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Michelle Tea

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Michelle Tea
Tea at the 2018 Texas Book Festival
Tea at the 2018 Texas Book Festival
BornMichelle Tomasik
1971 (age 52–53)
Chelsea, Massachusetts, United States
Occupation
  • Author
  • poet
  • director
GenrePoetry, memoir, fiction

Michelle Tea (born Michelle Tomasik, 1971) is an American author, poet, and literary arts organizer whose autobiographical works explore queer culture, feminism, race, class, sex work, and other topics.[1] She is originally from Chelsea, Massachusetts and was active in the San Francisco literary and arts community for many years.[2] She currently lives in Los Angeles.[3] Her books, mostly memoirs, are known for their exposition of the queercore community.[1]

Early life

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Tea grew up in Chelsea, Massachusetts in a working-class family. Her father was a Polish Catholic and her mother was Irish and French Canadian. In high school, Tea identified with the goth subculture and artists such as Siouxsie Sioux. She was also drawn to literary work including The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, the poetry of Sylvia Plath, and the beat movement.

When she was twenty years old, Tea read Angry Women from RE/Search Publications, which included interviews with radical female performers, writers, and thinkers. The book was highly influential. "That really made me see that there is a lineage [of female writers], and a path, and I could really put myself on that," she explained in an interview.[4]

During her childhood, Tea's stepfather spied on her through a drilled hole in the wall of her bedroom. She struggled with this abuse, and she was in denial for many years. Tea began drinking alcohol as a teenager. When she was 19 years old, her stepfather admitted to the abuse, but Tea's mother chose to stay with him. It was at this time that Tea moved out of her home and relocated to the home of her then-girlfriend in Boston.[4]

During this period, Tea supported herself with two minimum wage jobs as a hair salon receptionist and deli shop employee. Her girlfriend, a sex worker, was earning significantly more money than she did, and Tea decided to go into sex work as well. In the early 1990s, Tea broke up with her girlfriend and moved to San Francisco.[4]

Career

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Spoken word and Sister Spit

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In San Francisco, Tea immersed herself in the spoken word scene. In 1994, Tea and Sini Anderson formed Sister Spit, a queer feminist collective. The group hosted weekly open mic nights in San Francisco, which attracted local and underground talent, as well as more established writers such as Mary Gaitskill, Eileen Myles, and Beth Lisick. In 1997, Sister Spit launched Ramblin’ Road Show, a spoken word tour that performed in bars, galleries, bookstores, community centers, and other venues in the United States and Canada.[1][5][6] The tour was briefly revived in 2007 with Sister Spit: The Next Generation, which featured artists such as Ariel Schrag, Justin Vivian Bond, Blake Nelson, Nicole J. Georges, Cristy Road, Eileen Myles, and Beth Lisick.[5][7]

In 1998, Tea's first book, The Passionate Mistakes and Intricate Corruption of One Girl in America, was published by Semiotexte/Smart Art Press. The book contained short stories in memoir form, exploring topics such as Tea's childhood in Massachusetts, her teenage interest in the goth subculture, and sex work.[8]

Valencia

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In 2000, Tea's memoir Valencia was published. The book chronicles the life of Michelle, a young lesbian poet, in the Mission District of San Francisco. The plot primarily focuses on the love life of the main character, as she dates multiple women over the course of a year. Tea explained in an interview, "The 'Michelle' in the book is definitely me, though if it makes a reader more comfortable to imagine it’s all a giant work of fiction, that’s fine too."[8] The book won the 2001 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction.[9] Tea served as the executive producer of Valencia: The Movie. Based on her novel of the same name, the experimental film was spearheaded by filmmaker Hilary Goldberg.[10][11] Valencia was filmed by 20 different lesbian, queer, and trans directors, each assigned a different chapter of her novel. The twenty one different 'Michelle' characters "vary in age, gender, size, ethnicity, style and era."[12][13]

Radar Productions

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In 2003, Tea founded Radar Productions, a nonprofit organization that produces events to showcase the work of queer writers and artists.[14] She served as creative director for twelve years before stepping down in 2015. Julián Delgado Lopera took her place.[15] In 2015, with Radar, Tea created the first Drag Queen Story Hour in San Francisco.[16][17]

Other work

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Tea has toured with the Sex Workers' Art Show.[18] She was also a contributor to The Believer magazine.[19]

In February 2008, Tea was the 23rd Zale Writer-in-Residence at the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College Institute at Tulane University.[20]

