Sarah Dreher (born March 26, 1937,

Hanover, Pennsylvania Hanover is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, southwest of York and north-northwest of Baltimore, Maryland and is north of the Mason-Dixon line. The town is situated in a productive agricultural region. The population was 16,429 at the ...

– died April 2, 2012,

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a New England town, town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,263, making it the highest populated municipality in Hampshire County (althoug ...

) was an American

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 ...

novelist and playwright, and best known for her award-winning lesbian mystery series featuring amateur sleuth Stoner McTavish. Her themes include "the anguish of lesbian relationships beginning, ending or mending. Dreher's lesbian protagonists are modern heroes searching for integrity and identity..." In the resolution of her mysteries, solutions other than resorting to traditional justice system intervention are part of the exploration of society outside the existing social paradigm. Dreher has contributed essays and writings to a number of projects, including ''Off the Rag: Lesbians Writing about Menopause'' by Lee Lynch and Akia Woods, "Waiting for Stonewall" in ''Sexual Practice/Textual Theory: Lesbian Cultural Criticism'', and a contributed chapter to ''They Wrote the Book: Thirteen Women Mystery Writers Tell All''. In addition to writing, Dreher was a clinical psychologist in private practice, graduating first from

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

, then gaining a Ph.D. in psychology from

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

.Pollack, Sandra and Denise D. Knight (Editors). ''Contemporary Lesbian Writers of the United States: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook'', 1993 (p. 186-191)

Work

Books: * ''Solitaire and Brahms'' (1997)

ovel Bereavement in Judaism () is a combination of ''minhag'' and ''mitzvah'' derived from the Torah and Judaism's classical rabbinic texts. The details of observance and practice vary according to each Jewish community. Mourners In Judaism, the p ...

New Victoria
* Stoner McTavish Series,
New Victoria
** ''Stoner McTavish'' (1985) ** ''Something Shady'' (1986) ** ''Gray Magic'' (1987) ** ''A Captive in Time'' (1990) ** ''Otherworld'' (1993) ** ''Bad Company'' (1995) ** ''Shaman's Moon'' (1998) ** ''Love Murders'' (unpublished) *Lesbian Stages: Plays by Sarah Dreher''. New Victoria. (1988), **Contains: ***Alumnae News: The Doris Day Years = winner of the 1st Jane Chambers National Playwriting Award 1987 for full length play ***Base Camp ***Backward, Turn Backward ***This Brooding Sky ***Hollandia ’45 *PLACES PLEASE! The First Anthology of Lesbian Plays Aunt Lute publishing Company (1985) included: **8 x 10 Glossy by Sarah Dreher = Winner of the 1st Lesbian Playwrighting Contest, Theatre Rhinocros 1985 **Ruby Christmas by Sarah Dreher

Awards

* ''8 X 10 Glossy'', 1985, 1st Lesbian Playwrighting Contest, Theatre Rhinoceros San Francisco CA winner * ''Alumnae News: The Doris Day Years'', 1987, 1st Jane Chambers National Playwrighting Award—full length play winner * ''Shaman's Moon'', 1998

Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Mystery The Lambda Literary Award for Mystery is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation, to a mystery novel by or about people in the LGBT community. Prior to 2021, the award was separated into separate categories for Gay a ...

winner * ''A Captive in Time'', 1990

finalist * Medalist, 2005

The Alice B Readers Award The Alice B Readers Award is given annually to living writers of lesbian fiction whose careers are distinguished by consistently well-written stories about lesbians. Named for Alice B. Toklas, the award is given once, only, in appreciation of ca ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreher, Sarah 1937 births 2012 deaths People from Hanover, Pennsylvania People from Amherst, Massachusetts Novelists from Pennsylvania American lesbian writers Lesbian dramatists and playwrights Lesbian novelists LGBT people from Pennsylvania American women novelists American women short story writers 20th-century American women writers Lambda Literary Award winners 20th-century American novelists American LGBT dramatists and playwrights American LGBT novelists 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American women writers

Work

Awards

See also

References