Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes
Encyclopedia
Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes (born April 10, 1968) is a gay
Puerto Rican
author, scholar, and performer. He is better known as Larry La Fountain. He has received several awards for his creative writing and scholarship as well as for his work with Latino and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT
) students. He currently resides in Ann Arbor
, Michigan
.
, specifically in Miramar, a traditional neighborhood located in the central district of Santurce
. He was adopted
at birth by Donald and Ramona La Fountain, and is the brother of the ESPN
newscaster Michele La Fountain
. He has written about his childhood experiences in an essay called "Los nenes con los nenes y las nenas con las nenas" [Girls with Girls, and Boys with Boys], where he describes his childhood home as bilingual
and bicultural
. His essay "Queer Diasporas, Boricua Lives: A Meditation on Sexile" also discusses some of these early experiences.
La Fountain-Stokes received all of his primary and secondary education at the Academia del Perpetuo Socorro
, an elite bilingual school run by the School Sisters of Notre Dame
. He graduated from high school in 1986. He then studied at Harvard College
in Cambridge
, Massachusetts
, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Hispanic Studies in 1991. While in college, La Fountain-Stokes spent a year and a half studying at the University of São Paulo
in Brazil
. He later went on to obtain a Master’s degree and Doctorate in Spanish from Columbia University
in New York City
.
La Fountain-Stokes started his teaching career as an assistant professor
at the Ohio State University
(1998–1999) and then taught at Rutgers
, The State University of New Jersey for four years (1999–2003). Since 2003, he has taught Latino studies, American studies
, and Spanish at the University of Michigan
, including courses on queer Hispanic Caribbean culture, LGBT studies
and Latino literature, theater, performance, and film. He was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2009. His interviews in Spanish with leading Latino artists, journalists, and scholars such as the Uruguayan novelist and pop singer Dani Umpi
and the Los Angeles Times
journalist Sam Quiñones appear on the "University of Michigan in Spanish" channel on YouTube
and on iTunes U.
, 2009) discusses LGBT Puerto Rican migration from a cultural studies perspective, with chapters on Luis Rafael Sánchez
, Manuel Ramos Otero
, Luz María Umpierre
, Frances Negrón-Muntaner
, Rose Troche
, Erika Lopez
, Arthur Aviles
, and Elizabeth Marrero
. Queer Ricans is based on La Fountain-Stokes's Ph.D. dissertation, which he wrote under the supervision of Jean Franco
. The author received funding for this project in 1997 from the International Migration Program at the Social Science Research Council
.
He is currently working on a new book titled Translocas and Transmachas: Trans Diasporic Puerto Rican Drag which is on Puerto Rican and diasporic theater, performance, and activism since the 1960s, and on the links between cross-dressing, sex/gender modification, and physical displacement in a geographic zone marked by frequent migrations. In this project, La Fountain-Stokes analyzes the work of a number of contemporary performers and activists including Sylvia Rivera
, Holly Woodlawn
, Mario Montez
, Freddie Mercado, Jorge Merced
, Eduardo Alegría, Javier Cardona, Lady Catiria
, Elizabeth Marrero
, and Erika Lopez
. He has another less developed book project on the use of animal words such as pato
(duck in Spanish) to refer to homosexuality in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.
La Fountain-Stokes has published scholarly articles in journals such as CENTRO Journal, Revista Iberoamericana, and GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies
, including his essay on his travels to Cuba, "De un pájaro las dos alas," which first appeared in GLQ in 2002 and was reprinted in Our Caribbean: A Gathering of Lesbian and Gay Writing from the Antilles, edited by the Jamaican American
gay writer Thomas Glave
. La Fountain-Stokes describes this article as a "fictionalized, experimental narrative or autoethnography based on [his] travel experiences as a gay Puerto Rican theater critic and former graduate student."
La Fountain-Stokes frequently publishes short newspaper articles in Spanish, particularly in En Rojo, the cultural supplement of the Puerto Rican weekly Claridad
. These include theater and performance reviews, book reviews, and essays on popular culture, such as his piece on a calendar by the popular Puerto Rican male model and former police officer Peter Hance. La Fountain-Stokes is also a frequent speaker at professional meetings and college campuses, and has talked about his work in several countries, including Brazil
, Cuba
, Mexico
, Venezuela
, and Spain
. He has also been actively involved in a number of professional organizations, particularly the Modern Language Association
, the Latin American Studies Association
, the Puerto Rican Studies Association, the Caribbean Studies Association, and the City University of New York
Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS), holding positions of leadership in several of these.
