Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore

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Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore
Born (1973-05-31) May 31, 1973 (age 52)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
NationalityAmerican
GenreNon-fiction, novel, memoir
Notable awardsLambda Literary Award

Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore (born May 31, 1973) is an American author and activist. She is the author of three memoirs and four novels, and the editor of six nonfiction anthologies.

Early life and education

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Sycamore was born in Washington, D.C. to a Jewish family[1] and was raised in the Potomac Highlands neighborhood of Rockville, Maryland.[2] After spending a year in college at Brown University, in 1992 she moved to San Francisco where she became involved in activism with ACT UP.

Activism and literary career

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Sycamore was involved in ACT UP in the early 1990s and Fed Up Queers in the late 1990s. In 1998, she was the host of the first Gay Shame event in New York, appearing with performer Penny Arcade, writer Eileen Myles, cabaret artists Kiki and Herb, and queercore band Three Dollar Bill held in Brooklyn, NY, which was captured in the documentary film entitled Gay Shame 98, by Scott Berry. She was one of the instigators of Gay Shame in San Francisco, which started in 2000 and became "a year-round direct action extravaganza dedicated to exposing all hypocrites".[3] Sycamore was involved in the cultural center Dumba, and is a leading critic of assimilationist trends in gay culture.[4][5][6]

Sycamore's first anthology, Tricks and Treats: Sex Workers Write About Their Clients, was published by Haworth Press in 2000. Her first novel, Pulling Taffy, was published by Suspect Thoughts Press in 2003. Her second anthology, Dangerous Families: Queer Writing on Surviving, was published by Haworth Press in 2004. Her third anthology, That's Revolting!: Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation, was published by Soft Skull Press that same year. Her fourth anthology, Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity, was published by Seal Press in 2006.

Her second novel, So Many Ways to Sleep Badly, was published by City Lights Books in 2008. Her fifth anthology, Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots? Flaming Challenges to Masculinity, Objectification, and the Desire to Conform, was published by AK Press in 2012, and was an American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book.[7]

Sycamore's first memoir, The End of San Francisco, was published by City Lights Books in 2013, and won a Lambda Literary Award.[8] Her third novel, Sketchtasy, was published by Arsenal Pulp Press in 2018. Her second memoir, The Freezer Door, was published by Semiotext(e) in 2020, and received rave reviews in The New York Times[9] and The Washington Post[10] on the publication date. The Freezer Door was named one of the Best LGBTQ Books of 2020 by O, The Oprah Magazine,[11] was a New York Times Editors' Choice,[12] and was a finalist for the 2021 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, an annual award which recognizes a "book-length work of any genre for its originality, merit, and impact, which has broken new ground by reshaping the boundaries of its form and signaling strong potential for lasting influence."[13]

Sycamore's sixth anthology, Between Certain Death and a Possible Future: Queer Writing on Growing Up with the AIDS Crisis, was published by Arsenal Pulp Press in 2021. Her third memoir, Touching The Art, was published by Soft Skull Press in 2023, and was a finalist for a Pacific Northwest Book Award and a Washington State Book Award.[14]

Sycamore is the granddaughter of Gladys Goldstein. She writes about her grandmother inTouching the Art,[15] a hybrid work of memoir, biography, and criticism, focuses on Sycamore’s relationship with her late grandmother, Gladys Goldstein, a Baltimore artist, as well as the themes of gentrification, structural racism, Jewish history, familial homophobia, and artistic legacy.[16][17][18]

Sycamore's fourth novel, Terry Dactyl, will be published by Coffee House Press on November 11, 2025. It will be simultaneously released in the UK by Cipher Press.[19][20] Terry Dactyl received a starred review in Publishers Weekly on September 1, 2025.[21]

Sycamore is currently working on her seventh anthology, ACT UP Beyond New York: Stories and Strategies from a Movement to End the AIDS Crisis, which will be published by Haymarket Books.[22]

In January 2009, Sycamore initiated a public postering project called Lostmissing, which she describes as:

You know when you have a friend who you think will always be there—no matter what, at least you'll have that friendship, right? Lostmissing is a public art project about the loss of that relationship, a specific relationship for me—right now it's missing.[23]

Sycamore opposed the push among the LGBT movement for same-sex marriage, arguing that it distracts from more pressing issues like the securing of universal health care and housing security for all.[24][25] Sycamore also opposed the LGBT movement's focus on inclusion in the US military, arguing instead that the movement should be focused on opposing the harmful impacts of the military at home and abroad. In 2010, she appeared on Democracy Now! in the segment Does Opposing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Bolster US Militarism? A Debate with Lt. Dan Choi and Queer Activist Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, and later penned op-eds against trans inclusion in the military in Truthout[26] and The Baffler.[27] In 2018, in collaboration with Dean Spade, Sycamore co-organized a Queer Anti-Militarism Townhall: Trans Liberation Not U.S. Invasion at the Seattle Public Library, alongside other queer and trans anti-military voices, including Micha Cárdenas, Soya Jung, Nikkita Oliver and Matt Remle. Sycamore contributed to Against Equality: Queer Critiques of Gay Marriage,[28] and wrote the introduction to Against Equality: Queer Revolution, Not Mere Inclusion,[29] anthologies printed by the Against Equality collective in 2010 and 2014. In 2008, Sycamore was named as a "visionary" as part of Utne Reader magazine's "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing the World."[30]

