NY: Black Dog Productions, 1995-1996. 4 vols. 63; 64; 64; 63pp; b&w illus. 4to. Saddle-stapled in illustrated wraps. All volumes fine.
Complete run of this sex-positive journal of arts and literature (predominantly erotic), notable for its inclusion of various feminist and queer modalities, with much work throughout the run from gay, lesbian, and transgender contributors. Issue 4, subtitled "The Gender Issue," focuses specifically on what editor Taormino refers to as the "lives of the warriors fighting on the front lines of gender." Contents include a mix of fiction, poetry, essays, photographs, art, reviews, and interviews, including with Kathy Acker (No. 2), Pat Califia and Heather Lewis (No. 3), photographer and transgender activist Loren Cameron (No. 4), and trans musician and activist Chloe Dzubilo (No. 4). Issue 4 also features a series of short interviews by Tristan Taormino under the umbrella title "Gender Icons of NYC." Other contributors across the run include Richard Kern (photographs in multiple issues; cover of No. 1), Kate Bornstein, Red Jordan Arobateau, Carol Queen, Riki Anne Wilchins (including "10 Things You Don't Say to a Transexual," in No. 3), Karen Green, et al. Editor Tristan Taormino (b. 1971) notable for her work as a sex educator, writer, and editor (including of the Lambda-winning Best Lesbian Erotica series); from 1999 to 2008 she wrote a bi-weekly sex-column, also titled "Pucker Up," for The Village Voice. OCLC locates just six institutions holding copies, Harvard the only one who appears to have a complete run.