, but he has also published poetry
and received awards for his plays
. He has also done some performing, specifically his 2004 one-man show Abolición del pato/Abolition of the Duck, which he did as part of the Casa Cruz de la Luna First Experimental Festival in San Germán
, Puerto Rico, and later at the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance Out Like That Festival. The Village Voice described Abolition of the Duck as "This is not Avenue Q" in reference to the artist's use of indigenous dolls as puppets to talk about Puerto Rican homosexuality.
La Fountain-Stokes' short stories have appeared in a number of anthologies such as Bésame Mucho: New Gay Latino Fiction (1999) and Los otros cuerpos: Antología de temática gay, lésbica y queer desde Puerto Rico y su diáspora (2007). He has also published in journals and websites such as Blithe House Quarterly and Harrington Gay Men’s Fiction Quarterly. His first book of short stories is called Uñas pintadas de azul/Blue Fingernails (Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe
, 2009) and includes 14 short stories written in the 1990s and early 2000s, some of them while the author was enrolled in a creative writing workshop taught by the Chilean author Diamela Eltit
.
Most of La Fountain-Stokes's stories focus on gay Puerto Rican characters, and sometimes incorporate elements of science fiction
and fantasy
. The scholar Enrique Morales-Díaz has written extensively about one of these stories, "My Name, Multitudinous Mass," describing La Fountain-Stokes as a "Diasporican" author.
La Fountain-Stokes's plays include ¡Escándalo! (2003) and Uñas pintadas de azul (2006, an extension of a short story included in his book of short stories). Both of these plays have been read publicly as part of the Pregones Theater Asunción Playwrights Project in the Bronx, but neither one has been staged.
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
Puerto Rican
Puerto Rican people
A Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico...
author, scholar, and performer. He is better known as Larry La Fountain. He has received several awards for his creative writing and scholarship as well as for his work with Latino and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
) students. He currently resides in Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
.
Life
La Fountain-Stokes was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto RicoSan Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
, specifically in Miramar, a traditional neighborhood located in the central district of Santurce
Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Santurce is a district of San Juan, Puerto Rico.-Summary:Santurce is one of the top ten most populated areas of the island holding Miramar, Loíza, Isla Grande, Barrio Obrero, and Condado as main cultural hot spots for art, music, cuisine, fashion, hotels, technology, multimedia, film, textile and...
. He was adopted
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
at birth by Donald and Ramona La Fountain, and is the brother of the ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
newscaster Michele La Fountain
Michele LaFountain
Michele LaFountain is the first Puerto Rican to become anchor of ESPN's Spanish version of SportsCenter.-Early years:Michele was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She earned a Bachelor's degree in English and American Literature at Harvard University...
. He has written about his childhood experiences in an essay called "Los nenes con los nenes y las nenas con las nenas" [Girls with Girls, and Boys with Boys], where he describes his childhood home as bilingual
Multilingualism
Multilingualism is the act of using, or promoting the use of, multiple languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. Multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of...
and bicultural
Biculturalism
Biculturalism in sociology involves two originally distinct cultures in some form of co-existence.A policy recognizing, fostering or encouraging biculturalism typically emerges in countries that have emerged from a history of national or ethnic conflict in which neither side has gained complete...
. His essay "Queer Diasporas, Boricua Lives: A Meditation on Sexile" also discusses some of these early experiences.
La Fountain-Stokes received all of his primary and secondary education at the Academia del Perpetuo Socorro
Academia del Perpetuo Socorro
Academia del Perpetuo Socorro was founded in 1921 as a Catholic parochial school pertaining to the Perpetuo Socorro Parish at the Archdiocese of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The school is located in Miramar in Puerto Rico's capital city of San Juan...
, an elite bilingual school run by the School Sisters of Notre Dame
School Sisters of Notre Dame
School Sisters of Notre Dame is a worldwide order of Roman Catholic nuns devoted to primary, secondary, and post-secondary education. Their life in mission centers on prayer, community life and ministry...
. He graduated from high school in 1986. He then studied at Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
in Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Hispanic Studies in 1991. While in college, La Fountain-Stokes spent a year and a half studying at the University of São Paulo
University of São Paulo
Universidade de São Paulo is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian university and one of the country's most prestigious...
in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. He later went on to obtain a Master’s degree and Doctorate in Spanish from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
La Fountain-Stokes started his teaching career as an assistant professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at the Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
(1998–1999) and then taught at Rutgers
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
, The State University of New Jersey for four years (1999–2003). Since 2003, he has taught Latino studies, American studies
American studies
American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the study of the United States. It traditionally incorporates the study of history, literature, and critical theory, but also includes fields as diverse as law, art, the media, film, religious studies, urban...
