Why is it that lesbians tend to be much better writers than gay men, with the exception of our own much-beloved Peter Wells and Witi Ihamaera? Case in point: these two spellbinding pieces of work from old and new talents.

Pam Harrison’s House of the Muses: The Latter Days of Sappho of Lesbos (Labyris and Sword Press) is a six-part series of graphic novels, set in Ancient Greece, and based on the life of one of the lovers of that great classical Greek lesbian poet, Sappho. Mnasidika (Dika) began life as a slave, before she escaped and later became a Spartan noblewoman, and then she travelled to a certain Aegean island otherwise known as Mytilene, and fell in love with other women. Details below. And thanks to the US lesbian magazine Curve for its delightful details.

On the other hand, Marijane Meaker is a venerable figure within lesbian literature, writing some of the finest and most affirmative pre-Stonewall ‘lesbian pulp’ novels and nonfictional accounts of lesbian life (as Vin Packer and Ann Aldrich). In her new departure, Scott Free, Meaker deals with the life and times of Scotti, a post-op transwoman who is currently investigating the disappearance of a wealthy East Hamptons (New York) heiress as well as dealing with her ex-wife Jessica and her irascible elderly mum, Myrna. Incidentally, I’m afraid they’re wrong about this being the first transgender detective novel- Rachel Pollak wrote the very first, A Secret Woman (St Martins Press) in 2002 (details below).

Unfortunately, I can’t find either Harrison or Meaker’s books on the Library of Congress catalogue website, but publication details and contact details are listed below.

Publication and Contact Details:

Pam Harrison: House of the Muses: The Latter Days of Sappho of Lesbos: Labyris and Sword Press: 2008: http://www.houseofthemuses.com

Rachel Pollak: A Secret Woman: New York: Saint Martins: 2002.

Marijane Meaker: Scott Free: New York: Carroll and Graf: 2008.