Meet Our Grantee-Partner: Sinister Wisdom
Sinister Wisdom explores a rich and complex legacy of queer, feminist, civil, disability rights, and other forms of progressive activism, connecting multigenerational, diverse queer communities across the globe.
Sinister Wisdom volunteer Sam Grasland and board member Sara Youngblood Gregory at the Rainbow Book Fair, New York City, May 2025. Photo courtesy of Sinister Wisdom.
In 1976, Catherine Nicholson and Harriett Desmoines created a flyer inviting others to interrogate how a woman survives and moves beyond the thoughts, dreams, and patterns of the patriarchy. This led to the birth of Sinister Wisdom, a lesbian literary and art journal working to create a multicultural, multi-class space that seeks to open, consider, and advance the exploration of lesbian community issues.
For five years, Nicholson and Desmoines edited and published Sinister Wisdom, producing sixteen issues. When fatigue set in, they passed the journal on to Adrienne Rich and Michelle Cliff, beginning a tradition of passing editorial and business control that continues to this day. After 15 years of operating as a small business, generally at a loss, Elana Dykewomon oversaw the application for nonprofit status. This led to the establishment of Sinister Wisdom, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that publishes the journal and provides outreach and educational programs. Since then, the journal Sinister Wisdom has continued with support from subscriptions and charitable donations to Sinister Wisdom, Inc.
Sinister Wisdom is one of the few publications remaining from the robust women in print movement during the 1970s and ‘80s. The journal serves as a vital voice for young queer people, lesbians, transmen, and transwomen. It explores a rich and complex legacy of queer, feminist, civil, disability rights, and other forms of progressive activism, connecting multigenerational, diverse queer communities across the globe.
Sinister Wisdom volunteer and former intern Kelsey McGarry tabling at the AWP Conference in Los Angeles, March 2025. Photo courtesy of Sinister Wisdom.
The journal publishes four issues each year on diverse themes related to the lesbian and queer community. Through long-form essays, visual art, and short stories, Sinister Wisdom champions underrepresented voices in each publication. Poetry has been a central mode of creative writing, outlet, and communication for lesbian communities worldwide, and lesbian and queer poetry is a vital focal point of the work that Sinister Wisdom publishes. Sinister Wisdom offers free copies of the journal to incarcerated women and structures journal prices on sliding scale rates to increase access for low-income subscribers.
In addition to the quarterly journal, Sinister Wisdom’s key programs include:
- Sapphic Classics Books: Inaugurated in 2012, this series brings poets and authors like Cheryl Clarke, Minnie Bruce Pratt, and tatiana de la tierra back into print, increasing access to their work. Each of the Sapphic Classics includes the original texts and complementary material to situate these works in relationship to contemporary conversations among readers and writers.
- Online and in-person events: Collaborations with established authors, publishers, and artists bring the Sinister Wisdom community together across the United States and internationally through robust events, performances, and discussions. Online programming highlights historic, current, and emerging topics. Recent and upcoming events include poetry readings, auction events at queer bookstores, and community art shows.
- Wild Shrew Literary Review (WSLR): One of Sinister Wisdom’s newer programs, WSLR publishes online book reviews and reviews of other media aligned with lesbian and queer life. WSLR accepts reviews from the broader community, creating an accessible platform through which to discover and share thoughts and analyses of contemporary and historic queer media.
Receiving a Poetry Programs, Partnerships, and Innovation grant from the Poetry Foundation was vital for Sinister Wisdom following the collapse of Small Press Distribution, even helping the journal find a new distributor. Additionally, the funding has supported complex conversations and exploration of legacies that have helped those Sinister Wisdom serves grapple with an ever-changing world and rapidly changing queer landscape. Sinister Wisdom is deeply grateful for this relational, emotional, and tangible offering that has allowed the organization to move forward with strength in a challenging time.
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