, and Spanish at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, including courses on queer Hispanic Caribbean culture, LGBT studies
Queer studies
Queer studies is the critical theory based study of issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity usually focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people and cultures. Universities have also labeled this area of analysis Sexual Diversity Studies, Sexualities...
and Latino literature, theater, performance, and film. He was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2009. His interviews in Spanish with leading Latino artists, journalists, and scholars such as the Uruguayan novelist and pop singer Dani Umpi
Dani Umpi
Daniel Umpiérrez also known as Dani Umpi is a Uruguayan musician and writer.- Biography :He was born in Tacuarembó, Uruguay, on 1 November 1974, to a Catholic family dedicated to ecumenical activities...
and the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
journalist Sam Quiñones appear on the "University of Michigan in Spanish" channel on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
and on iTunes U.
Scholarly works
La Fountain-Stokes's academic writing has focused mostly on queer Puerto Rican culture. His book Queer Ricans: Cultures and Sexualities in the Diaspora (University of Minnesota PressUniversity of Minnesota Press
The University of Minnesota Press is a university press that is part of the University of Minnesota.Founded in 1925, the University of Minnesota Press is best known for its books in social and cultural thought, critical theory, race and ethnic studies, urbanism, feminist criticism, and media...
, 2009) discusses LGBT Puerto Rican migration from a cultural studies perspective, with chapters on Luis Rafael Sánchez
Luis Rafael Sanchez
Dr. Luis Rafael Sánchez a.k.a. "Wico" is a Puerto Rican playwright. Possibly his best known play is La Pasión según Antigona Pérez , a tragedy based on the life of Olga Viscal Garriga-Early years:...
, Manuel Ramos Otero
Manuel Ramos Otero
Manuel Ramos Otero was a Puerto Rican writer. He is widely considered to be the most important openly gay twentieth-century Puerto Rican writer who wrote in Spanish, and his work was often controversial due to its sexual and political content...
, Luz María Umpierre
Luz María Umpierre
Luz María Umpierre-Herrera is a Puerto Rican poet, scholar, and human rights activist who lives in the United States. She is also known as Luzma Umpierre. She is widely recognized for her open exploration of her lesbianism, immigrant experience, and bilingualism, and for her poetic exchange with...
, Frances Negrón-Muntaner
Frances Negrón-Muntaner
Frances Negrón-Muntaner is an award-winning Puerto Rican filmmaker, writer, and scholar. Her work spans several fields, including cinema, literature, cultural criticism, and politics. She is an associate professor of English and Comparative Literature and Director of the Center for the Study of...
, Rose Troche
Rose Troche
Rose Troche is a film and television director, television producer, and screenwriter. She grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and attended film school, earning a degree from the University of Illinois in Chicago...
, Erika Lopez
Erika Lopez
Erika Lopez is an American cartoonist, novelist, and performance artist of Puerto Rican descent who has published six books and speaks openly of her bisexuality...
, Arthur Aviles
Arthur Aviles
Arthur Aviles is an American Bessie Award-winning dancer and choreographer of Puerto Rican descent. Aviles was born in Queens, New York, and raised in Long Island and the Bronx. He graduated from Bard College, a liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. After graduating from Bard, he...
, and Elizabeth Marrero
Elizabeth Marrero
Elizabeth Marrero is a Puerto Rican performance artist, comedian, and drag king who is best known as Macha, the "papi chulo drag king," a character she created in 1999. Her solo and collaborative work is characterized by her open exploration of lesbian and Puerto Rican issues in a working-class or...
. Queer Ricans is based on La Fountain-Stokes's Ph.D. dissertation, which he wrote under the supervision of Jean Franco
Jean Franco
Jean Franco is a British-born academic and literary critic known for her pioneering work on Latin American literature. Educated at Manchester and London, she has taught at London, Essex , and Stanford, and is currently professor emerita at Columbia University.-Research:Jean Franco's research is...
. The author received funding for this project in 1997 from the International Migration Program at the Social Science Research Council
Social Science Research Council
The Social Science Research Council is a U.S.-based independent nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines...
.
He is currently working on a new book titled Translocas and Transmachas: Trans Diasporic Puerto Rican Drag which is on Puerto Rican and diasporic theater, performance, and activism since the 1960s, and on the links between cross-dressing, sex/gender modification, and physical displacement in a geographic zone marked by frequent migrations. In this project, La Fountain-Stokes analyzes the work of a number of contemporary performers and activists including Sylvia Rivera
Sylvia Rivera
Sylvia Rae Rivera was an American transgender activist. Rivera was a founding member of both the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance and helped found STAR , a group dedicated to helping homeless young street trans women, with her friend Marsha P...
