Sarah Schulman on Lesbian Fiction, ACT UP, and Mentorship

In an interview for Hyperallergic's 2026 Pride Month series, novelist, playwright, and filmmaker Sarah Schulman discusses her four-decade career, her activism with ACT UP, and the publishing industry's resistance to lesbian protagonists. Schulman, born in 1958, co-founded the Dyke March, conducted 187 interviews with ACT UP members, and has published novels since 1984. She identifies primarily as a novelist despite wider recognition for nonfiction works like Conflict Is Not Abuse (2016) and Let the Record Show (2021). She mentored students at Northwestern University and CUNY, and runs First Mondays at Performance Space New York, a free series for writers. She notes that adult lesbian fiction remains marginalized, calling it "the kiss of death" in publishing. She praises the Dyke March's anti-Zionist and anti-fascist stance and advocates for university divestment from Israel. She also recommends Benjamin Moser's upcoming book Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History.