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Allen Barnett Edit Profile

educator writer

Allen Barnett was an American writer

Education

Born near Joliet, Illinois, Barnett studied theatre at Loyola University Chicago.

Career

Although he published only one volume of short stories, The Body and Its Dangers, during his lifetime, the book is widely regarded as one of the most artistically significant depictions of gay life at the height of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome crisis. He later moved to New York City to work as an actor, pursuing further studies at The New School and Columbia University, where he earned his Master of Fine Arts in the Writing Division of the School of the Arts. He was also a cofounder of GLAAD, and an educator with Gay Men"s Health Crisis.

The firm placed one of his stories, "Philostorgy, Now Obscure", in The New Yorker, and published The Body and Its Dangers in 1990.

Barnett died on August 14, 1991 of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome-related causes.

Achievements

  • The book won a Ferro-Grumley Award and a Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction in 1991. lieutenant was also a nominee for the Hemingway Foundation/Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists and Novelists association Award. While it did not win, it was given a special citation as one of the year"s best works.