Jill Johnston began the 1960s as an influential dance columnist for the Village Voice and by the start of the next decade she was known as a keen observer of postmodern art and lesbian feminist life who challenged how dance, art, and women can and should be seen. The Essential Jill Johnston Reader collects dozens of pieces of her writing from across her career. These writings—many of which appeared in the Village Voice and the New York Times—survey the breadth of her work, braiding together her thinking, writing, and activism. From personal essays, travel writing, and artist profiles to dance and visual art reviews as well as her infamous series of columns for the Voice in which she came out as a lesbian, these pieces demonstrate the evolution of her philosophies and writing style. Illustrating how Johnston drew on lessons from dance to reconsider what it means to be a woman, this collection brings a fascinating and brilliant voice of American arts criticism, radical feminism, and gay liberation back to contemporary audiences.

Jill Johnston (1929–2010) was a dance, arts, and literary critic and feminist activist whose books include Marmalade Me, Lesbian Nation: The Feminist Solution, and Jasper Johns: Privileged Information.

Clare Croft is Associate Professor of American Culture at the University of Michigan and author of Jill Johnston in Motion: Dance, Writing, and Lesbian Life, also published by Duke University Press.

A Note on Transcription
Introduction / Clare Croft
Theory
Reviews
Embedded Writing
Profiles
Travel Writing
Coming Out
Personal Essay
Reflection
Appendix. Additional Writings by Jill Johnston
Index