, Holly Woodlawn
Holly Woodlawn
Holly Woodlawn is a Puerto Rican-born transgendered actress and former Warhol superstar, who appeared in his movies Trash and Women in Revolt .-Early life:...
, Mario Montez
Mario Montez
Mario Montez was one of the Warhol superstars, appearing in thirteen of Andy Warhol's underground films from 1964 to 1966. He took his name as a male homage to the actress Maria Montez, an important gay icon in the fifties and sixties...
, Freddie Mercado, Jorge Merced
Jorge Merced
Jorge B. Merced is a New York-based Puerto Rican actor, theatre director, and gay activist. He is associate artistic director of Pregones Theater, a bilingual Puerto Rican/Latino theater company located near Hostos Community College in the Bronx, New York City...
, Eduardo Alegría, Javier Cardona, Lady Catiria
Lady Catiria
Catiria Reyes , better known as Lady Catiria, was a Puerto Rican drag performer, film actress, and transgender beauty pageant winner. She was one of the main performers at the New York City Latino nightclub La Escuelita, where she entertained crowds for almost two decades. She was the first person...
, Elizabeth Marrero
Elizabeth Marrero
Elizabeth Marrero is a Puerto Rican performance artist, comedian, and drag king who is best known as Macha, the "papi chulo drag king," a character she created in 1999. Her solo and collaborative work is characterized by her open exploration of lesbian and Puerto Rican issues in a working-class or...
, and Erika Lopez
Erika Lopez
Erika Lopez is an American cartoonist, novelist, and performance artist of Puerto Rican descent who has published six books and speaks openly of her bisexuality...
. He has another less developed book project on the use of animal words such as pato
Pato (disambiguation)
Pato may refer to:*Pato, a sport played on horseback.*Pato Branco, Brazil*Pato Branco Esporte Clube, a Brazil football club*Ubaldo "Pato" Fillol, Argentine football goalkeeper*Roberto "Pato" Abbondanzieri, former Argentine football goalkeeper...
(duck in Spanish) to refer to homosexuality in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.
La Fountain-Stokes has published scholarly articles in journals such as CENTRO Journal, Revista Iberoamericana, and GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies
GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies
GLQ: The Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies is an academic journal based published by Duke University Press. It was co-founded by David M. Halperin and Carolyn Dinshaw. The current editors are Ann Cvetkovich, University of Texas in Austin and Annamarie Jagose, University of Auckland.-External...
, including his essay on his travels to Cuba, "De un pájaro las dos alas," which first appeared in GLQ in 2002 and was reprinted in Our Caribbean: A Gathering of Lesbian and Gay Writing from the Antilles, edited by the Jamaican American
Jamaican American
Jamaican Americans are Americans of Jamaican heritage or Jamaican-born people who live in the United States of America. American citizenship is not a prerequisite of being a Jamaican American as permanent residents are also given this title....
gay writer Thomas Glave
Thomas Glave
Thomas Glave is an American author of Jamaican descent who has published widely and won numerous awards. He is also a university professor.- Biography :...
. La Fountain-Stokes describes this article as a "fictionalized, experimental narrative or autoethnography based on [his] travel experiences as a gay Puerto Rican theater critic and former graduate student."
La Fountain-Stokes frequently publishes short newspaper articles in Spanish, particularly in En Rojo, the cultural supplement of the Puerto Rican weekly Claridad
Claridad
Claridad is a Spanish-language weekly newspaper based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was first published in June, 1959. Claridad served as the official publication of the Pro-Independence Movement and later the Puerto Rican Socialist Party. The paper has been praised for its strong political and...
. These include theater and performance reviews, book reviews, and essays on popular culture, such as his piece on a calendar by the popular Puerto Rican male model and former police officer Peter Hance. La Fountain-Stokes is also a frequent speaker at professional meetings and college campuses, and has talked about his work in several countries, including Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. He has also been actively involved in a number of professional organizations, particularly the Modern Language Association
Modern Language Association
The Modern Language Association of America is the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature...
, the Latin American Studies Association
Latin American Studies Association
The Latin American Studies Association is the largest association for scholars of Latin American studies. Founded in 1966, it has over 6,000 members, forty-five percent of whom reside outside the United States, LASA brings together experts on Latin America from all disciplines and diverse...
, the Puerto Rican Studies Association, the Caribbean Studies Association, and the City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS), holding positions of leadership in several of these.
