Sadie Epstein-Fine
Director. Choreographer. Writer. Editor.
About
Spawning Generations is a collection of stories by queerspawn (people with LGBTQ+ parents) spanning six decades, three continents, and five countries. Curated by queerspawn, this anthology is about carving out a space for queerspawn to tell their own stories. The contributors in this volume break away from the pressures to be perfect, the demands to be well adjusted, and the need to prove that they turned out “all right.” These are queerspawn stories, airbrushed for no one, and told on their own terms.
Reviews
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This exceptional collection has its share of references to overcoming struggle, but it’s also full of nuance, hard issues, painful emotions and ambivalence, alongside a wellspring of inspiration.
Thanks to the expert work of relatively novice editors Makeda Zook and Sadie Epstein-Fine, the collection scores on many levels. Every piece is different and, because Zook and Epstein-Fine didn’t organize them based on predictable themes – being bullied, say, or life with gay dads – you never know what you’re going to get next.
-Susan Cole, NOW Magazine, NNNNN
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This anthology is an amazingly powerful and emotional wrenching collection of essays. Epstein-Fine and Zook has compiled a collection of essays that are poignant, challenging, angry, humorous, heartbreakingly sorrow, impassioned, weary, and most importantly unapologetically real. It breaks away from the pressures of trying to be perfect and the demands to be well adjusted from being the test-bed to see if whether LGBTQ+ parents could raise well-adjusted children.
-Ben Truong, Good Reads
Nominations
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2018 LAMBDA Literary Award- LGBTQ+ Anthology
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2018 Forward Indies Award- LGBTQ Non-fiction & Anthology
Edited by Sadie Epstein-Fine and Makeda Zook
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Contributors: Gabriel Back-Gaal, Morgan Baskin, Jamie Bergeron, Micah Champagne, Elizabeth Collins, Jessica Edwards, Sadie Epstein-Fine, Meredith Fenton, Aviva Gale-Buncel, Cyndi Gilbert, Kellen Kaiser, Niki Kaiser, Dori Kavanagh, Kimmi Lynne Moore, Carey Anne Morrison, Felix Munger, Maya Newell, Christopher Oliphant, Lorinda Peterson, Suzanne Phare, Hannah Rabinovitch, Sammy Sass, Liam Sky, Lisa Deanna Smith, Devan Wells, Makeda Zook
Endorsements
Thoughtfully curated by co-editors who identify as queerspawn themselves, this astute anthology highlights stories by people with LGBTQ+ parents ready to share their experiences without glossing over the complexities of family, truth, community, and culture. Spawning Generations deftly demonstrates how authentic voices emerge when queerspawn have the opportunity to speak for themselves.
-Abigail Garner, Author of Families Like Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell It Like It Is
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This groundbreaking book provides a lovely and personal entry into the world of queerspawn. As both a queerspawn and queer parent, I felt real gratitude to these brave writers for sharing their stories—they provide insight into my own life as well as parenting guideposts.
-Shoshana Magnet, Associate Professor, Institute of Feminist and Gender Studies, University of Ottawa
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Queerspawn answer, on their own terms, the litany of questions proposed to them by friends, co-workers, strangers, as well as anyone and everyone who have asked what it’s like to be raised by queer parents. Sometimes these questions are asked in genuine and loving ways, but too often, they are voyeuristic, titillating, and upsetting. They don’t want to be your circus sideshow, your poster child, or your role model. They have claimed the pages of Spawning Generations to share their complicated stories of playgrounds, potlucks, pride marches, secrets, family, dancing, desire, mourning, and an intimate view of the best and worst of queer culture.
-Karleen Pendleton Jiménez, Author of How to Get a Girl Pregnant