Pride, Feminist Press, and the Living Memory of Rachel Pollack
June brings a familiar surge of visibility—rainbow flags in windows, curated playlists, and broad, predictable mapping of queer history. For those who see identity as an ongoing ritual, the real celebration lies in the undercurrents, within texts that deliver complex narratives and challenge self-perception.
This Pride Month, I’m drawn to a vital architect of queer space: Feminist Press. For decades, they’ve published provocative and fierce literature, igniting movements and social transformation. Believing everyone should see themselves represented, they uplift insurgent and marginalized voices to build a just future. They preserve radical thought, providing enduring space for those who need to be heard.
Unearthing A Secret Woman
I’m personally excited by a major literary reclamation ahead: The Feminist Press will reprint Rachel Pollack’s 2002 mystery, A Secret Woman.
“Pairing iconic author Rachel Pollack’s ahead-of-its-time 2002 mystery with contemporary commentary…this reissue reveals a strange, specific transfeminine world of the past that remains fresh and relevant today.” ~ Feminist Press
For many, Rachel Pollack is revered—a brilliant mind whose work serves as a foundation for those seeking deeper wisdom in symbols and archetypes. She saw the world as living mythology, charting paths through the unknown with clarity and grace.
A Secret Woman marks a distinct pivot in her bibliography. It takes a classic police procedural and infuses it with personal transfeminine truth. The novel’s detective faces corporate intrigue and impossible crimes while guarding a wall of deep secrets. As it cracks, a profound journey into identity and desire begins, reflecting Pollack’s own experience as a trans woman.
What makes this January 2027 edition special is Feminist Press’s choice to frame it as a living dialogue, with new supplements from three contemporary authors.
- Cat Fitzpatrick (author of The Call-Out and co-editor of Meanwhile, Elsewhere)
- Roby Gigl (celebrated crime novelist, Nothing But the Truth and Survivor’s Guilt)
- Roz Kavaney (legendary activist, critic, and poet; author of Tiny Pieces of Skull and the fantasy series Rhapsody of Blood)
By pairing Pollack’s prose with contemporary insights, the collection bridges generations of trans literary history. It honors those who carved out space in more hostile times, showing how their words echo in modern voices.
Expanding the Scope of Our Reading
When seeking wisdom in our personal libraries, being intentional matters. Stories are the structures through which we trace human experience. Excluding queer and trans authors leaves the major arcana unread—missing the deep insights gained outside conventional boundaries.
Feminist Press knows that protecting these stories is an act of resistance and preservation. This June, let’s look beyond the surface, support independent presses that keep radical histories alive, and read texts that teach us to live authentically.
Support Radical Publishing
Feminist Press is hosting its annual Pride Month sale—an ideal time to expand your reading and explore its catalog. Enjoy 30% off, including pre-orders such as A Secret Woman.
To take advantage of the sale, go directly to the Feminist Press website using the link below. Browse their catalog, including the short stories and radical fiction, and select your titles—remember to pre-order A Secret Woman if interested. At checkout, enter the code PRIDE26 to receive your 30% discount.
"THE FEMINIST PRESS publishes groundbreaking
literary fiction, sci-fi and fantasy, activist nonfiction,
hybrid memoirs and biographies, anthologies, and
literature in translation. Our feminism is anti-racist,
anti-capitalist, anti-imperial, and decolonial, and
we express it not only through what we publish but
through our practices of solidarity."
Note: I have no official tie to Feminist Press and receive no sponsorship. I’m simply an enthusiastic reader, grateful for their ethics and catalog, and eager to celebrate Rachel’s legacy.
