''Conditions'' (full title: ''Conditions: a feminist magazine of writing by women with a particular emphasis on writing by lesbians'') was a

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

literary magazine that came out biannually from 1976 to 1980 and annually from 1980 until 1990, and included poetry, prose, essays, book reviews, and interviews. It was founded in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York, by Elly Bulkin, Jan Clausen, Irena Klepfisz and Rima Shore.Smith, Barbara. ''The Truth That Never Hurts: Writings on Race, Gender, and Freedom'', Rutgers University Press 1998, , p. ix.

Publishing collective

''Conditions'' was a magazine that emphasized the lives and writings of lesbians, and, throughout its history, maintained an all-lesbian collective. Busia, Abena P. A. ''Theorizing Black Feminisms: The Visionary Pragmatism of Black Women'', Routledge, 1993, , p. 225n. This collective expressed a "long standing commitment to diversity; of writing style and content and of background of contributors", within the lesbian and feminist communities.Allison, Clarke, Schaubman editorial. ''Conditions'' 11/12, p. 3. ''Conditions'' was especially dedicated to publishing the work of lesbians, in particular

working-class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

lesbians and lesbians of color. While the founders were all white, ''Conditions'' was committed to promoting multiracial, multicultural, and multiethnic voices from its inception. By the early 1980s, the magazine had a diverse group of editors, especially under the leadership of Cheryl L. Clarke.

The Black Women's Issue

The journal's fifth issue, published in November 1979, was edited by Barbara Smith and Lorraine Bethel. ''Conditions 5'' was "the first widely distributed collection of

Black feminist Black feminism is a branch of feminism that focuses on the African-American woman's experiences and recognizes the intersectionality of racism and sexism. Black feminism philosophy centers on the idea that "Black women are inherently va ...

writing in the U.S.", and was later to be the basis for the anthology '' Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology'' (1983), one of the first books released by Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press. ''Conditions 5: The Black Women's Issue'' was hugely popular, and set a record in feminist publishing by selling 3,000 copies in the first three weeks it was available.

Publication ceases

''Conditions'' ceased publication in 1990. It ended because the existing collective members were focusing on other projects and they were unable to find new members.

Editors

* Barbara Smith * Lorraine Bethel * Dorothy Allison * Cheryl L. Clarke * Jewelle Gomez * Nancy Clarke Otter * Debbi Schaubman * Elly Bulkin * Jan Clausen * Irena Klepfisz * Rima Shore * Melinda Goodman * Paula Martinac * N. Mirtha Quintanales * Randye Lordon

Selected contributors

* Wilmette Brown * Joy Harjo * Cherríe Moraga * Joan Nestle * Amber Hollibaugh * Donna Allegra * Becky Birtha *

Audre Lorde Audre Lorde ( ; born Audrey Geraldine Lorde; February 18, 1934 – November 17, 1992) was an American writer, professor, philosopher, Intersectional feminism, intersectional feminist, poet and civil rights activist. She was a self-described "Bl ...

* Ann Allen Shockley * Beverly Smith *

Gloria Anzaldúa Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa (September 26, 1942 – May 15, 2004) was an American scholar of Chicana feminism, cultural theory, and queer theory. She loosely based her best-known book, '' Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza'' (1987), on h ...

* Joan Larkin * Paula Gunn Allen * Jacqueline Lapidus *

Adrienne Rich Adrienne Cecile Rich ( ; May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012) was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", and was credited with bringing "the ...

* Michelle Cliff * Hattie Gossett * Chrystos * Marilyn Hacker * Mitsuye Yamada * Jo Carillo * Toi Derricotte * Minnie Bruce Pratt * Bonnie Zimmerman * Elly Bulkin * Cheryl Clarke * Dorothy Allison * Irena Klepfisz * Jewelle Gomez * Honor Moore * Luzma Umpierre * Linda Smukler (Samuel Ace) * Ramina Mays * Barbara Banks * Mab Segrest *

Sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire ...

References