Awards and honors

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  • 2013 American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book, Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots? Flaming Challenges to Masculinity, Objectification, and the Desire to Conform[31]
  • 2014 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Non-Fiction, The End of San Francisco[8]
  • 2018 NPR Book Concierge Best Books of 2018, Sketchtasy[32]
  • 2018 Artist Trust Fellowship, writer[33]
  • 2020 New York Times Editors' Choice, The Freezer Door[12]
  • 2020 O, The Oprah Magazine Best LGBTQ Books of 2020, The Freezer Door[34]
  • 2021 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award Finalist, The Freezer Door[13]
  • 2024 Washington State Book Award Finalist, Touching the Art[35]
  • 2025 Pacific Northwest Book Award Finalist, Touching the Art[36]

Personal life

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Sycamore is genderqueer and uses she/her pronouns.[25] She has described herself as, "A genderqueer, faggot, and a queen, on the trans continuum, in a gender bending, gender blur kind of place. But the words I relate to the most are probably 'faggot' and 'queen.' 'Queer' would be more of a broader political identity."[37]

Sycamore’s papers are archived in the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center at the San Francisco Public Library.

Bibliography

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Novels

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  • Terry Dactyl Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 2025. ISBN: 9781566897419 OCLC: 1499213191[38]
  • Sketchtasy Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2018. ISBN 9781551527291, OCLC 1028209630[39]
  • So Many Ways to Sleep Badly San Francisco: City Lights Books, 2008. ISBN 9780872864689, OCLC 768530865[40]
  • Pulling Taffy San Francisco: Suspect Thoughts, 2003. ISBN 9780971084636, OCLC 56658648[41]

Memoir

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Non-fiction anthologies

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  • Between Certain Death and a Possible Future: Queer Writing on Growing Up with the AIDS Crisis Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2021.[45]
  • Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots? Flaming Challenges to Masculinity, Objectification, and the Desire to Conform Oakland: AK Press, 2012. ISBN 9781849350884, OCLC 854723328[46]
  • Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity Emeryville: Seal Press, 2006. ISBN 9781580051842, OCLC 71285289[47]
  • That's Revolting!: Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation Brooklyn: Soft Skull Press: Distributed by Publishers Group West, 2004. ISBN 9781593761950, OCLC 182552895[48]
  • Dangerous Families: Queer Writing on Surviving New York: Haworth Press, 2004.[49]
  • Tricks and Treats: Sex Workers Write About Their Clients New York: Haworth Press, 2000. ISBN 9780789007032, OCLC 1013296341[50]