In 2012, Tea partnered with City Lights Publishers to form the Sister Spit imprint.[21][22] In 2016, she created Amethyst Editions, an imprint of Feminist Press, and in 2023 launched the nonprofit press Dopamine Books.[23]

From 2012 to 2015, Tea wrote a column for xoJane, where she chronicled the difficulties she faced in trying to have a baby with her partner, Dashiell.[24][25] Her articles documented the stress and difficulty that accompanied fertility treatments and artificial insemination, and additionally illuminated gaps that existed for queer couples in a system that was created with heterosexual couples in mind.[26][27][28] Her experiences trying to conceive and preparing for parenthood led her to start the website Mutha Magazine, an alternative parenting website for parents that do not identify with mainstream parenting media.

Critical reception

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Tea and Clint Catalyst's 2004 anthology, Pills, Thrills, Chills and Heartache was featured by Publishers Weekly and reached #10 on the Los Angeles Times non-fiction paperback bestseller list in its first week of release.[29][30] The book was a 17th Lambda Literary Awards finalist in the Anthologies/Fiction category.[31] Her books have often been nominated in these awards, beginning with the 2001 Lesbian Fiction nomination and award for Valencia.[32][33][34][31][35][36]

She was awarded the Jim Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists' Prize by the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival in 2008.[37]

In February 2019, Tea won the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay for her book Against Memoir.[38]

Personal life

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Tea was in a relationship with Katastrophe for many years. They shared an apartment in the North Beach district of San Francisco.[39] In 2013, Tea married Dashiell Lippman at the Swedish American Hall in San Francisco.[40] In 2015, their son was born.[41] On March 5, 2022, Michelle married TJ Payne at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.[42]

Published work

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  • The Passionate Mistakes and Intricate Corruption of One Girl in America (1998) ISBN 1-57027-074-0
  • Valencia (2000) ISBN 1-58005-035-2[43]
  • The Chelsea Whistle (2002) ISBN 1-58005-073-5
  • The Beautiful (2003) ISBN 0-916397-89-0
  • Rent Girl (2004) ISBN 0-86719-620-3
  • Rose of No Man's Land (2006) ISBN 1-59692-160-9
  • Transforming Community (2007) ISBN 0-9789023-4-3
  • Coal to Diamonds: A Memoir (2013) ISBN 0-385525915 (with Beth Ditto)
  • Mermaid in Chelsea Creek (2013) ISBN 1-938073363[44]
  • How to Grow Up: A Memoir (2015) ISBN 0-142181196
  • Girl at the Bottom of the Sea (2015) ISBN 1-940450004
  • Black Wave (2016) ISBN 1908276908; And Other Stories, UK ISBN 9781908276902
  • Modern Tarot: Connecting with Your Higher Self Through the Wisdom of the Cards (2017) ISBN 9780062682406
  • Against Memoir: Complaints, Confessions & Criticisms (2018) ISBN 978-1936932184; And Other Stories, UK ISBN 9781911508625
  • Knocking Myself Up: A Memoir of My (In)Fertility (2022) ISBN 978-0063210622
  • Modern Magic: Stories, Rituals, and Spells for Contemporary Witches (2024) ISBN 9780063378193
Anthologies

