Fiction. LGBTQIA Studies. Edited by Tatiana Ryckman. At once light and aching; BEFORE STONEWALL gives voice to a generation of men whose homosexuality forced them into lives of public exile. These stories articulate the tragic comedy of young love; the many ways to lose a family; and the rigid anxiety that comes from the fear of expressing too much. Set against a backdrop of New York's theater scene and looming McCarthyism; this book is about everything love is up against and the smoldering; dormant rebellion in the time before Stonewall. BEFORE STONEWALL is the winner of Awst Press' 2019 book prize; selected by T Kira Madden; author of Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls.