Marijane Meaker

Marijane Meaker was an American writer of lesbian pulp fiction and young adult novels. She published under her own name and as Ann Aldrich and M. E. Kerr.

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Patricia Highsmith: American novelist and short-story writer known for psychological thrillers, including The Price of Salt. Highsmith also published a landmark lesbian novel in the pulp era, under the name Claire Morgan.
Ann Aldrich: The pseudonym under which Marijane Meaker published nonfiction about lesbians in the 1950s and 1960s. Aldrich’s books presented lesbian lives through a nonfiction voice distinct from Meaker’s novels.
The Outsiders: S. E. Hinton’s 1967 young adult novel about class conflict and rival groups of teenagers. Like Meaker’s later fiction, it helped establish young adult novels as serious accounts of adolescent life.
Vin Packer: The pseudonym Marijane Meaker used for crime and lesbian pulp fiction, including Spring Fire. Unlike the Ann Aldrich and M. E. Kerr names, Packer was associated with pulp novels.
Barbara Grier: American writer, editor, and publisher who helped preserve and circulate lesbian literature. Grier’s publishing work extended the readership for lesbian writing that Meaker had helped bring into print.
M. E. Kerr: The pseudonym Marijane Meaker used for young adult fiction and other later writing. Kerr became the name most closely associated with Meaker’s adolescent novels.
Annie on My Mind: Nancy Garden’s 1982 young adult novel about two teenage girls who fall in love. Its openly lesbian young characters mark a later stage in the genre Meaker wrote for.
The Price of Salt: Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 novel about two women’s romance, published as Claire Morgan and later titled Carol. Its comparatively hopeful ending contrasts with the punitive conventions common in lesbian pulp fiction.
Ann Bannon: American author of lesbian pulp novels, especially the series later known as The Beebo Brinker Chronicles. Bannon was a contemporary whose pulp fiction also portrayed lesbian lives for popular audiences.
Spring Fire: Marijane Meaker’s 1952 lesbian novel, published under the pseudonym Vin Packer. This early novel established Meaker in the lesbian pulp market.