September 2006

Why Jay Lake Is a Broad
by Lettie Prell

It was WisCon 30, on the party floor where the biggest Broad Universe bash ever was taking place. I paused for a moment in my duties as barkeeper and commemorative glow-cup hawker to appreciate how my new husband, John Domini, was swinging about the room, playing host. He's a social animal in any venue (my theory is it compensates for those long hours he spends writing), but his fussings and flittings in this particularly feminist setting struck me as a less common image of the organization, thrust front-and-center.

All in all, I liked what I saw (did I mention I'm a newlywed?), but I also came away with questions. After all, the primary mission of Broad Universe is to promote women writing in the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres. What's in it for the guys? I decided to ask Jay Lake — winner of the 2004 John W. Campbell award for best new writer, and author of Dogs in the Moonlight, American Sorrows and many stories — who happens to be a member of Broad Universe.

So Jay, why did you decide to join Broad Universe?

JAY: You know, I could give you a formal answer about male privilege and the boys' club in genre and all that stuff, but it would be boring, however true.

Really, it was because of working with Deborah Layne on the Polyphony anthology series, where we were paying attention to our gender balance of submissions and selections. We didn't want to create a deliberately feminine/feminist market, but we did want to create a market that drew from a range of viewpoints outside that of "white guys and their imaginary friends," as Steve Barnes calls SF. That in turn made me more conscious of the value of supporting women in the field.

Besides, all guys all the time is dull.

What was the first sf/f/h book by a woman author you ever read? What made you pick it up?

JAY: Probably Andre Norton's Forerunner books, when I was about 11. Maybe something before then, I'm not sure. I'd gotten into the classic Heinlein juveniles around 10 or 11, along with Tolkein (and, very oddly, Delany). I don't think I knew Norton was a woman, the books just looked cool. Somewhere in the same time I read Rocannon's World because it looked so cool too.

Who are your favorite women authors in the genre?

JAY: That's a funny question, because the only authors I really identify as "woman authors" are from that 1970s generation where explorations of feminism played a foreground role in some of the fiction — Russ, Tiptree, Elgin. Otherwise I tend to view authors by genre or school or something, categories of taste and market. I don't know if that's post-feminist gender-blindness or Neanderthal gender-indifference. Maybe I've gone all the way around the loop?

Obviously you must think feminist organizations are OK or you wouldn't have joined one. But is there a larger value at work here that drew your support? And why should male writers join?

JAY: BU has a level of organization and dedication which should be a model for writers' organizations everywhere. That's not a comment on feminism, it's a comment on the Mother Board and the quality of the volunteers. BU has a focus on helping people develop skills, build careers, sell, network. I think the SLF is working in the same direction, but in general that kind of support for writers is rare. This is a lonely business at its best. BU does a lot to ameliorate that. Which is why writers should join, male or female.

(Plus I meet the nicest women at the BU parties.)