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 the journal sought to integrate “analysis of class and race into Jewish-feminist thought" and to be "a specifically Jewish participant in the multi-ethnic feminist movement.�

She is an important figure in the history of lesbian writing.

Personal life

Bulkin grew up in the Bronx, New York, after her father and maternal grandparents emigrated from

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

. She worked for five years at the Women's Center at Brooklyn College. An activist since the 1970s, Elly has been part of DARE/Dykes Against Racism Everywhere (NYC), Women Free Women in Prison (NYC), Feminist Action Network ( Albany, NY),

Women in Black Women in Black ( he, נשים בשחור, ''Nashim BeShahor'') is a women's anti-war movement with an estimated 10,000 activists around the world. The first group was formed by Israeli women in Jerusalem in 1988, following the outbreak of the Fi ...

(

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

), and other local political groups, in addition to being a member of the National Feminist Task Force of New Jewish Agenda. More recently, she was a steering committee member of Communities In Support of the Khalil Gibran International Academy (CISKGIA). A founding member of Jews Say No! (NYC) and Jews Against Islamophobia (JAI/NYC), she helped launch the Network Against Islamophobia (NAI), a project of

Jewish Voice for Peace Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP; קול יהודי לשלום ''Kol Yehudi la-Shalom'') is a left-wing Jewish activist organization in the United States that supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel. Founding, staff ...

. Now retired, she provides grant writing technical assistance to grantee partners of

Astraea Astraea, Astrea or Astria ( grc, Ἀστραία, Astraía; "star-maiden" or "starry night"), in ancient Greek religion, is a daughter of Astraeus and Eos. She is the virgin goddess of justice, innocence, purity and precision. She is closely as ...

, the Lesbian Fund for Justice.

Career

Bulkin emerged in the literary scene during the 1970s as a proud, Jewish, lesbian. She regularly reviews women's poetry, but is most well-known for editing and co-editing many lesbian anthologies. She co-edited two anthologies with Joan Larkin, the first of which came out in 1975, titled ''Amazon Poetry: An Anthology of Lesbian Poetry.'' The second was from 1981 with Persephone Press, titled ''Lesbian Poetry: An Anthology.'' Bulkin was a founding editor of two nationally distributed periodicals: ''Conditions, a magazine of writing by women with an emphasis on writing by lesbians'', and ''Bridges: A Journal for Jewish Feminists and Our Friends''. She has published articles on racism and writing; heterosexism and women’s studies; lesbian poetry; and other topics. Bulkin's articles on lesbian poetry cover both historical context and analysis as well as pedagogical approaches. She is co-author, with

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 ...

and

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, a ...

, of ''Yours in Struggle: Three Feminist Perspectives on Anti-Semitism and Racism'' (1984) and, with Donna Nevel, of
Islamophobia & Israel
' (2013).

Works

* (ed. with Joan Larkin) ''Amazon Poetry: An anthology of Lesbian Poetry'', 1975 * (ed.) ''Lesbian Fiction: An Anthology'', 1981 * (ed. with Joan Larkin) '' Lesbian Poetry: An Anthology'', 1981 * (ed. with Minnie Bruce Pratt and Barbara Smith) ''Yours in Struggle: Three Feminist Perspectives on Antisemitism and Racism'', 1984 *''Enter password, recovery : re-enter password'', 1990

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulkin, Elly 1944 births Living people American writers American lesbian writers Jewish American writers 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women writers