Our Lost Sister

Elana Dykewomon—novelist, poet, essayist, and activist—was born in New York City on October 11, 1949. She and her family moved to Puerto Rico when she was eight. She returned to the United States to attend college, receiving a B.F.A. in creative writing from the California Institute of Arts, and an M.F.A. from San Francisco State University.

Her first novel, Riverfinger Women, was published in 1974 under her birthname, and her second, They Will Know Me By My Teeth, came out just two years later, under the name Elana Dykewoman. In 1981, she published Fragments from Lesbos, a poetry collection as Elana Dykewomon, to further establish her Lesbian separatist identity. In 1987, Dykewomon took over as editor for Sinister Wisdom. She held this position until 1995 and contributed to Sinister Wisdom, including the 1989 Jewish anthology issue, Tribe of Dina.

Dykewomon continued to publish novels, poetry, and short story collections. Her 1998 novel, Beyond the Pale, was awarded the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction. In 2004, Riverfinger Women was selected by The Publishing Triangle as #84 on their list of 100 Best Lesbian and Gay Novels. In 2009 the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival awarded her the Jim Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists’ Prize. In 2018 the novel was awarded the Lee Lynch Classic Award by the Golden Crown Literary Society (GCLS). In 2022 the GCLS bestowed the Trailblazer Award upon Elana Dykewomon for her lifelong contributions to lesbian literature and lesbian identity. Dyekwomon published the novel Risk with Bywater Books in 2009.

Elana passed away on August 7, 2022.

Biography of Elana Dykewomon

Novels

• Nachman, Elana (1974). Riverfinger Women. Plainfield, VT: Daughters, Inc.
• Dykewomon, Elana (1997). Beyond the Pale. Vancouver: Press Gang Publishers. ISBN 9780889740747.
• (2009). Risk. Ann Arbor: Bywater Books. ISBN 9781932859690.

Poetry and short story collections

• Dykewoman, Elana (1976). They Will Know Me By My Teeth. Northampton, MA: Megaera Press. OCLC 897740442.
• Dykewomon, Elana (1981). Fragments from Lesbos. Langlois, OR: Diaspora Distribution. OCLC 31156287.
• (1995). Nothing Will Be As Sweet As The Taste: Selected Poems 1974-1994. London: Only Women Press. ISBN 9780906500576.
• (2003). Moon Creek Road. Duluth, Minn.: Spinsters Ink. ISBN 9781883523626.
• (2015). What Can I Ask: New and Selected Poems 1975-2014. Berkeley, CA: Sinister Wisdom. ISBN 978-1-938334-15-3.

Prose

• (1983). “The Mezzuzah Maker”. Common Lives/Lesbian Lives. 
• (Fall 1985). “Staking Claims”. Common Lives/Lesbian Lives.
• (1989). “Manna from Heaven”. In Kaye/Kantrowitz, Melanie; Klepfisz, Irena (eds.). The Tribe of Dina: A Jewish Women’s Anthology. Beacon Press. ISBN 0-8070-3605-6.
• (1990). “My Grandmother’s Plates”. Speaking for Ourselves: Short Stories by Jewish Lesbians. Freedom, CA: Crossing Press. ISBN 978-0895944283.
• (1998). “Knaydie and the Librarian”. In Tulchinsky, Karen X. (ed.). Friday the Rabbi Wore Lace: Jewish Lesbian Erotica. Cleis Press. ISBN 9781573440417.
• (1999). “Grace”. In Krug, Andrea; Schadenberg, Dagmar (eds.). augenblicke. Berlin. ISBN 978-3930041190.
• (2001). “Dinoflagellates”. In Tulchinsky, Karen X. (ed.). Hot & Bothered 3: Short Short Fiction on Lesbian Desire. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 9781551521022.
• (2002). “The Body Politic: Meditations on Identity”. In Anzaldúa, Gloria; Keating, Analouise (eds.). This Bridge We Call Home: Radical Visions for Transformation. New York: Routledge. pp. 450–457. ISBN 9781135351526.
• (2003). “What Love Is”. In Brown, Angela (ed.). Best Lesbian Love Stories 2003. Alyson Press. ISBN 978-1555837655.
• (2007). “Seeking Welcome”. In Forrest, Katherine V.; Buskirk, Jim Van (eds.). Love, Castro Street: Reflections of San Francisco. Alyson Press. ISBN 9781555839970.

