Winston Leyland (born 1940) is a British-American author and editor. Called "one of the seminal figures in gay publishing" by the ''

San Francisco Sentinel The ''San Francisco Sentinel'' is an online newspaper serving the LGBT communities of the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally a weekly print periodical, the ''Sentinel'' covers local San Francisco politics, news and social events, and internation ...

'', he was originally ordained a Catholic priest and later graduated from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

. He worked for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' and '' Gay Sunshine'', serving as editor for the latter when it was rebranded as the ''Gay Sunshine Journal''. Under his direction, the ''Journal'' was praised by

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

for "its presentation of literary history hitherto kept in the closet by the academies." In 1975, Leyland founded Gay Sunshine Press, the oldest LGBT publishing house in the United States, followed by Leyland Publications in 1984. The two imprints combined have published more than 135 books, and are known for their translations of gay-themed European and Asian literature into English, including works by Vladimir Makanin,

Yukio Mishima , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was considered fo ...

, and

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

. Leyland also published written erotica, such as Mike Shearer's ''Great American Gay Porno Novel'' and collections of reader-supplied true sexual stories edited by Boyd McDonald (''Meat, Flesh, Sex, Cum, Juice, Wads'' and ''Cream''). Leyland won the Stonewall Book Award in 1980 for his work as editor of ''Now the Volcano: An Anthology of Latin American Gay Literature''. He was nominated for a

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

in 1998, 2000, and 2002, and won it in 1992.

References

External links

Profile at LGBT Religious Archives Network
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leyland, Winston American male writers American Buddhists American editors Living people University of California, Los Angeles alumni 1940 births Writers from San Francisco American gay writers Anthologists Lambda Literary Award winners Stonewall Book Award winners