American author, poet and activist, PERRY BRASS was
born today Brass grew up in Savannah, Georgia grew up in the 1950s and
60s in equal parts Southern, Jewish, economically impoverished, and very
much gay. To escape the South’s violent homophobia, he hitchhiked at
age 17 from Savannah to San Francisco — an adventure, he recalls, that
was “like Mark Twain with drag queens.” He has published fourteen books
and been a finalist six times in three categories (poetry; gay science
fiction and fantasy; spirituality and religion) for national Lambda
Literary Awards.
One of the main
themes in his writing has been the integration of sexuality and the
religious or spiritual impulse, as exemplified in his novels Albert: or, The Book of Man, Angel Lust, and Substance of God.
His writings have attempted to answer questions such as: Why are so
many gay men religious and political conservatives? Why is the need for
God so important to us? What is our own place in nature and the world?
Among the early anthologies that included Brass's work were The Male Muse, the first anthology of openly gay poetry ever published, edited by Ian Young; The Gay Liberation Book from Rolling Stone Press, including work by John Lennon; The Penguin Book of Homosexual Verse; and Gay Roots from
Gay Sunshine Press. His work can be found in over 20 anthologies of
poetry, short stories, essays, memoirs, and other writings. A poetry
cycle called "Five Gay Jewish Prayers" was used as part of the high
holiday service at New York's Beth Simchat Torah congregation. The text
of this poem was accepted (in 1985) as one of the first gay Jewish
documents in the YIVO Archives of Jewish history. This poem was set to
choral music by Chris De Blasio, as "Five Prayers," which has been sung
by several gay choruses.
In 1984, his play Night Chills,
an early play dealing with the AIDS crisis, won a Jane Chambers
International Gay Playwriting Award. Brass’s collaborations with
composers include the words for "All the Way Through Evening," a
five-song cycle set by DeBlasio, which was featured on the AIDS Quilt Songbook CD from Harmonia Mundi, France, and Heartbeats from
Minnesota Public Radio; "The Angel Voices of Men" set by Ricky Ian
Gordon and commissioned by the Dick Cable Musical Trust for the New York
City Gay Men’s Chorus, which has featured it on its CD Gay Century Songbook;
"Three Brass Songs" with Grammy-nominated composer Fred Hersch; and
"Waltzes for Men" also commissioned by the DCMT for the NYC Gay Men’s
Chorus and set by Craig Carnahan.
Brass's non-fiction book, How to Survive Your Own Gay Life (Belhue
Press, 1999) deals with the psychic and physical survival of gay men,
with their spiritual and psychological growth, and with achieving
happiness and maturity. It was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award
in religion and spirituality, and has been the basis for many LGBT
discussion and support groups, classes, and workshops.