Poetry

• “I had a dream…” and “Even My Eyes Became Mouths” in — (1990). McEwen, Christian (ed.). Naming the Waves: Contemporary Lesbian Poetry. Freedom, CA: Crossing Press. ISBN 9780895943712.
• (1983). “learning to breathe”. In Schoenfielder, Lisa; Wieser, Barb (eds.). Shadow on a Tightrope: Writings by Women on Fat Oppression. Iowa City: Aunt Lute Books. ISBN 9781879960244.
• “The Census Taker Interviews the 20th Century” and “The Vilde Chaya and Civilization” in — (1992). Bridges: A Journal for Jewish Feminists and Our Friends. Seattle, WA. ISSN 1046-8358
• “New England Cemetery” and “diving, i kiss” in — (1993). Penelope, Julia; Wolfe, Susan (eds.). Lesbian Culture: An Anthology. Freedom, CA: Crossing Press. ISBN 9780895945921.
• (1994). “A Law of Physics”. Bridges: A Journal for Jewish Feminists and Our Friends. ISSN 1046-8358.
• (Summer 1994). “When to Answer”. Zyzzyva. ISSN 8756-5633.
• Various in — (1999). Mohin, Lilian (ed.). Not for the Academy: Lesbian Poets. London: Onlywomen Press. ISBN 9780906500606.
• (April 2000). “Butch resisting the pressure to change gender”. Sojourner. Boston. ISSN 0191-8699.
• Foreword, “Yahrzeit,” “Butch Breasts at Fifty,” and “Should I Tell My Gynecologist” in Zeiser, Linda; Machado, Trena, eds. (2006). What I Want From You: Voices of East Bay Lesbian Poets. Pittsburgh, CA: Raw Art Press. ISBN 978-0972918558.
• (2011). “An Eastern/Western Country Song”. In Enszer, Julie R. (ed.). Milk and Honey: A Celebration of Jewish Lesbian Poetry. A Midsummer Night’s Press. ISBN 978-0-9794208-8-7.
• (Spring 2016). “Pauline Newman at 92”. Calyx. ISSN 0147-1627.

Essays

• (1989). “The Fourth Daughter’s Four Hundred Questions”. In Beck, Evelyn Torton (ed.). Nice Jewish Girls: A Lesbian Anthology. Boston: Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0807079058.
• (December 2001). Gartrell, Nanette; Rothblum, Ester (eds.). “Changing the World”. Journal of Lesbian Studies. Harrington Park Press: 53–62. doi:10.1300/J155v05n03_06. PMID 24802823. S2CID 43796951.
• (2002). Kinberg, Clare (ed.). “My Mother and the Wars”. Bridges: A Journal for Jewish Feminists and Our Friends. Eugene, OR. ISSN 1046-8358.
• (2005). “Lesbian Quarters: On Building Space, Identity, Institutional Memory and Resources”. Journal of Lesbian Studies. 31–43. doi:10.1300/J155v09n01_03. PMID 19780262. S2CID 20380955.
• Rothblum, Esther (2009). “Are We Ready to Throw Our Weight Around?: Fat Women and Political Activism”. In Rothblum, Esther; Solovay, Sondra (eds.). The Fat Studies Reader. NYU Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-7631-5.
• February 2010). “Who says we’re extinct?”. TRIVIA: Voices of Feminism. ISSN 2166-9082.
• Felman, Jyl Lynn (Spring 2011). “Forward and Backward: Jewish Lesbian Writers”. Bridges: A Journal for Jewish Feminists and Our Friends. 228–233. doi:10.2979/bridges.16.1.228. ISSN 1046-8358. S2CID 144172333.
• (Spring 2011). “Walking on the Moon”. TRIVIA: Voices of Feminism. ISSN 2166-9082.
• (2014). “Living “Anyway:” Stories of Access”. Journal of Lesbian Studies. 21–30. doi:10.1080/10894160.2013.836432. PMID 24400626. S2CID 6600940.
• (2014). “In Search of the Fabled Fat Woman”. Fat Studies. 1–5. doi:10.1080/21604851.2013.770355. S2CID 191464696.