See also

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References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Michelle Tea.
  1. ^ a b c Hellman, David (2004-04-11). "Tea leaves the East for the West to sing the body electric". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-08-09.
  2. ^ Maran, Meredith (December 18, 2023). "She created the Drag Queen Story Hour. Now she's launching L.A.'s newest publisher". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 1, 2024. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  3. ^ Tea, Michelle, ed. (2007). Baby Remember My Name: An Anthology of New Queer Girl Writing. New York: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 978-0-7867-1792-7.[page needed]
  4. ^ a b c Sturges, Fiona (2019-11-08). "Michelle Tea: 'Memoir writing is a very selfish act. There's wreckage behind me'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  5. ^ a b "Collection : City Lights/Sister Spit, City Lights Publishers". City Lights Booksellers & Publishers. Archived from the original on 2020-03-21. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  6. ^ "Sister Spit". Queer Cultural Center. Archived from the original on 2015-09-11. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  7. ^ Kim, Clea (2013-04-09). "Sister Spit Takes Over REDCAT". Advocate. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  8. ^ a b Zeisler, Andi (2000-08-31). "Tea Time: Michelle Tea Likes it Caffeinated". Bitch Media. Archived from the original on 2020-03-21.
  9. ^ "13th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. 10 July 2001. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  10. ^ Pulley, Anna (2013-06-25). "Review: "Valencia: The Movie" premieres at Frameline". AfterEllen.com. Retrieved 2013-10-30.
  11. ^ Dennis Harvey (2013-07-12). "'Valencia' Review: Twenty Directors Take on Michelle Tea's Novel". Variety. Retrieved 2013-10-30.
  12. ^ "Valencia: The Movie/s". RADAR Productions. Archived from the original on 2013-10-30. Retrieved 2013-10-30.
  13. ^ Mirk, Sarah (2013-08-19). "Q&A With Michelle Tea on Her New Alternative Parenting Project "Mutha Magazine"". Bitch Magazine. Archived from the original on 2013-11-01. Retrieved 2013-10-30.
  14. ^ "About Us". RADAR PRODUCTIONS. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  15. ^ Donohue, Caitlin (2015-05-08). "Michelle Tea leaves RADAR Productions, oral historian to succeed her". 48 hills. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  16. ^ Fitzsimmons, Tim (2018-06-19). "Drag Queen Story Hour brings pride and glamor to libraries across U.S." NBC News. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  17. ^ "About". Drag Story Hour. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  18. ^ Bussel, Rachel Kramer (May 2004). "Interview with Michelle Tea". AfterEllen. Archived from the original on 2010-04-24.
  19. ^ "Contributor: Michelle Tea". Believer Magazine. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  20. ^ "The Zale-Kimmerling Writer-In-Residence Program". Newcomb Institute. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  21. ^ Steve Berman (2012-07-03). "Michelle Tea: A Writer's Passion". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2013-10-30.
  22. ^ Rathe, Adam (2012-09-04). "Tea and Spit". Out Magazine. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  23. ^ Stewart, Sophia (2023-08-18). "Michelle Tea Launches Dopamine Books". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  24. ^ Tea, Michelle (2011-11-15). "Getting Pregnant With Michelle Tea". xoJane. Archived from the original on 2013-10-31. Retrieved 2013-10-30.
  25. ^ Tea, Michell (2011-12-06). "Getting Pregnant With Michelle Tea: I Have a Donor! Plus, I'm Dating Someone". xoJane. Archived from the original on 2013-10-31. Retrieved 2013-10-30.
  26. ^ Tea, Michelle (2012-12-18). "Getting Pregnant With Michelle Tea: Scrolling Through Sperm Donors". xoJane. Archived from the original on 2013-11-01. Retrieved 2013-10-30.
  27. ^ Tea, Michelle (2012-10-05). "Michelle Tea: Homophobia at the Fertility Clinic". xoJane. Archived from the original on 2013-11-01. Retrieved 2013-10-30.
  28. ^ Tea, Michelle (2012-11-07). "Getting Pregnant With Michelle Tea: Dashiell's Ovaries RULE!". xoJane. Archived from the original on 2013-11-01. Retrieved 2013-10-30.
  29. ^ Hix, Charles; Dahlin |, Robert. "Selected Gay & Lesbian Titles, June 2003—March 2004". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  30. ^ "Paperbacks; BESTSELLERS; LOS ANGELES TIMES LIST FOR MARCH 14, 2004", Los Angeles Times, p. R.11, 2004-03-14, archived from the original on 2012-10-25 – via ProQuest Archiver
  31. ^ a b "17th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. 2005-07-09. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  32. ^ "13th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. 2001-07-10. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  33. ^ "15th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. 2003-07-10. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  34. ^ "16th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. 2004-07-10. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  35. ^ "19th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. 2010-06-10. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  36. ^ "20th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. 2007-04-30. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  37. ^ "Special Prizes". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  38. ^ "Michelle Tea wins PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay". Feminist Press. 2019-02-27. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  39. ^ Ganahl, Jane (2004-08-25). "Michelle Tea mines her colorful past for a graphic memoir. And we mean graphic". SFGate. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  40. ^ "Michelle Tea and Dashiell Lippman". The New York Times. 2013-11-10. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  41. ^ "Getting Pregnant With Michelle Tea: I Had A Baby". Medium. 2015-02-12. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  42. ^ "Michelle Tea and TJ Payne's Wedding Website". Zola. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  43. ^ "Against Memoir". Feminist Press. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  44. ^ Benfer, Amy (2013-05-10). "Michelle Tea turns a radical eye on YA in 'Mermaid in Chelsea Creek'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  45. ^ Coe, Alexis (2013-01-30). "Read Local: 10 New and Forthcoming Books from City Lights". SF Weekly. Archived from the original on 2013-10-12.
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