Sara Hardy Writes

International Lesbian Visibility Day is upon us, not that it's going to get much notice. This Day, and in some places Week, goes by without much fanfare unless you already have it in your calendar. I've been thinking about the concept of visibility  and lesbian and what that might mean in practical terms these days. How do we lesbians 'do' visibility when we're not doing Dykes-on-Bikes etc in the Mardi Gras Parade? When Australia's notorious and injurious 2017 Plebiscite on Gay Marriage/Same Sex Marriage worked up a head of furious indignation in certain "NO" quarters, I took to wearing a lesbian badge as a proud visible identifier - something I hadn't done since the 70s and 80s. As an older lesbian I don't really look like a lesbian any more - partly because, as an older woman I've become completely invisible - unless I start making a big fuss about something: at the drinks bar, in the queue, or just walking along the blasted footpath! I ...

  Doesn't matter what your background, it's happening more frequently to older women coping alone. : You're going along fairly fine, and then you trip over a mound of rotten luck, or some person does the nasty on you, or a catastrophic thing is inflicted upon your person and THUMP - down you go, the slide to the depths. Maybe you sink down slowly or maybe you fall head first, either way, the unthinkable happens: you're an older woman and you're homeless.  The above photo is of me - In the late 1970s I was a young lesbian living in London performing a 'Bag Lady' in a play which toured around schools. I was with a Theatre In Education company called Half Moon. On one distressing occasion when I was loitering in a school corridor before making my 'surprise' entrance, the school caretaker spotted me and attempted to escort me off the premises! I had based my character on Gladys, a real homeless woman who lived near me in a bombed out house (because there...

  This poem plays off Gertrude Stein's codes for making love with Alice B Toklas ('cow' and 'button'); it also gives a nod to Joelle Taylor's raunchy yet fragile depiction of dykes in bars. See book references at the end. The Tender Button Bar   - by Sara Hardy   Two wives walk into a bar Hand in hand     speaking their day with word play yoo hoo coo hoo woo hoo      tending their intention      with finger-press and word-caress                        understanding   * Bois boys girls girrls other other          highlight their faces and find their places      moving through the bar King of spades Queen of clubs Ring of diamonds Jack of all trades          bruise or amuse   a...

  That's right -  A Secretive Life  is FREE to download from December 15th-31st as part of the Smashwords 2022 End of Year Book Sale!  Let's get Festive!   click here to download your free copy: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1101126 ​ While you’re there, take advantage of amazing promotions on thousands of indie titles till the end of December. Find your next favourite book at https://smashwords.com/shelves/promos  . Smashwords is the largest indie bookstore on the internet. Let’s support indie writers and publishers.  Recent comments on A Secretive Life : Miriam Margolyes: 'I loved it!'  Michelle de Kretser: '[Sara writes] wittily and without sentimentality ... the result is very moving' Kerryn Phelps: 'Once I started, I couldn't put it down! … It deserves enormous praise and great success'

  Anyone thinking that the lesbian/sapphic reader/writer community is a tiny niche can think again. When it comes to self publishing, certain Sapphic lgbtqi+ romance genres are being scooped up - or might I say 'skimmed' or 'page flipped' by a massive finger tripping audience. (Kindle-Flip before you buy.) Check out this article in yesterday's The Age by author Jenny Valentish to see how well the Sapphic self-published romance is going. And my very own self publisher IndieMosh gets a lovely mention. https://www.theage.com.au/culture/books/self-published-sapphic-fiction-is-an-unlikely-pandemic-winner-20221124-p5c0xz.html?fbclid=IwAR3WfrLEIUnKmBG9SRV69jYiQQQH747pQJiCTdp2RUERi2v-aljCl1x01xU Brava those Romancers - especially she who is known as KJ (pictured) who's work and promo methods is featured in the above article. And remember folks, my novel  A Secretive Life is a 'moving, sexy and funny' lesbian adventure romance. Try some finger flipping here: htt...

  Nadine and Nelly I had the privilege of seeing this wonderful documentary during the Melbourne Queer Film Festival (18-21 Nov 2022). There was only one showing and I am SO glad I went. The above two women were from very different backgrounds but their work for the French Resistance during WW2 brought them together in the worst of all places, the living hell of Ravensbrück concentration camp. They fall in love, but are separated. The spirit of their love helps them to endure unspeakable horrors, yet they do not know if the other has survived … until much later. It's a story of courage, resilience, survival and a wonderful love. And for once, this is a story of two lesbians finding, then losing, then finding each other again - and having a truly happy ever after (as far as they could, given their horrific experiences). Post war, Nadine was an amateur photographer in possession of a movie camera - she documented their happy life. Both women are fascinating in their own right - as a ...

  It was a very long shot indeed, a thousand to one chance I reckon - but if you don't try you certainly don't get. This lovely little paragraph was published over the weekend on page 16 of The Weekend Australian, Review section. I didn't know it would be there and had taught myself not to have any hopes of a mention in any key news publication. I had sent a copy of my novel to Caroline Overington, Literary Editor of Review, back in August. Occasionally she will put a spotlight on a self published book, but she's stated in her column more than once that it's extremely difficult to win that spot, given the competition. She receives about 400 requests a week, in one form or another so ... I told myself not to hope.  Imagine the gobsmacking shock of seeing the dancing woman on the cover of my novel, wiggling her hips on the 'Notable books' page! - with such wonderful endorsements from Michelle de Kretser and Miriam Margolyes. It's a fabulous boost - and goe...