“In a world where people don’t read, what are you going to make of a man who calls himself a ‘gay novelist’? “

Gore Vidal, aged 21, in Guatemala in 1947 (From The Gore Vidal Papers, ©Houghton Library, Harvard University)

“There are certainly people who call themselves ‘gay novelists’ like Edmund White. I think he’s out of his mind. Why limit yourself any more than literature has limited you? In a world where people don’t read, what are you going to make of a man who calls himself a ‘gay novelist’? What’s that supposed to mean, that he’s only go to write about cock? He’s a quite good writer, but I didn’t think he was that dumb to characterize himself.” 

Gore Vidal
extrait de: Talking Sex with Gore Vidal, by Donald Weise (Lambda Literary, November 9, 2013)

Peut-on dire d’un auteur qui se trouve être gay qu’il est un écrivain gay ? Certains s’en défendent ; d’autres le revendiquent. Le débat reste ouvert…