Items

• Ed Dean is queer : a novel
  Praised on publication for its “grabbing and lucid style”, ‘Ed Dean is Queer’ was the first novel by N.A. Diaman (1936-2022). Set in 1983, this tale of political intrigue grapples with pro- and anti-gay politics to provide a vision of a “meaningful future” for queer people, according to one reviewer. The book’s layout and typesetting are noticeably DIY in style, and Diaman set up Persona Press in order to self-publish, driven by the conviction that “straight people are not going to tell our stories.” He would go on to write another nine books. Timothy Thompson’s cover design features a striking monochrome graphic of two moustachioed men and a woman looking suspiciously on behind them. The copy on display here is dated “4 December 1984” and is inscribed “Best wishes to Gay’s the Word and its fight against censorship.”
• Second crossing : a novel
  N.A. (Nikos) Diaman (1936-2020), also known as Tony, was a novelist, video filmmaker, photographer, writer and magazine editor. Amongst the many groups he joined were the San Francisco Radical Faeries and the New York Gay Liberation Front (some of his work was published in the associated newspaper ‘Come Out!’). Based for many years in San Francisco, Diaman self-published novels under the imprint Persona Press which allowed him the space to tell stories about the gay community. This novel is set in the 1950s and follows a young writer as he explores his sexuality among San Francisco’s North Beach gay and literary circles. This copy is inscribed by Diaman to Gay’s the Word, wishing them well “in the battle against homophobia and censorship”.