Free Sex Still Spoken Here: An Anthology by Carol Queen Page B

- erotic writing? I don’t see a clear boundary between the erotic and the non-erotic in my writing, it’s a continuum. I can only write about my experiences, including my fantasies and fears. Some of it turns out to have sexual content, some of it can be scary, sometimes both.
    Do you write in multiple genres and , if so , why? I wear many hats, including as a writer, but I started as a poet at an early age and will likely end up as one. In between, I continue to write fiction and non-fiction, mostly the latter.
    How is the Erotic Reading Circle part of your writing process? The ERC is a special place where I meet and hear voices that are at the edge of my usual circles, which I love. The range of flavors of erotic experiences presented on any given evening is inspiring, intriguing, and mind-and body-tingling. I only wish I could attend more often.
    Do you write under your own name? Why or why not? Do you have any concerns about publishing erotic work? I use a pen name for erotic work mainly because it frees me to share some very personal experiences and feelings while protecting both the innocent and the less-so.

Gift
    Christine Solano
    You’re the gift
    I stole
    wrapped between my legs
    I tied you up
    licking
    each salty drop
    I tell myself again
    this is the last time
    again
    wondering why
    in German
    “gift”
    means “poison”

Ordinary Time
    Christine Solano
    Afterwards
    a measure of peace
     
    our skins cooling, my hand
    counting your heartbeat
    slowing down
     
    we share a beer,
    we tell jokes,
    like friends would
     
    I wipe away
    the taste lingering
    from your last kiss
     
    that chilling flavor of
    so long
     
    [go to top]
     

 
    “ You were once wild here.
    Don’t let them tame you.”
     
    - Isadora Duncan

Tori Adams

    Bio
    Tori Adams is currently a doctoral student in Gender & Women’s Studies. Her work focuses on stigma and violence surrounding abject identities, and looks towards popular and visual culture for points of analyses.
    Mini-Interview
    How did you start writing about sex ? How does it differ from non - erotic writing? Back when I wrote this story, my writing predominantly took on a confessional, private tone. Almost everything I worked on was true to my life and experiences. I realized people accessed these writings with their own arousals and histories, and began to play up the erotic aspects of these memories. Perhaps surprisingly, I find myself toning down or taming erotic writing in contrast to non-erotic in order to make pieces easier to engage with sexually and politically.
    How is the Erotic Reading Circle part of your writing process? The Erotic Reading Circle and the Center for Sex and Culture are both supportive environments for discovering your own creative and sexual expressions. Receiving feedback from others working within the erotic genre was helpful in the ‘telling a story’ vs ‘telling my story’ distinction; the Erotic Reading Circle helped to make my writing consumable. Regular writing groups take the distance between stories and their writers for granted, and may not provide the same feedback necessary for this type of work. Additionally, the parts that improve a non-erotic story often differ widely from that which could better an erotic story.
    Do you write under your own name? I am writing under my own name. Though I do have privacy concerns with current and future sharing, both the span of years and amount of personal progression that have occurred since writing this piece makes it feel more protected.
    What’s the inside scoop on your story? The person I wrote this story about and I are still close friends, and recounting this vignette is one of our favorite party tricks.

Red Paint
    Tori Adams
    Two women toy with power and calculated edge play in the form of fingerpainting July 2010
    She smiled at me. The corners of her teeth poked from her lips, almost hidden in the flaking dryness, her thin blood pressing out. Watching me watch her lips, she slowly,