Arts & Entertainment
Local queer students receive national awards for art, writing
Work explored race, sexuality, gender and heartbreak
The fifth picture in the photo essay “Anything But Simple” shows a school hallway with gray lockers lit up by sunlight shining through ceiling-length windows and two bodies tightly embracing. One, with large hairy arms, holds the other, draped in a maroon hoodie with a sign that says “faggot” stuck to its back.
The photo essay, curated by Spencer Strebe, was part of a legion of portfolios honored by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for their poignant and intelligent exploration of young identity. Strebe, 18, received a silver medal with distinction for his work that explored the rugged terrain that is navigating queer relationships as a teenager fresh into understanding their sexuality. He was a student at Yorktown High School in Arlington, Va., and will attend Virginia Commonwealth University in the fall to study art.
“I wasn’t out as gay dating my first boyfriend,” read his artist statement. “The frustration of keeping their love secret…led the guy in the gray hoodie [to] out his partner as gay in a desperate effort to make their love known. This is more of a thought, a want, rather than an action done.”
Like many his age, the COVID-19 pandemic inspired Strebe to pursue a hobby to stave off boredom. He began by taking photos of his friends, documentary-style, which then evolved into in-depth projects for his high school photography classes.
Although he said he quit more photography classes than he took, the desire to continue using the medium as a form of expression persisted. And, when he was required by one of his classes to submit for a Scholastic award, he heeded.
Strebe described “Anything But Simple” as a “breakup portfolio” that followed a ceramics tradition of using clay to make secret keeper jars. Because he hadn’t come out yet while creating the photo essay, taking the photos felt like molding a pot into which he’d whisper.
“Heartbreak is having a lot of love with no place to put it,” he said.
This kind of raw expression is what Scholastic Art & Writing Awards has championed for 100 years now.
The organization, which adjudicates submissions blindly, awards skill, originality, and the emergence of personal voice. Past recipients of the award include poet Amanda Gorman and artists Andy Warhol and Richard Avedon. Avedon, who received the award in 1941, described the honor as a defining moment of his life.
“Teenagers are incredible young people. They’re not adults but they’re also not children,” said Christopher Wisniewski, executive director for Alliance for Young Artists and Writers. “[This] is a time when [they] feel raw and start to express this in their art and writing.”
For Taiwo Adebowale, 17, her gold medal-winning poetry was a fierce effort to affirm her Black immigrant and queer identities. Adebowale, who goes by she/they pronouns, was a student at George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology in Towson, Md., and will study English and advertising at Howard University in the fall.
“I do not exist. I am not fiction. I am not walking delirium. I’m not even considered a person. I’m Something,” read her essay “subspaces.” “Something, that according to all laws of nature, shouldn’t exist. Something that goes into spaces, softening our tones, crouching down, telling security guards and mothers ‘do not be afraid’ like we’re angels at Christ’s second coming.”
Adebowale, who is also the first Scholastic award winner at her school in six years, draws inspiration from Black queer authors like Akwaeke Emezi, whose work highlights life’s absurdities through mysticism and surrealism. Thus, for her submission, she wanted to embrace the concept of beauty as taboo.
“Beauty is one of the things I find integral to myself as a person,” she said. “I don’t feel beauty can exist without embracing yourself as a whole.”
In embracing her wholeness, Adebowale harked to a lesson from her poetry teacher about writing about the things that make one uncomfortable.
In “My Fault, Doctor,” written to mimic a doctor’s note, Adebowale wrote about the annoyance her nameless character had with a doctor who asked about the character’s sexuality.
“My fault, Doctor. I swallow up the fact I like a girl. Fact beats wings in my stomach,” read the poem. “Fact tries to crawl up with the acid reflux. Fact infests my throat and nests as a knot. Don’t be alarmed by that. I chose to kiss the girl at church, behind my family’s back, with the knot.”
All in all, this uninhibited opining about societal ills is what Scholastic Arts and Writing lauds. Wisniewski believes the award validates budding artists’ and writers’ work, and more importantly, their humanity.
