Jenifer Levin
Encyclopedia
Jenifer Levin is an American fiction writer, noted for her contributions to lesbian fiction
. As well as writing fiction, she has contributed to the New York Times and Washington Post. The Washington Post called her a member of the "lesbian literati".
Levin, herself a former competitive swimmer, has set many of her novels in the world of competitive sport, receiving attention for her coverage of gender, power, and sexuality in that context. Her first novel was Water Dancer, the tale of a long-distance swimmer recovering from a nervous breakdown, whose trainer and his wife both fall in love with her. The New York Times noted that Levin involved her readers successfully in "an odd world", but criticized the characters' depth and the lack of resolution to their difficulties. Her third novel, Shimoni's Lover, was set in Israel
. In 1993 she produced The Sea of Light, which the Dallas Morning News called "beautiful and probing." The Sea of Light was voted 8th in a Bywater Books (a lesbian publisher) poll of the ten most important lesbian novels of the 20th century. Her fifth published book, Love and Death and Other Disasters, collected stories written over a period between 1977 and 1995.
Levin has two sons, adopted from Cambodia. She has spoken several times of her experiences adopting as a single gay woman, from a country that does not formally allow foreign adoptions
, including in a 1995 volume Wanting a Child edited by Jill Bialosky and Helen Shulman.
Lesbian fiction
Lesbian fiction is a subgenre of fiction that involves one or more primary female homosexual character and lesbian themes. Novels that fall into this category may be of any genres, such as, but not limited to, historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and romance.-History:The first...
. As well as writing fiction, she has contributed to the New York Times and Washington Post. The Washington Post called her a member of the "lesbian literati".
Levin, herself a former competitive swimmer, has set many of her novels in the world of competitive sport, receiving attention for her coverage of gender, power, and sexuality in that context. Her first novel was Water Dancer, the tale of a long-distance swimmer recovering from a nervous breakdown, whose trainer and his wife both fall in love with her. The New York Times noted that Levin involved her readers successfully in "an odd world", but criticized the characters' depth and the lack of resolution to their difficulties. Her third novel, Shimoni's Lover, was set in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. In 1993 she produced The Sea of Light, which the Dallas Morning News called "beautiful and probing." The Sea of Light was voted 8th in a Bywater Books (a lesbian publisher) poll of the ten most important lesbian novels of the 20th century. Her fifth published book, Love and Death and Other Disasters, collected stories written over a period between 1977 and 1995.
Levin has two sons, adopted from Cambodia. She has spoken several times of her experiences adopting as a single gay woman, from a country that does not formally allow foreign adoptions
International adoption
International adoption is a type of adoption in which an individual or couple becomes the legal and permanent parents of a child that is a national of a different country...
, including in a 1995 volume Wanting a Child edited by Jill Bialosky and Helen Shulman.