Nisa Donnelly

Nisa Donnelly
Born
Lisa Beck

(1950-11-11)November 11, 1950
Canton, Illinois, U.S.
DiedJanuary 30, 2021(2021-01-30) (aged 70)
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
OccupationWriter

Nisa Donnelly (November 11, 1950 – January 30, 2021), born Lisa Beck, was an American writer. She was most noted for her 1989 novel The Bar Stories: A Novel After All,[1] which won the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction at the 2nd Lambda Literary Awards in 1990.[2]

Early life and education

Donnelly was born in Canton, Illinois, the daughter of Luther Beck and Virginia Beck. She earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Southern Illinois University in 1972. She earned a master's degree in public relations from Golden Gate University.[3]

Career

After college, Donnelly worked in public relations for the Illinois Restaurant Association, and as a newspaper reporter in Chicago.[4] She moved to San Francisco in 1978.[3] She worked as an editor and technical writer at Golden Gate University and was communications director at the University of California Office of the President.[5] She contributed columns to the Redding Record Searchlight newspaper.[6]

Donnelly's first published novel[1] The Bar Stories: A Novel After All won the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction at the 2nd Lambda Literary Awards in 1990.[2] Her second novel, The Love Songs of Phoenix Bay, was published in 1994.[7]

Donnelly won a second Lambda at the 11th Lambda Literary Awards in the Non-Fiction Anthologies category,[8] as editor of the anthology Mom: Candid Memoirs by Lesbians About the First Woman in Their Life (1998), with contributions from Donna Allegra, Mariana Romo-Carmona, Rebecca Brown, Kitty Tsui, Katherine V. Forrest, Lucy Jane Bledsoe, Judy Grahn, Maureen Brady, Jenni Olson, Aren X. Tulchinsky, and others.[9]

Donnelly spoke at events including San Francisco Pride and the 2017 Women's March in Washington, D.C.[6][10]

Personal life

Donnelly married Denise Wallace in 2008. The couple operated a vacation rental in Igo, California. Her wife died in April 2020, and Donnelly died on January 30, 2021, at the age of 70, in Portland, Oregon.[6]

Publications

Books and articles

  • "Lesbians and AIDS" (1986)[11]
  • The Bar Stories: A Novel After All (1989)[12]
  • The Love Songs of Phoenix Bay (1994)[13]
  • "Writing for Ourselves and Strangers" (1995)[14]
  • Mom: Candid Memoirs by Lesbians About the First Woman in Their Life (1998, editor)[9]

Newspaper commentaries

  • "Growing up in America's 'Tornado Alley'" (2013)[15]
  • "Secession, not partition, is best answer" (2014)[16]
  • "No, really, what about the children?" (2016)[17]
  • "What is this great America Trump wants to bring back?" (2017)[18]
  • "Transgenders fought and died—in the Civil War" (2017)[19]
  • "Politics rage above storm, but people help anyway" (2017)[20]
  • "They're Americans and they need help" (2017)[21]
  • "Challenging status quo is anything but 'un-American'" (2018)[22]
  • "Current wave of women candidates is rising tide" (2018)[23]

References

  1. 1 2 "Insightful panorama of lesbian lives". Los Angeles Times, June 8, 1989.
  2. 1 2 "Lambda Literary Awards". American Bookseller, Vol, 15 (1991).
  3. 1 2 "Nisa/Lisa Donnelly Obituary". Redding Record Searchlight. February 26, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  4. ↑ Donnelly, Nisa (April 7, 2013). "Proud card-carrying member of the ACLU--and here's why". Record Searchlight. p. 7. Retrieved June 7, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Regan, Kerri (August 16, 2004). "College options; Area programs provide free services to students, parents". Record Searchlight. p. 40. Retrieved June 7, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 3 Macey, Lee (February 5, 2021). "Speak your piece: Remembering Record Searchlight columnist Nisa Donnelly". Redding Record Searchlight. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Hetero-friendship". Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review, Fall94, Vol. 1 Issue 4, p40-40. 3/4p.
  8. ↑ "11th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. July 15, 1999. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  9. 1 2 Donnelly, Nisa (1998). Mom : candid memoirs by lesbians about the first woman in their life. Internet Archive. Alyson Books. ISBN 978-1-55583-408-1.
  10. ↑ Donnelly, Nisa (February 5, 2017). "Women's march creates energy for a movement". Record Searchlight. p. 7. Retrieved June 7, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ Donnelly, Nisa. "Lesbians and AIDS." On Our Backs 2, no. 3 (1986): 30-32.
  12. ↑ Donnelly, Nisa (1989). "The bar stories : a novel after all". Internet Archive. St. Martin's Press. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  13. ↑ Taylor, Erika (May 21, 1995). "Books in Brief". Tarrytown Daily News. p. 24. Retrieved June 7, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ Donnelly, Nisa. "Writing for Ourselves and Strangers." Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review 2, no. 2 (1995).
  15. ↑ Donnelly, Nisa (June 1, 2014). "Putting partisanship last". Record Searchlight. p. 7. Retrieved June 7, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ Donnelly, Nisa (August 3, 2014). "Secession, not partition, is best answer". Record Searchlight. p. 7. Retrieved June 7, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ Donnelly, Nisa (April 3, 2016). "No really, what about the children?". Record Searchlight. p. 7. Retrieved June 7, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ Donnelly, Nisa (June 4, 2017). "What is this great America Trump wants to bring back?". Record Searchlight. p. 6. Retrieved June 7, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ Donnelly, Nisa (August 6, 2017). "Transgenders fought and died--in the Civil War". Record Searchlight. p. 6. Retrieved June 7, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ Donnelly, Nisa (September 3, 2017). "Politics rage above storm, but people help anyway". Record Searchlight. p. 6. Retrieved June 7, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ Donnelly, Nisa (October 1, 2017). "They're Americans and they need help". Record Searchlight. p. 6. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  22. ↑ Donnelly, Nisa (February 4, 2018). "Challenging status quo is anything but 'un-American'". Record Searchlight. p. 6. Retrieved June 7, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ↑ Donnelly, Nisa (June 3, 2018). "Current wave of women candidates is rising tide". Record Searchlight. p. 6. Retrieved June 7, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
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