EDGE Boston

The relationship between organized religion, in general, and the gay community has not always been a pleasant one. The troubled path of navigating religious faith and sexual orientation creates a conflict of identity. To address these subjects and more, Combined Jewish Philanthropies’ Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered (GLBT) Team asked award-winning author Lev Raphael to come to Boston and speak about Dueling Identities: Being Gay and Jewish on Monday, March 26th, 2007 at 7:00 pm at a private home in Newton. (A light dinner is to be served. To attend the event the cost is $36. For more information follow this link).

Raphael is considered one of America’s earliest "Second Generation" writers, publishing fiction that explores the impact of the Holocaust on the children of survivors from the late 1970s onward. Referring to himself as an "escaped academic," he also examines in fiction and non-fiction the intersection of sexual orientation with larger contexts of Jewish culture and religious tradition, as in his haunting and sensitive first novel Winter Eyes (1992).

Raphael’s first collection of short stories, Dancing on Tisha b’Av (1990) won a 1990 Lambda Literary Award, and some of those stories were set at MSU. Let’s Get Criminal (1996) is the first title of the Nick Hoffman series of mysteries, taking place in fictional "Michiganapolis" at the "State University of Michigan" where Nick is an English professor. The Edith Wharton Murders (1997) continues the series, which is now in its fifth installment with Burning Down the House (2001). Raphael’s essays, constituting a cumulative self-portrait, have been gathered into Journeys & Arrivals: On Being Gay and Jewish (1996).

The Combined Jewish Philanthropies’ GLBT Team is a community of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered Jews in the Greater Boston area who want to connect with Jewish culture, Jewish values, and with each other. New members are always welcome.

Combined Jewish Philanthropies will host an event with Lev Raphael in Newton on March 26th. Details on the speech by Lev can be found by calling 617-457-8773. Or via email at darak@cjp.org.

EDGE caught up with Lev before his trip to Boston to discuss the topic of his speech, his new book, and his career overall.

EDGE: What’s the relationship between being Jewish and being gay? Is it different from being gay and Christian? Gay and Muslim? Etc.

Lev Raphael: The Jewish community tends to be, overall, more accepting of gays and lesbians - but I think there are difficulties when you come from any faith
tradition and you don’t seem to fit the model.

But being Jewish is very different from the others because it’s also a cultural tradition that doesn’t always have to include faith of any kind. You can be secular and still 100% Jewishly-identified.

EDGE: In doing some research on you, I found that many of your fiction books are placed in the Gay Literature section when their genre is clearly mystery, comedy, academic etc. What are your thoughts on that decision?

Lev Raphael: It’s very annoying that Borders doesn’t cross-shelve my mystery series or (my "mixed" fiction, for that matter). It shows that their corporate thinking is very narrow. I probably have as many or more straight mystery fans as I have GLBT ones. It’s not 2007 everywhere, unfortunately. Border’s needs to wake up.

EDGE: You have a new book set to be released. What’s the 411?

Lev Raphael: My new book is entitled Hot Rocks. It’s a gay mystery set at a deluxe health club.

EDGE: Your fiction work also reflects a mixed-genre way of writing. Do you find that appeals to readers and publishers?

Lev Raphael: You have to write what appeals to you first. Since I’ve written memoirs, mystery, literary fiction, and psychology, I have different readers for different books. There’s not that much cross over. As for figuring out what publishers want, that’s like finding the perfect lover!

EDGE: In general, what do you think the role of religion is in the gay
community? Does it define us as much as it does in the heterosexual community?

Lev Raphael: I think for many in the gay community, religion is something they feel oppressed by, rebellious against. So the rebellion can define you - if you let it.

EDGE: I heard you’ll be making an appearance in Boston as part of Combined Jewish Philanthropies’ Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered (GLBT) Team. What will be the focus of the event?

Lev Raphael: I’ll be talking about how I’ve reconciled being gay and Jewish and the special problems facing gay Jews in a hostile culture.

EDGE: Do you see any particular trends in Gay Literature over the years?

Lev Raphael: Publishers once thought there’d be a lot more money in it than there is. I’ve also seen gay book stores close and gay magazines devote less time to books. All of that makes it harder for gay books to reach readers.

EDGE: As a son of Holocaust survivor, much of your work has been influenced by that horrific event; do you tend to use it as a touchstone throughout your
writing process?

Lev Raphael: It would depend on the book I’m working on. It’s not with me morning, noon and night-but it has shaped my social consciousness. Has it made me a different artist? I’ll wait for the biographers to decide that one.

EDGE: You seem to be on tour quite frequently promoting your books, do you enjoy being on the road?

Lev Raphael: I love it. Meeting people in different states or countries and reading from my work or talking about it is very exciting. The travel itself is not glamorous and it’s lonely for me being away from my home, my spouse, and my two Westies.

EDGE: What’s your favorite genre to write? You have your nonfiction, mystery, Second Generation selections-what’s the most satisfying for you to author?

Lev Raphael: I love them all, or I wouldn’t work in them. I have to be excited by a project or I can’t feel committed to it. There’s a lot of delayed gratification
in writing.

EDGE: You’re obviously well-known for your mystery series with a gay
protagonist, what obstacles, if any, do you find in writing mystery?

Lev Raphael: Figuring out the twists and turns of the plot can be challenging, but my spouse is a psychologist and very orderly and logical, so he’s been tremendously helpful with each mystery.

EDGE: Do you find you have more material to work with having a gay main character?

Lev Raphael: Yes. People solving crimes in mysteries are often outsiders or feel that way, and Nick Hoffman is a New York gay Jew transplanted to Michigan. That’s being an outside in many ways, the gay aspect most significantly.

EDGE: Any advice for budding gay writers? Is there a risk of being
stereotyped and pigeonholed in the industry?

Lev Raphael: Be prepared for a long slog; that’s true for any writer. As for stereotyping, gay writers have an immediately identifiable potential audience-so that’s a
good thing. Don’t worry now about the Market or anything like that. If you love writing, if you’re passionate about it, and have a deep capacity for handling frustration (as far as career vageries), then don’t let anyone tell you "No."

EDGE: When you begin your writing process, do you write in order of how the book is laid out? Beginning at chapter one? Or do you create certain
scenes first and write around them?

Lev Raphael: I always need an "entrance" - each book comes to me in a different way, and I wait for that to happen. The readiness is all, as Hamlet said. I usually
write sequentially, but sometimes I’ll write the end of the book if I know that’s where it’s headed. It really depends. With the mysteries, I start with who’s been killed, why, and who did it and work backwards.

Lev Raphael: Wrapping up the interview, you’ve been in academia, you’re an award-winning writer who dips into many different genres, you’re a book critic, you’re gay, and you’re Jewish-which of those identities do you identify with the most in your life.

I’m also a step parent, a grandfather, a recovering New Yorker, have been host of a radio show, where I interviewed authors and played music at the break so I got to be a DJ, too, a Westie owner, a Taurus, and so on. It’s all there, all the time, but different circumstances put different aspects into play. I am the world..... {Laugher}