“Creativity should be a universal value,” he said.
Rob Reiner, most known for directing untouchable classics like “The Princess Bride,” “Misery,” “When Harry Met Sally…,” and “Stand by Me,” died Dec. 14 alongside his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, in their Los Angeles residence. While investigations are actively underway, sources have told PEOPLE Magazine that the pair’s son, Nick Reiner, killed his parents and has been taken into custody.
Reiner was a master of every genre, from the romantic comedy to the psychological thriller to the coming-of-age buddy movie. But in addition to his renowned work that made him a household name, Reiner is also remembered as a true advocate for the LGBTQ community. In 2009, Reiner and his wife co-founded the American Foundation for Equal Rights, helping fight against California’s Prop 8 same-sex marriage ban. They were honored at the 2015 Human Rights Campaign Las Vegas Gala.
In a statement, HRC President Kelley Robinson said: “The entire HRC family is devastated by the loss of Rob and Michele Reiner. Rob is nothing short of a legend — his television shows and films are a part of our American history and will continue to bring joy to millions of people across the world. Yet for all his accomplishments in Hollywood, Rob and Michele will most be remembered for their gigantic hearts, and their fierce support for the causes they believed in — including LGBTQ+ equality. So many in our movement remember how Rob and Michele organized their peers, brought strategists and lawyers together, and helped power landmark Supreme Court decisions that made marriage equality the law of the land — and they remained committed to the cause until their final days. The world is a darker place this morning without Rob and Michele — may they rest in power.”
Reiner’s frequent collaborators have also spoken out as the industry is in mourning, including figures like Ron Howard and John Cusack.
A joint statement from Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest (who starred in Reiner’s “This is Spinal Tap”) reads: “Christopher and I are numb and sad and shocked about the violent, tragic deaths of our dear friends Rob and Michele Singer Reiner and our ONLY focus and care right now is for their children and immediate families and we will offer all support possible to help them. There will be plenty of time later to discuss the creative lives we shared and the great political and social impact they both had on the entertainment industry, early childhood development, the fight for gay marriage, and their global care for a world in crisis. We have lost great friends. Please give us time to grieve.”
While attending the 2019 HRC Los Angeles Dinner, Reiner spoke out about the need for equality: “We have to move past singling out transgender, LGBTQ, black, white, Jewish, Muslim, Latino. We have to get way past that and start accepting the idea that we’re all human beings. We’re all human beings, we all share the same planet, and we should all have the same rights, period. It’s no more complicated than that.”
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington perform “The Holiday Show” at Lincoln Theatre (1215 U St., N.W.). Visit gmcw.org for tickets and showtimes.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Santa will be very relieved.
You’ve taken most of the burden off him by making a list and checking it twice on his behalf. The gift-buying in your house is almost done – except for those few people who are just so darn hard to buy for. So what do you give to the person who has (almost) everything? You give them a good book, like maybe one of these.
Memoir and biography
The person who loves digging into a multi-level memoir will be happy unwrapping “Blessings and Disasters: A Story of Alabama” by Alexis Okeowo (Henry Holt). It’s a memoir about growing up Black in what was once practically ground zero for the Confederacy. It’s about inequality, it busts stereotypes, and yet it still oozes love of place. You can’t go wrong if you wrap it up with “Queen Mother: Black Nationalism, Reparations, and the Untold Story of Audley Moore” by Ashley D. Farmer (Pantheon). It’s a chunky book with a memoir with meaning and plenty of thought.
For the giftee on your list who loves to laugh, wrap up “In My Remaining Years” by Jean Grae (Flatiron Books). It’s part memoir, part comedy, a look back at the late-last-century, part how-did-you-get-to-middle-age-already? and all fun. Wrap it up with “Here We Go: Lessons for Living Fearlessly from Two Traveling Nanas” by Eleanor Hamby and Dr. Sandra Hazellip with Elisa Petrini (Viking). It’s about the adventures of two 80-something best friends who seize life by the horns – something your giftee should do, too.
