Allen Barnett (May 23, 1955 – August 14, 1991) was an American writer.
. glbtq.com, 2006. Although he published only one volume of short stories, ''The Body and Its Dangers'', during his lifetime, the book is widely regarded as one of the most artistically significant depictions of

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

life at the height of the

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crisis. Philip Gambone, ''Something Inside: Conversations With Gay Fiction Writers''.

University of Wisconsin Press The University of Wisconsin Press (sometimes abbreviated as UW Press) is a Non-profit organization, non-profit university press publishing Peer review, peer-reviewed books and journals. It publishes work by scholars from the global academic comm ...

, 1999. . Born near

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County, Illinois, Will County. It had a population of ...

, Barnett studied theatre at

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...

. He later moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to work as an actor, pursuing further studies at The New School and Columbia University, where he earned his MFA in the Writing Division of the School of the Arts. He was also a cofounder of

GLAAD GLAAD () is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization. Originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals in the media and entertainment industries, it has since ...

, and an educator with Gay Men's Health Crisis."Allen Barnett, Author and Educator, 36"
''

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'', August 17, 1991. He worked for Herbert Breslin in the late 1980s, and after Barnett published his first short story, "Succor", in ''

Christopher Street Christopher Street is a street in the West Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is the continuation of 9th Street west of Sixth Avenue. It is most notable for the Stonewall Inn, which is located on Christopher St ...

'' in 1986, Breslin forwarded Barnett's short stories to a friend who worked for

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building (New York City), Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishe ...

. The firm placed one of his stories, "Philostorgy, Now Obscure", in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', and published ''The Body and Its Dangers'' in 1990. The book won a Ferro-Grumley Award and a

Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction The Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation The Lambda Literary Foundation (also known as Lambda Literary) is an American LGBTQ literary organization whose mission is to ...

in 1991. It was also a nominee for the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award; while it did not win, it was given a special citation as one of the year's best works. Tom Cardamone, ''The Lost Library: Gay Fiction Rediscovered''. Haiduk Press, 2010. . Barnett died on August 14, 1991, of

-related causes.

Works

*''The Body and Its Dangers'' ()

References

1955 births 1991 deaths 20th-century American short story writers LGBTQ people from Illinois American gay writers Writers from Illinois AIDS-related deaths in New York (state) Loyola University Chicago alumni The New School alumni Columbia University School of the Arts alumni American male short story writers Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction winners 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American LGBTQ people {{US-story-writer-stub