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 Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

where she was invited to help develop the university's first

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

Study Program.

Profile

Pratt was born in Selma, Alabama, and grew up in

Centreville, Alabama Centreville is a city in Bibb County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 2,800. The city is the county seat of Bibb County. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Centreville has a total area of , of which ...

. Her parents are Virginia Brown Pratt, a social worker, and William Luther Pratt Jr., a clerk. She graduated with a B.A. from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

(1968) and earned a Ph.D. in English literature from the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

(1979). In 1977, Pratt helped to found WomonWrites, a Southeastern lesbian writers conference. While attending the

in 1978, she joined Feminary, a southern feminist writing collective based in Chapel Hill and

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. She would later join LIPS, a Washington, D.C. lesbian direct action group, which participated in civil disobedience at the 1987 protest of the Bowers vs. Hardwick sodomy law decision made by the U.S. Supreme Court. Her political affiliations include the

International Action Center The International Action Center (IAC) is an activist group founded in 1992 by former United States Attorney General Ramsey Clark. It supports anti-imperialist movements around the world, and opposes U.S. military intervention in all circumstances. ...

, the National Women's Fightback Network, and the

National Writers Union National Writers Union (NWU), founded on 19 November 1981, is the trade union in the United States for freelance and contract writers: journalists, book and short fiction authors, business and technical writers, web content providers and poets. ...

. Pratt has written extensively on race, class, gender and sexual theory. She, along with

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 ...

writers

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 ...

and

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 ...

, received a Hellman/Hammett grant from the Fund for Free Expression to writers "who have been victimized by political persecution." Pratt, Chrystos and Lorde were chosen because of their experience as "a target of right-wing and fundamentalist forces during the recent attacks on the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

." In 1996, Pratt starred in Rosa von Praunheim 's film ''

Transexual Menace The Transexual Menace, or The Menace, was a transgender rights activist organization founded in New York City in 1993. It was the first direct action group of its kind, and grew to be a national organisation with 24 chapters. History and activiti ...

''. Pratt is the author of ''Crimes Against Nature'' (1990), a book where she describes losing custody of her children because of her lesbianism. She is a contributing editor to

Workers World The Workers World Party (WWP) is a revolutionary Marxist–Leninist communist party founded in 1959 by a group led by Sam Marcy of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). Marcy and his followers split from the SWP in 1958 over a series of long-stan ...

newspaper. She is on the faculty of the

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

school.

Union Institute & University Union Institute & University (UI&U) is a private university in Cincinnati, Ohio. It specializes in limited residence and distance learning programs. The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and operates satellite campuses ...

Personal life

Pratt lives in

. She is the

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...

of author-activist

Leslie Feinberg Leslie Feinberg (September 1, 1949 – November 15, 2014) was an American butch lesbian, transgender activist, communist, and author. Feinberg authored '' Stone Butch Blues'' in 1993.

, who died in November 2014. Feinberg and Pratt married in

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 * '' ...

and

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

in 2011. Pratt has two sons by a previous heterosexual marriage to poet Marvin E. Weaver II, which ended in divorce in

Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville () is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-America C ...

, in 1975. She lost custody of her children because the state criminalized homosexual activity at the time.

Published works

* ASIN: B000HF76DW * Chosen for the 100 Best Lesbian and Gay Nonfiction Books, by the Publishing Triangle, 2004. * American Library Association Gay and Lesbian Book Award in Literature 1991, The

Lamont Poetry Selection The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outreach ...

of The Academy of American Poets, 1989. * * * * Best Gay and Lesbian Book of the Year by ''ForeWord: Magazine of Independent Bookstores and Booksellers'', 2000. * ASIN: B0006S92LE * Chosen Lambda Literary Award in Lesbian Poetry, 2003. *

Honors and awards

* 1989 -

of the

Academy of American Poets The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outreac ...

for ''Crime Against Nature'' * 1990 - Creative Writing Fellowship in Poetry, from the National Endowment for the Arts * 1990 - Harriette Simpson Arnow Prize for Poetry, from ''The American Voice'' * 1991 - American Library Association Gay and Lesbian Book Award in Literature for ''Crime Against Nature'' * 1999 - Independent Booksellers Award for ''Walking Back Up Depot Street'' * 2002 -

Lucille Medwick Memorial Award The Lucille Medwick Memorial Award is given once a year to a member of the Poetry Society of America. It was "established by Maury Medwick in memory of his wife, the poet and editor, for an original poem in any form on a humanitarian theme."{{cite ...

from the

Poetry Society of America The Poetry Society of America is a literary organization founded in 1910 by poets, editors, and artists. It is the oldest poetry organization in the United States. Past members of the society have included such renowned poets as Witter Bynner, Ro ...

, "Picking Up a Job Application" * 2003 -

Lambda Literary Award 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 ...

for ''The Dirt She Ate'' * 2005 - Fellowship in Poetry, New Jersey State Council on the Arts * 2011 -

Publishing Triangle The Publishing Triangle, founded in 1988 by Robin Hardy, is an American association of gay men and lesbians in the publishing industry. They sponsor an annual National Lesbian and Gay Book Month, and have sponsored the annual Triangle Awards prog ...

Audre Lorde Award The Audre Lorde Award is an annual literary award, presented by Publishing Triangle to honour works of lesbian poetry. First presented in 2001, the award was named in memory of American poet Audre Lorde Audre Lorde (; born Audrey Geraldine Lo ...

for lesbian poetry for ''Inside the Money Machine''

References

External links

Official site

*Pratt, Minnie Bruce
"When I Say 'Steal,' Who Do You Think Of?"
''Southern Spaces'', July 21, 2004. *Pratt, Minnie Bruce
"No Place."
''Southern Spaces'', July 27, 2004, http://southernspaces.org/2004/no-place.
Guide to the Minnie Bruce Pratt Papers at Duke University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Minnie Bruce 1946 births American essayists Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry winners Stonewall Book Award winners American lesbian writers Living people Activists from Selma, Alabama Syracuse University faculty University of Alabama alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni American LGBT poets Writers from Syracuse, New York American women poets American women essayists LGBT people from Alabama LGBT academics American women academics 21st-century American women