Filmography

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References

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  1. ^ Edge, Sami (April 4, 2013). "Q&A with Queer activist and author Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore". Daily Emerald.
  2. ^ "Maybe You Remember This". Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore. Retrieved July 6, 2019.
  3. ^ Sycamore, Mattilda Bernstein (October 6, 2008). "NOBODY PASSES, darling: Pulling it together".
  4. ^ Nakao, Annie (September 19, 2004), "Rejecting 'normal' in favor of a distinct gay identity", San Francisco Chronicle, retrieved October 5, 2007
  5. ^ Sycamore, Matt Bernstein (2004), That's Revolting!: Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation, Soft Skull Press, p. 238, ISBN 1-932360-56-5
  6. ^ "What if Gay Marriage is the Wrong Fight?", LiP Magazine
  7. ^ admin (September 9, 2009). "Stonewall Book Awards List". Round Tables. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
  8. ^ a b Johnson, William (March 7, 2014). "26th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists and Winners". Lambda Literary. Archived from the original on May 2, 2019. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  9. ^ Arnett, Kristen (November 24, 2020). "In a Gentrifying Seattle, a Queer Activist Works to Blur Borders". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
  10. ^ Young, Kristen Millares. "Review | 'The Freezer Door' is an aching, playful memoir of vivid desire amid the desperation of midlife disconnection". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
  11. ^ Hart, Michelle (October 29, 2020). "These Are the 42 Must-Read LGBTQ Books of 2020". Oprah Daily. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  12. ^ a b "9 New Books We Recommend This Week". The New York Times. December 31, 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  13. ^ a b "PEN/Jean Stein Book Award". PEN America. February 26, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  14. ^ "Touching the Art". Soft Skull Press. December 14, 2022. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
  15. ^ "Review of Touching the Art". Kirkus. August 17, 2023.
  16. ^ Cox, Daniel Allen (July 29, 2024). "Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore's Touching the Art | The Brooklyn Rail". brooklynrail.org. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
  17. ^ Greene, Ginger (October 11, 2023). "A Review of Touching the Art". Believer Magazine. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
  18. ^ Hall, Elizabeth. "Touching the Art – Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore". Retrieved September 7, 2025.
  19. ^ "Terry Dactyl". Coffee House Press. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
  20. ^ "Terry Dactyl Pre-Order". Cipher Press. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
  21. ^ "Terry Dactyl by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore". www.publishersweekly.com. September 2, 2025. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
  22. ^ "Other". Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
  23. ^ Sycamore, Mattilda Bernstein (January 31, 2009). "NOBODY PASSES, darling: Lostmissing: a public art project".
  24. ^ UTNE Reader, November–December 2008.
  25. ^ a b Martin, Michel; Sycamore, Mattilda Bernstein (June 10, 2010). "A 'Queer' Argument Against Marriage". NPR. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  26. ^ ""Transgender Troops" Should Be an Oxymoron". Truthout. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  27. ^ "Swords into Marketshare | Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore". The Baffler. September 21, 2017. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  28. ^ Conrad, Ryan, ed. (2010). Against equality : queer critiques of gay marriage. Introduction by Yasmin Nair. Lewiston, Me.: Against Equality Pub. Collective. ISBN 9780615392684. OCLC 686772854.
  29. ^ Conrad, Ryan, ed. (March 20, 2015). Against equality : queer revolution, not mere inclusion. Oakland, CA, USA: AK Press. ISBN 978-1849351843. OCLC 858603259.
  30. ^ "Visionaries Who Are Changing the World", Utne Reader, October 13, 2008
  31. ^ admin (September 9, 2009). "Stonewall Book Awards List". Round Tables. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  32. ^ "Best Books of 2018". NPR. November 27, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  33. ^ "Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore". Artist Trust. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  34. ^ Hart, Michelle (October 29, 2020). "These Are the 42 Must-Read LGBTQ Books of 2020". Oprah Daily. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  35. ^ "2024 Washington State Book Award Finalists Announced! – Washington Center for the Book". Retrieved September 5, 2025.
  36. ^ "2025 Shortlist". Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
  37. ^ "An Interview with Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore". We Who Feel Differently. March 5, 2011.
  38. ^ Sycamore, Mattilda Bernstein (2025). Terry Dactyl. Minneapolis: Coffee House Press. ISBN 978-1-56689-742-6.
  39. ^ Bernstein Sycamore, Mattilda (2018). Sketchtasy. La Vergne: Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 978-1-55152-729-1.
  40. ^ Sycamore, Mattilda Bernstein (2008). So many ways to sleep badly. San Francisco: City Lights Books. ISBN 9780872864689. OCLC 216936694.
  41. ^ Sycamore, Matt Bernstein (2003). Pulling taffy. San Francisco: Suspect Thoughts Press. ISBN 0971084637. OCLC 51323127.
  42. ^ Sycamore, Mattilda Bernstein (November 7, 2023). Touching the Art. New York: Soft Skull. ISBN 9781593767358. OCLC 1370217246.
  43. ^ Sycamore, Mattilda Bernstein (2020). The Freezer Door. South Pasadena: Semiotext(e). ISBN 9781635901283. OCLC 1140735749.
  44. ^ Sycamore, Mattilda Bernstein (March 19, 2013). The end of San Francisco. San Francisco: City Lights. ISBN 9780872865723. OCLC 812258393.
  45. ^ Sycamore, Mattilda Bernstein, ed. (2021). Between certain death and a possible future : queer writing on growing up with the AIDS crisis. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 978-1-55152-851-9. OCLC 1249556787.
  46. ^ Sycamore, Mattilda Bernstein (2012). Why are faggots so afraid of faggots? : flaming challenges to masculinity, objectification, and the desire to conform. Oakland, CA: AK Press. ISBN 9781849350884. OCLC 709680948.
  47. ^ Sycamore, Matt Bernstein, ed. (2006). Nobody passes : rejecting the rules of gender and conformity. Emeryville, CA: Seal Press. ISBN 9781580051842. OCLC 71285289.
  48. ^ Sycamore, Mattilda Bernstein, ed. (2004). That's revolting! : queer strategies for resisting assimilation. Brooklyn: Soft Skull Press. ISBN 1932360565. OCLC 56367271.
  49. ^ Sycamore, Matt Bernstein, ed. (2004). Dangerous families : queer writing on surviving. New York: Harrington Park Press. ISBN 1560234210. OCLC 51969191.
  50. ^ Sycamore, Mattilda Bernstein, ed. (2000). Tricks and treats : sex workers write about their clients. New York: Harrington Park Press. ISBN 0789007037. OCLC 42786270.
  51. ^ "Social Change through Failure: An Interview with Chris Vargas and Eric Stanley". mattildabernsteinsycamore.com. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
  52. ^ "All That Sheltering Emptiness". Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre. Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
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