Description
GAY WRITERS AND ALLIES ON THEIR WORK
“Frank Pizzoli is the ideal interviewer—smart, well informed, interested in his subjects and the worlds in which they operate, and thoroughly engaging as a writer.” –Patrick Merla, former editor of Christopher Street
“If, as writers, activists, and advocates, we stand on the shoulders of all those who came before us, it is our first responsibility to know who they were in their own words. Presented here are 20 interviews and reviews in which my main endeavor was to have each participant adequately portrayed.”–from the introduction of Passionate Outlier: Gay Writers and Allies on Their Work, the stunning collection of interviews and book reviews from journalist and AIDS activist Frank Pizzoli, featuring an insightful afterword from Christopher Bram, author of Gods and Monsters and Eminent Outlaws: The Gay Writers Who Changed America.
“The interviews in this vital collection offer a thoughtful exploration into the creative minds and unique journeys of the LGBTQ writers who not only documented LGBTQ culture but shaped it.” –William Johnson, Director of National Outreach and Engagement at PEN America and Former Editor, Lambda Literary Review
“A longtime advocate and activist for the LGBTQ+ and HIV+ communities, Frank Pizzoli presents an enlightening retrospective of 20 of his interviews and book reviews, tracing post-Modern queer history in America from pre-Stonewall to the present, through the pioneering people, events, issues, and attitudes that made history. In his signature style, the well-curated selection is a must-read—extensive and incisive, engaging and vital.” –Deb Miller, NYC Editor and Writer, DC Theater Arts
“Frank Pizzoli is a gifted writer and he delightfully delivers compelling interviews that engage the readers. I highly recommend this book.” –JR Pratts, Publisher, Instinct Magazine
In 2010, Frank Pizzoli was named a Living Legend as part of Pennsylvania’s capital city Harrisburg’s sesquicentennial celebrations. His essays, book reviews, profiles, reviews, and interviews with prominent LGBTQ and other authors and celebrities have been published in LA Weekly, Raw Story, Lambda Literary Review, Windy City Times (Chicago), Brooklyn Rail, abc.com, Huffington Post, White Crane Review, Instinct, POZ, HIV Plus, AlterNet.com, Body Positive, New York Blade News, and Washington Blade, among many others, and included in the anthologies Conversations with Edmund White (University of Kentucky Press), and Crashing Cathedrals: Edmund White by the Book (ITNA Press). He is the founding publisher and editor of central Pennsylvania’s LGBTQ newspaper The Central Voice. He is founder of the Pennsylvania-based nonprofit agency Positive Opportunities, Inc., a Points of Light Foundation award winner, that provided employment counseling and training for HIV-positive individuals from 1997 to 2017. His HIV work is cited in Queering the Countryside: New Frontiers in Rural Queer Studies (NYU Press) and chronicled in Out in Central Pennsylvania: The History of an LGBTQ Community (Penn State University Press, May 2020). Pizzoli currently writes for The Village Voice and Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