If there’ll be someone at your holiday table who’s finally coming home this year, wrap up “How I Found Myself in the Midwest” by Steve Grove (Simon & Schuster). It’s the story of a Silicon Valley worker who gives up his job and moves with his family to Minnesota, which was once home to him. That was around the time the pandemic hit, George Floyd was murdered, and life in general had been thrown into chaos. How does someone reconcile what was with what is now? Pair it with “Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America” by Will Bardenwerper (Doubleday). It’s set in New York and but isn’t that small-town feel universal, no matter where it comes from?
Won’t the adventurer on your list be happy when they unwrap “I Live Underwater” by Max Gene Nohl (University of Wisconsin Press)? They will, when they realize that this book is by a former deep-sea diver, treasure hunter, and all-around daredevil who changed the way we look for things under water. Nohl died more than 60 years ago, but his never-before-published memoir is fresh and relevant and will be a fun read for the right person.
If celeb bios are your giftee’s thing, then look for “The Luckiest” by Kelly Cervantes (BenBella Books). It’s the Midwest-to-New-York-City story of an actress and her life, her marriage, and what she did when tragedy hit. Filled with grace, it’s a winner.
Your music lover won’t want to open any other gifts if you give “Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives of Tupac Shakur” by Jeff Pearlman (Mariner Books). It’s the story of the life, death, and everything in-between about this iconic performer, including the mythology that he left behind. Has it been three decades since Tupac died? It has, but your music lover never forgets. Wrap it up with “Point Blank (Quick Studies)” by Bob Dylan, text by Eddie Gorodetsky, Lucy Sante, and Jackie Hamilton (Simon & Schuster), a book of Dylan’s drawings and artwork. This is a very nice coffee-table size book that will be absolutely perfect for fans of the great singer and for folks who love art.
For the giftee who’s concerned with their fellow man, “The Lost and the Found: A True Story of Homelessness, Found Family and Second Chances” by Kevin Fagan (One Signal / Atria) may be the book to give. It’s a story of two “unhoused” people in San Francisco, one of the country’s wealthiest cities, and their struggles. There’s hope in this book, but also trouble and your giftee will love it.
For the person on your list who suffered loss this year, give “Pine Melody” by Stacey Meadows (Independently Published), a memoir of loss, grief, and healing while remembering the person gone.
LGBTQ fiction
For the mystery lover who wants something different, try “Crime Ink: Iconic,” edited by John Copenhaver and Salem West (Bywater Books), a collection of short stories inspired by “queer legends” and allies you know. Psychological thrillers, creepy crime, cozies, they’re here.
Novel lovers will want to curl up this winter with “Middle Spoon” by Alejandro Varela (Viking), a book about a man who appears to have it all, until his heart is broken and the fix for it is one he doesn’t quite understand and neither does anyone he loves.
LGBTQ studies – nonfiction
For the young man who’s struggling with issues of gender, “Before They Were Men” by Jacob Tobia (Harmony Books) might be a good gift this year. These essays on manhood in today’s world works to widen our conversations on the role politics and feminism play in understanding masculinity and how it’s time we open our minds.
If there’s someone on your gift list who had a tough growing-up (didn’t we all?), then wrap up “I’m Prancing as Fast as I Can” by Jon Kinnally (Permuted Press / Simon & Schuster). Kinnally was once an awkward kid but he grew up to be a writer for TV shows you’ll recognize. You can’t go wrong gifting a story like that. Better idea: wrap it up with “So Gay for You: Friendship, Found Family, & The Show That Started It All” by Leisha Hailey & Kate Moennig (St. Martin’s Press), a book about a little TV show that launched a BFF-ship.
Who doesn’t have a giftee who loves music? You sure do, so wrap up “The Secret Public: How Music Moved Queer Culture from the Margins to the Mainstream” by Jon Savage (Liveright). Nobody has to tell your giftee that queer folk left their mark on music, but they’ll love reading the stories in this book and knowing what they didn’t know.
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