S. Renee Bess facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
S. Renée Bess
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S. Renee Bess, wearing the Alice B Medal Awarded in 2019
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| Born |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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| Nationality | American |
| Style | multi-ethnic representation, social themes, African-American culture, lesbianism, feminism, complex female characters, and family relationships |
| Movement | Social Justice and Black Lives Matter |
| Spouse(s) | Vivian Lotz |
S. Renée Bess (also known as Renée Bess) is an American author from Pennsylvania. She writes stories about many different cultures and people. Her books often explore important social topics, African-American culture, strong female characters, and family bonds.
Renée Bess used to teach Spanish and French. She has been writing for most of her life. Her writing has won several awards. One award was a "Goldie" from the Golden Crown Literary Society. This was for her 2017 book called Our Happy Hours: LGBT Voices from the Gay Bars. This book was created to remember people who lost their lives at a club in Florida.
Contents
About Renée Bess
Early Life and Education
When Renée was six years old, she loved a book called “Dr. Dan The Bandage Man.” Later, she enjoyed reading about Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. Books became a very important part of her life. Because she loved books so much, she naturally started writing. She wrote poetry, short stories, and then novels.
In the late 1960s, Renée finished high school in Philadelphia. It was a school for girls that included students from all backgrounds. After high school, she went to Temple University. There, she studied education and languages. She worked as a full-time Spanish and French teacher in a public high school. Later, she also helped train new teachers at a local university. All this time, she kept writing as much as she could.
Family Life
Renée Bess still lives in the Philadelphia area. She lives there with her wife, Vivian Lotz.
Her Writing Career
In 1994, Renée Bess won first place in a writing contest. Her short story was called "At the Beauty Parlor." After that, two of her short stories were put into Canadian books. These books were called "Piece of My Heart: A Lesbian of Colour Anthology" and "Ma-Ka: Diasporic Juks."
Renée Bess wants her stories to be artistic and well-written. She fills them with characters from many different backgrounds. Her books often include important social topics, mysteries, and exciting plots. One reader said she writes "stories for the thinking reader." This means her books make you think deeply.
Her first full novel, Leave of Absence, came out in 2005. She met people from Regal Crest Enterprises (now Flashpoint Publications) in 2006. They published her second novel, Breaking Jaie, in 2007. After that, she published three more novels. Then came the Our Happy Hours book. Her most recent book is Between a Rock and a Soft Place: Selected Works. Her first novel was also updated and re-released in 2013.
From the start, Renée Bess has believed in writing about diverse people. She once said that it's important for authors to tell their own stories. This helps show that everyone has a right to be seen and heard. She noted that sometimes, people from certain backgrounds are not visible in literature.
In 2020, Renée Bess wrote an article called “Excuse Me While I Burn a Few Bridges.” In it, she encouraged everyone to read books by Black authors, especially women. She shared that her second novel was praised for its writing. But one publisher turned it down. They said, "no one will be interested in reading about a black girl's story." This happened only thirteen years ago, long after the Jim Crow era.
To talk about publishing and the role of writers, Renée Bess had an interview in 2016. She discussed important topics like fairness, including everyone, and different cultures. She also talked about how important it is for Black women's voices to be heard in books.
Renée Bess strongly believes in telling accurate history. She wanted to create a book to remember everyone who lost their lives at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in 2016. This book included stories and poems from 48 writers. It received great reviews and won an award in 2019.
Published Books
Novels
- Leave of Absence (2005), second edition (2013) ISBN: 9781619291065
- Breaking Jaie (2007) ISBN: 9781932300840
- Re: Building Sasha (2008) ISBN: 9781935053071
- The Butterfly Moments (2010) ISBN: 9781935053378
- The Rules (2014) ISBN: 9781619291577
- Our Happy Hours: LGBT Voices from the Gay Bars (2017) ISBN: 9781633048133
- Between a Rock and a Soft Place: Selected Works (2021) ISBN: 9781949096347
Short Stories and Poems
- Driving Alone to P-Town is No Easy Thing, in "Piece of My Heart: A Lesbian of Colour Anthology", Sister Vision Press (1991).
- At the Beauty Parlor, in "Labyrinth Newspaper" (1994)
- TBA, in "Ma-Ka Diasporic Juks: Contemporary Writings by Queers of African Descent," Sister Vision Press (1998)
- Long Story Short: a poem, in "Our Happy Hours: LGBT Voices from the Gay Bars", Flashpoint Publications (2017)
- A Night Beyond the City Limits, in "Our Happy Hours: LGBT Voices from the Gay Bars", Flashpoint Publications (2017)
Awards and Honors
- 1994 – Won First Place in the Labyrinth Newspaper's Short Story Contest.
- 2018 – Received the Golden Crown Literary Society Goldie Award for “Our Happy Hours: LGBT Voices from the Gay Bars.”
- 2019 – Given The Alice B Readers Award Medal of Appreciation.
Images for kids
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S. Renee Bess, wearing the Alice B Medal Awarded in 2019
