Lesbian Activist Debuts First New Book in Decades

July 3, 2011 - PRLog -- Groundbreaking feminist writer Chocolate Waters will publish her first book in over three decades with Poets Wear Prada, it was announced today by Roxanne Hoffman, Publisher and Senior Editor. Written for anyone who has loved and lost, queer, straight, male or female, "The Woman Who Wouldn't Shake Hands" will be released as a trade paperback this summer. Waters, the "Poet Laureate of Hell's Kitchen," is one of the first openly lesbian poets to publish in the U.S. Her contribution is documented in "Feminists Who Changed America 1963-1975" (University of Illinois Press, Barbara Love, ed.).

With apologies to Diane Wakoski who got a whole book, "The Man Who Shook Hands," from a rebuff by a man who shook her hand after spending the night, Waters writes of a woman who wouldn't even, despite an intimate friendship. Publisher Roxanne Hoffman says "Leave it to a lesbian activist to write a roadmap to get us out of the woes of relationship hell with a book of poems in the form of little rants" that Stephanie Dickinson, Award-winning Poet and Author of "Half Girl" and "Road of Five Churches," describes as "Revelatory, lucid, luscious and laugh out loud funny but so psychologically astute." "Waters writes without inhibition, inviting readers to tag along on her journey of self-discovery. You'll take comfort in the fact that another human being has been there, done that, and written a poem about it," adds Caitlin Foster, Editorial Intern for Poets Wear Prada.

Shelly Roberts, Columnist and  Author of "Roberts' Rules of Lesbian Living" advises
"Chocolate Waters writes brilliantly, simply, readably, absorbably, what you were never brave enough to say for yourself, out loud in public, maybe not even brave enough to say to yourself in the public spaces inside your head. ... Pass up this collection and you risk missing out on a conversation you needed to have with yourself to prove conclusively that you weren‘t the only one. Waters writes in your mirror. Be prepared to gasp out loud in recognition."

Waters hopes that "the in, and the humor in our pain, will pave the way for something sweeter to come." She "dedicate[s] this collection to all of us who have loved and been rejected (in other words, all of us) — whether out of the fear of loving or the fear of being loved."

"I first met Chocolate Waters in July 2004 at the New York Ear Inn Reading Series hosted by Michael Broder. I was taken in by her poetic confession of embracing femininity after years of living the dyke stereotype, her ability to write with candor, simplicity and great wit about what was still considered controversial, and that trademark non-stop wry delivery. An instant fan I ran up to Waters to introduce myself and took home a signed copy of 'To the Man Reporter From The Denver Post.' Glad to say seven years later I have the opportunity to publish my favorite funny feminist poet and that she's back on the scene and in fine form," says Roxanne Hoffman.

About Chocolate Waters:
A pioneer in women's publishing and in the art of performance poetry, Waters has toured throughout the U.S. but makes her home in Manhattan. Her three earlier collections: "To the Man Reporter From The Denver Post," "Take Me Like a Photograph," and "Charting New Waters" were produced by Eggplant Press in the late '70s and are considered classics of the early women's movement. "Chocolate Waters Uncensored," her CD spanning three decades of groundbreaking work, was released by Eggplant Productions in 2001.

Chocolate Waters is available for interviews, public readings and book signing events.

About Poets Wear Prada:
Poets Wear Prada is a small literary press based in Hoboken, New Jersey, devoted to introducing new authors through high-quality chapbooks primarily of poetry, since October 2006. Visit us on Facebook, Twitter, Google Blogger and on Amazon.

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Poets Wear Prada is a small press based in Hoboken, New Jersey, established in 2006, devoted to introducing new authors through limited edition, high-quality chapbooks, primarily of poetry.