Just returned yesterday from the Associated Writing Programs Conference in Austin, where I hosted a panel called Sexing the Story, featuring Steve Almond, Michelle Tea, and Sheri Joseph. Room capacity 235, and it was packed, which gave me hope that sex is still relevant in academia. Discussed: why sex has a place in literary fiction (remember Nabokov, Mailer, Mary Gaitskill, the Song of Songs?) how to turn off the censor when writing sex, and more. Steve (My Life in Heavy Metal, Candyfreak, B.B. Chow, Which Brings Me to You) offered a list of words one should never use when writing about sex, penis being primary among them. Michelle Tea (Valencia, Chelsea Whistle, Rent Girl, Rose of No Man’s Land) talked about the traveling sex workers’ show she’s been doing for the last few months, and how some of the hosting universities were prone to put rather odd restrictions in the contracts, such as “no bestiality” (as if bestiality might really be on the menu). Sheri (Bear Me Safely Over, In the Night Sea) explained why a straight southern girl always ends up writing about sex between gay men. Yours truly attempted to make the case for verisimilitude in literary sex writing (can folks please, please, please stop using cumin and coriander as metaphors for sexual excitement?).

Most importantly, there were door prizes. Steve, Sheri, & I offered up copies of our books with all the naughty bits underlined. Josh from Connecticut received a pair of nipple clamps, which he was taking home to his girlfriend (to my delight, there was a very tasteful sex shop just around the corner from the downtown Austin Hilton, where nipple clamps and other saucy paraphernalia were in good supply). Michelle had been traveling for a while and had no extra books, so we gave away her thong instead.

Ron Hogan was there, so I finally got to put a face with the blog.

More sex: this Wednesday, I’ll be writing more about lit sex here on sans serif, so check back.