by Eric Andrews-Katz - SGN Contributing Writer

Gay City Vol. 3:
Re-Pulped
launch party
August 21, 7 PM
ElliotT Bay Books

Pulp fiction has been a genre that has fascinated us since its earliest origins. Starting off as a way to whet salacious appetites, the genre has become part of pictures, poetry, and prose. Being just shy of erotic, pulp subjects were often taboo, tantalizing, and exploitative, offering something dangerous and alluring with strong tension - physical, or even sexual. Seattle's Gay City has chosen this forum to collect and release its latest literary contribution: Re-Pulped.

The Seattle Gay News interviewed Vincent Kovar, editor for the third and latest anthology to come out of Gay City.

Eric Andrews-Katz: How do you define "pulp" as a genre?

Vincent Kovar: I've continuously reengaged that question as I developed this anthology. The traditional "pulp" were low-budget affairs, often in magazines, which got the name from the cheap paper they used - paper that was high in wood pulp. I defined pulp as work that came after the [Oscar] Wilde scandal in the U.K. but before Stonewall. The true definition is something visceral; it's a feeling evoked by work that is slightly melodramatic, a bit chewy, guilty, and delicious.

Andrews-Katz: How does pulp get represented in pictures and poetry?

Kovar: On certain levels, pulp transgresses - it enters the world of the taboo. Poetic and visual pulp has the same nature. It's daring. It shows us something that goes against the grain in a way that simultaneously repels and entertains us. Ginsberg's Howl is a great example. In film, I would call out John Waters as a perfect example. In photography, it's Mapplethorpe with a bullwhip in his butt. In the poems I've selected not only for this issue but previous anthologies, the work is more than just a rant. The pieces draw in the reader. The photography does the same thing.

Andrews-Katz: What is the history of pulp as written fiction?

Kovar: Mainstream pulp started in the '20s with adventure and detective stories but also nurtured early science fiction and literary melodramas. Gay pulps emerged a bit later - in the '50s - again on cheap paper. They shadowed the sub-genre of confessionals which offered readers a "glimpse inside the world of" various groups of outsiders. After the Kinsey Report, Gays and Lesbians were the most exciting and controversial group, but they also got bunched in with the mentally ill, drug abusers, and criminals.

Andrews-Katz: How did the first pulp books appear in the U.S.?

Kovar: The early U.S. pulps weren't carried in bookstores. They were part of the streamlined, modern, mobile culture of the 20th century, so they were sold in drugstores, train stations, and newsstands. I suppose they could be compared to the novels you find at supermarket checkout stands today.

Andrews-Katz: Why the re-emergence of pulp as a current genre?

Kovar: In a lot of ways, pulp was the incubator of modern genre fiction. Genre fiction has a bit of a bad rap. Genre was entertaining. Literature was serious. It's still considered second-class to "literary" fiction, but I think that there's a real value in genre fiction, especially pulp.

Andrews-Katz: What's the difference between pulp and "one-handed" literature?

Kovar: They are neighbors, to be sure, but I think pulp keeps its compass pointed to north of the beltline while one-handed materials beeline to the south of it. Pulp is about deeply seated human dreams: adventure, love, freedom, discovery, etc. Erotic literature has a purpose, but I don't think the two things resonate on the same level.

Andrews-Katz: Since this is the third one, how do the themes get picked for Gay City anthologies?

Kovar: I believe that we excel as artists when we meet some sort of resistance - be it internal or external. So, I try to find themes that challenge writers to push into excellence. I also try to find ones that have some sort of currency in the marketplace.

Andrews-Katz: Do you try to focus on local contributors or is that a lesser consideration?

Kovar: My main focus is on introducing new artists, especially those in King County. My overall goal is a minimum of 50% local contributors. Perhaps it is coincidental but even those contributors who live outside the area tend to have a strong Northwest connection. Often they used to live here or sometimes they end up moving here. The work, though, overrules all other considerations.

Vincent Kovar has been the editor for all three Gay City anthologies. Gay City Volume 1 focused on literature of post-AIDS awareness, while Gay City Volume 2 focused on community-themed work within that world. Gay City Vol. 3: Re-Pulped is currently available. A book launch will be held at Elliott Bay Books on Saturday, August 21 at 7 p.m., where local contributing authors will read excerpts of their work. The event is open to the public. As well as being a published writer himself, Kovar has appeared in the Gay-themed spoof, Creatures From the Pink Lagoon.

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