If you’re on a healing journey, you know what I mean by “ahah moments.” Those rare moments when something finally clicks and allows you to finally give up a hurtful habit or belief.
These breakthroughs can take years to get to. And it’s not uncommon to believe they’ll never come. Or that they’ll never be enough.
Sometimes it’s useful to hear stories about the work paying off. And that’s what author and journalist Donna Minkowitz provides in her newest book, Donnaville, out October 31 from Indolent Books.
Donnaville is an autobiographical novel, featuring a town that’s at the heart of the author’s internal landscape. The characters are aspects of herself, and we find them on the brink of a revolution. The book is the result of a revolution in Minkowitz’s only life when, after 20 years of traditional therapy, she switched to drama therapy.
In this inaugural interview in the Queer Elder Series, I spoke to Donna about this switch and the result. We also spoke about her career, her new book, and what she’s learned about sex, love, and happiness.
Why I’m Honoring This Queer Elder
Minkowitz was a longtime writer for the Village Voice, as well as the Nation, Salon, and others. She has covered white supremacy, 2LGBTQIA+ rights, and other justice issues for more than two decades, which includes going undercover at white supremacist and far-right religious events. Minkowitz offered critical coverage of queer rights in New York during the 90s, including coverage of ACT UP and Queer Nation.
Her 1994 Village Voice article on the murder of Brandon Teena was the inspiration for the film Boys Don’t Cry, the first mainstream movie to feature a trans male character. In a move of journalist integrity, in 2018, Minkowitz wrote a follow-up to the article, explaining and apologizing for how her ignorance at the time about the trans identity shaped her original piece.
In the late 90s, Minkowitz moved to memoir and fiction as a way to expand her storytelling. She has published three unique books that blend journalism, memoir, and fantasy. In them, she wrestles with internalized misogyny, the impact of childhood abuse, her understanding of God/Goddess, and more.
More about the Guest
Donna Minkowitz is the Lambda Literary Award-winning author of the memoirs Growing Up Golem and Ferocious Romance: What My Encounters with the Right Taught Me about Sex, God, and Fury. Author Mary Gaitskill has celebrated her as “original, energetic, witty, and meaty,” and Kirkus has praised the “defiant and playful energy” of her work. She was the Village Voice’s longtime columnist on queer politics and culture, and a columnist for The Advocate. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times Book Review, The Nation, Slate, and Salon, and she has frequently gone undercover to report on the far right. Minkowitz is the recipient of a GLAAD Media Award, an Exceptional Merit Media Award, an Art Omi residency, and an award for outstanding journalism from NLGJA: the Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists.
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When Healing Finally Happens