The Banal & the Profane Archives

August 14, 2016 24 min read

"[...] I wish Pride could be something closer to Publishers Clearing House, where someone shows up at the door of a closeted teen living in some oppressive Middle American state with an oversized check and whisks them away." Read More

Navigating the Wilderness and Workloads: A Week in the Life of Author Jeanne Thornton

William Johnson

Opinion The Banal & the Profane

July 6, 2016 21 min read

"I feel like my life is totally constructed by jobs: the freelance ones that pay the bills, the 'literary' ones that don’t really pay but that I feel hold me together." Read More

Navigating Porn Shoots and Therapy: A Week in the Life of Writer Amy Gall

William Johnson

Features Opinion

April 5, 2016 14 min read

"My therapist reminds me, 'If it can’t be fixed, death can heal it.' Meaning, endings are not inherently or only traumatic. Some things are just a letting go, or a putting down of a burden that isn’t working..." Read More

Navigating Deadlines and a Pet Cat: A Week in the Life of Graphic Novelist Meags Fitzgerald

William Johnson

Opinion

February 3, 2016 10 min read

This month’s “Banal and Profane" column comes to us from graphic novelist Meags Fitzgerald Read More

Navigating Scruff and Book Reviews: A Week in the Life of Author John McManus

William Johnson

Opinion

December 20, 2015 8 min read

"I figure, what’s the point of being alive and gay in the 2010s if you can’t send XXX pics to strangers?" Read More

The Banal and the Profane: Mike Miksche

William Johnson

Opinion The Banal & the Profane

September 29, 2015 10 min read

"I constantly struggled to find the line between smut and literature." Read More

The Banal and the Profane: Yvonne Fly Onakeme Etaghene

William Johnson

Opinion The Banal & the Profane

September 10, 2015 12 min read

"This is how I want to rock shows—with amazing support, collaborating with people in the cities I’m visiting who are making magic and getting to share it with new folks [...]" Read More

The Banal and the Profane: Shawn Syms

William Johnson

Opinion The Banal & the Profane

July 6, 2015 11 min read

“Through fiction we are often trying to solve—or at least somehow address—the problems and contradictions that preoccupy us in real life. In crafting a novel about compulsive gambling and fetishistic sex, that’s definitely what I’m doing.” Read More

The Banal and the Profane: Michael Broder

William Johnson

Opinion The Banal & the Profane

May 13, 2015 9 min read

"The Black Party was pretty great—a big space with machine-generated fog and deep house music, filled with all sorts of men, including many beautiful ones, wearing very little clothing, dancing, having sex, taking drugs (of which we did not partake), etc." Read More

The Banal and the Profane: Nick Sumida

William Johnson

Features Opinion

April 10, 2015 10 min read

"I have to give myself permission to turn my brain off and relax when I can, which usually translates to me eating gummy bears and re-watching Buffy episodes while live-tweeting about the outfits." Read More

Reviews

Unearthing Queer Archive in Early 1990’s West Palm Beach, Florida

The Mars House: Science Fiction and the Hazards of Imagination

Maps of Belonging: Italian Trans Geographies

Random

‘Beyond Binary: Genderqueer and Sexually Fluid Speculative Fiction’ edited by Brit Mandelo

Features

Unearthing Queer Archive in Early 1990’s West Palm Beach, Florida

Maps of Belonging: Italian Trans Geographies

Dreaming up a Hopeful Future: A Conversation with Grist authors on queer climate fiction

Interviews

Bonds & Boundaries: A Conversation with Dale Corvino

Dreaming up a Hopeful Future: A Conversation with Grist authors on queer climate fiction

“What if it was both and all of the above?”: An interview with CJ Hauser

Excerpts

An Excerpt from Sleep Tight Satellite: Stories by Carol Guess

Read This! Excerpt from the delicacy of embracing spirals by mimi tempestt

Read This! Excerpt from American Gospel by Miah Jeffra

Navigating Sex Parties and Pride: A Week in the Life of Cartoonist Jeremy Sorese

Navigating the Wilderness and Workloads: A Week in the Life of Author Jeanne Thornton

Navigating Porn Shoots and Therapy: A Week in the Life of Writer Amy Gall

Navigating Deadlines and a Pet Cat: A Week in the Life of Graphic Novelist Meags Fitzgerald

Navigating Scruff and Book Reviews: A Week in the Life of Author John McManus

The Banal and the Profane: Mike Miksche

The Banal and the Profane: Yvonne Fly Onakeme Etaghene

The Banal and the Profane: Shawn Syms

The Banal and the Profane: Michael Broder

The Banal and the Profane: Nick Sumida

Unearthing Queer Archive in Early 1990’s West Palm Beach, Florida

The Mars House: Science Fiction and the Hazards of Imagination

Maps of Belonging: Italian Trans Geographies

The High Stakes of Young Adulthood: A Review of Idlewild by James Frankie Thomas

People Collide by Isle McElroy: A Review

Reviewing Bad Gays; or how we use the past to shape the future

A Review of Cassandra Khaw’s The Salt Grows Heavy

If property is theft, then what is a photograph? A Review of The Unintended by Monica Huerta