Creative works
La Fountain-Stokes is best known as an author of short storiesShort story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
, but he has also published poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
and received awards for his plays
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
. He has also done some performing, specifically his 2004 one-man show Abolición del pato/Abolition of the Duck, which he did as part of the Casa Cruz de la Luna First Experimental Festival in San Germán
San Germán, Puerto Rico
San Germán is a municipality located in the southwestern region of Puerto Rico, south of Mayagüez and Maricao; north of Lajas; east of Hormigueros and Cabo Rojo; and west of Sabana Grande. San Germán is spread over 18 wards and San Germán Pueblo...
, Puerto Rico, and later at the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance Out Like That Festival. The Village Voice described Abolition of the Duck as "This is not Avenue Q" in reference to the artist's use of indigenous dolls as puppets to talk about Puerto Rican homosexuality.
La Fountain-Stokes' short stories have appeared in a number of anthologies such as Bésame Mucho: New Gay Latino Fiction (1999) and Los otros cuerpos: Antología de temática gay, lésbica y queer desde Puerto Rico y su diáspora (2007). He has also published in journals and websites such as Blithe House Quarterly and Harrington Gay Men’s Fiction Quarterly. His first book of short stories is called Uñas pintadas de azul/Blue Fingernails (Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe
Bilingual Review Press
Bilingual Review Press is an American publishing house specialising in the publication of scholarly and literary works by Hispanic and Latino American authors and researchers...
, 2009) and includes 14 short stories written in the 1990s and early 2000s, some of them while the author was enrolled in a creative writing workshop taught by the Chilean author Diamela Eltit
Diamela Eltit
Diamela Eltit is a writer and a Spanish professor from Chile. She currently holds a teaching appointment at New York University, where she teaches creative writing....
.
Most of La Fountain-Stokes's stories focus on gay Puerto Rican characters, and sometimes incorporate elements of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
. The scholar Enrique Morales-Díaz has written extensively about one of these stories, "My Name, Multitudinous Mass," describing La Fountain-Stokes as a "Diasporican" author.
La Fountain-Stokes's plays include ¡Escándalo! (2003) and Uñas pintadas de azul (2006, an extension of a short story included in his book of short stories). Both of these plays have been read publicly as part of the Pregones Theater Asunción Playwrights Project in the Bronx, but neither one has been staged.
Awards
- Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award, Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2009.
- La Celebración Latina “Circle Award,” University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. (In recognition of outstanding Service to the University Community), 2008.
- ALMA (Assisting Latinos to Maximize Achievement) Appreciation Award, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2006.
- Lavender Graduation Award, Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Affairs, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2006.
- Michigan Campus Compact Faculty/Staff Community Service-Learning Award, 2006.
- Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation Career Enhancement Fellowship for Junior Faculty, 2006.
- Second place, Pregones Theater’s Asuncion Playwrights Project Play Competition, for play entitled Uñas pintadas de azul, 2006.
- Fellow, Global Ethnic Literatures Seminar, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2004.
- Third place, Pregones Theater Asunción Playwrights Project Play Competition, for play entitled ¡Escándalo!, 2003.
- Fellow, Center for the Critical Analysis of Contemporary Culture (CCACC), Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, 2001–2002.
- Social Science Research CouncilSocial Science Research CouncilThe Social Science Research Council is a U.S.-based independent nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines...
International Migration Program, Minority Summer Dissertation Workshop Fellowship, Summer 1997.
See also
- LGBT literatureLGBT literatureGay literature is a collective term for literature produced by or for the LGBT community, or which involves characters, plot lines or themes portraying male homosexual behavior.-Subgenres:...
- LGBT rights in Puerto RicoLGBT rights in Puerto RicoLesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender persons in Puerto Rico face some legal issues. Public discussion and debate about sexual orientation and gender identity issues have increased, and some legal changes have been made. Currently, both supporters and opponents of legislation protecting the rights...
- List of famous Puerto Ricans
- List of gay, lesbian or bisexual people
- List of LGBT writers
- List of Puerto Rican writers
- Puerto Rican literature
- Puerto Ricans in the United StatesPuerto Ricans in the United StatesStateside Puerto Ricans are American citizens of Puerto Rican origin, including those who migrated from Puerto Rico to the United States and those who were born outside of Puerto Rico in the United States...
- Homosexuality in speculative fiction
- Queer studiesQueer studiesQueer studies is the critical theory based study of issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity usually focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people and cultures. Universities have also labeled this area of analysis Sexual Diversity Studies, Sexualities...
External links
- Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes Home Page
- Pregones Theater - Teatro Pregones