p ...

* Jacqueline Lapidus *

Adrienne Rich Adrienne Cecile Rich ( ; May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012) was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", and was credited with bringing "th ...

Michelle Cliff Michelle Carla Cliff (2 November 1946 – 12 June 2016) was a Jamaican-American author whose notable works included ''Abeng'' (1985), '' No Telephone to Heaven'' (1987), and ''Free Enterprise'' (2004). In addition to novels, Cliff also wrote ...

* Hattie Gossett *

Chrystos Chrystos (; born November 7, 1946, as Christina Smith) is a Menominee writer and two-spirit activist who has published various books and poems that explore indigenous Americans's civil rights, social justice, and feminism. Chrystos is also a l ...

Marilyn Hacker Marilyn Hacker (born November 27, 1942) is an American poet, translator and critic. She is Professor of English emerita at the City College of New York. Her books of poetry include ''Presentation Piece'' (1974), which won the National Book Award, ...

* Mitsuye Yamada * Jo Carillo *

Toi Derricotte Toi Derricotte (pronounced ''DARE-ah-cot'' ) (born April 12, 1941) is an American poet. She is the author of six poetry collections and a literary memoir. She has won numerous literary awards, including the 2020 Frost Medal for distinguished lifet ...

Minnie Bruce Pratt Minnie Bruce Pratt (born September 12, 1946) is an American poet, educator, activist and essayist. She retired in 2015 from her position as Professor of Writing and Women's Studies at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York where she was invi ...

Bonnie Zimmerman Bonnie Zimmerman is a literary critic and women's studies scholar. Her works looked at women's roles, women's literature, and lesbian criticism. She has received numerous prestigious awards for her work.Susan Resnik and Bonnie Zimmerman“Dr. Bon ...

* Elly Bulkin *

Cheryl Clarke Cheryl L. Clarke (born Washington DC, May 16, 1947) is an American lesbian poet, essayist, educator and a Black feminist community activist who continues to dedicate her life to the recognition and advancement of Black and Queer people. Her schol ...

* Irena Klepfisz *

Honor Moore Honor Moore is an American writer of poetry, creative nonfiction and plays. Biography She is the daughter of Jenny Moore and of Bishop Paul Moore. She is the author of three collections of poems: ''Red Shoes'', ''Darling'', and ''Memoir''; two ...

* Luzma Umpierre * Linda Smukler (Samuel Ace) * Ramina Mays * Barbara Banks *

Mab Segrest Mabelle Massey Segrest, known as Mab Segrest (born February 20, 1949), is an American lesbian feminist, writer, scholar and activist. Segrest is best known for her 1994 autobiographical work ''Memoir of a Race Traitor,'' which won the Editor's Ch ...

Sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sapphir ...

References