The Power of the Hand - San Francisco Bay Times

"When Sheridan Le Fanu first published his classic novella Carmilla in 1872, I don't imagine he thought he was producing a lesbian vampire story that would inspire lesbian writers and readers for more than a century. I'm not sure the word "lesbian" was even in the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) yet. He was simply writing, in the Gothic mode, a scary story in a grim setting that happened to feature two young girls."

"At the end of his novella, Le Fanu writes: "One sign of the vampire is the power of the hand." Unwittingly (I think), the author captures the iconic idea of lesbians' hands as places of power and pleasure. It certainly has been central to my thinking as I wrote The Gilda Stories and as I finished the sequel. Now that Carmilla is in the public domain, several publishers have brought it back into print, but none so cleverly as Aunt Lute Books ( https://www.auntlute.com/)."

"The event also celebrated the birthday of the late Gloria Anzaldúa, whose seminal book Borderlands/La Frontera was also published by the press. The Sunday afternoon event was a reminder of how much was accomplished by women's publishing, not simply as "preachers of the word," as James Baldwin would say, but also as sparking points ... places where women activists gathered to express concern about the state of the union and to initiate actions to beat back the continued oppression of women."

Sheridan Le Fanu's 1872 Carmilla features two young girls in a Gothic setting and later became identified with lesbian vampire themes. The novella's line about the vampire's hand functions as an emblem linking hands to lesbian power and pleasure. Carmilla's public-domain status prompted new editions, including an Aunt Lute Books pairing with a tribute story, "Caramelle," that stages two girls meeting via the Underground Railroad and offers a historical lesbian perspective. A book launch titled "Wild Tongues Can't be Tamed" celebrated Gloria Anzaldúa and showcased women's publishing as a site for activism and collective resistance to the continued oppression of women.

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