Photo by Liv Wilson '24. J. Vanessa Lyon, author of "Lush Lives" signs a copy of the book for a reader at the Odyssey. The bookshop's opening event for its 60 year anniversary celebration marked the first time that Lyon has conducted a book signing or official author discussion.
By Jude Barrera ’24
Staff Writer
A queer romance set in Harlem’s art scene is the subject of “Lush Lives,” the first fiction book published by author J. Vanessa Lyon under her own name. On Tuesday, Sept. 12, the Odyssey Bookshop invited Lyon to speak about the book, marking Lyon’s first bookstore reading. Prior to “Lush Lives,” Lyon wrote “The Groves,” an Audible original, and “Meet Me in Madrid” under the pseudonym of Verity Lowell. Lyon is an art history professor at Bennington College, a liberal arts college in Vermont, and her academic background shines through in “Lush Lives.” The book’s protagonist, Glory, explores the rich and storied history of the Harlem Renaissance, a time when Black creativity in the arts flourished, and how it connects to her own experiences in the modern day.
Lyon, a self-identified “lesbian of color,” began fiction writing during the COVID-19 pandemic, and by working at a furious pace, was able to finish three books in three years. “Lush Lives” was written in about six months. “It has been a little therapeutic … writing stories, endings and characters who I just, like, was excited to feel like existed … It was starting to take me out of what I think was starting to feel like a kind of confinement,” the author said of writing a positive queer romance. “I needed to feel like I was part of a larger queer BIPOC community, and this is definitely both like in a real way with doing … residencies where I’ve met people, but also just feeling connected … So I think it’s made me feel much happier about my own life. … [it’s] made my own life lusher.”
During the event, Lyon referenced a study quoted in PEN America and originally published in the New York Times, which reported that of 3,471 fiction authors published by major publishing companies from 1950 to 2018, 95 percent were white. She then expressed that the art world is similarly lacking in diversity.
Despite the novel being fiction, Lyon incorporates some of her own memories into “Lush Lives.” The novel’s protagonist, Glory, is taken to Harlem when she inherits her Aunt Lucille’s brownstone. The late Aunt Lucille in the novel has parallels with the author’s own Great Aunt Lucille, whom relatives called “The Colonel” and to whom the book is dedicated. “I think The Colonel was a queer ancestor,” Lyon said, reflecting on the themes of inheritance within the book and her own experiences with queerness growing up. Similarly, the setting is based on the author’s own experiences in Harlem. Lyon had spent some time there prior to the pandemic and subletted in Harlem while writing the novel once travel restrictions had lightened. “There is a lot of archival-level research. I went to the Schomburg [Center for Research in Black Culture] myself, but … part of it was imagined when I was sitting in my house in Vermont trying to think like, oh, you know, what was that street like,” she said.
“Lush Lives” is part of the first group of books published by author Roxane Gay’s imprint, Roxane Gay Books. Gay is the author of several books, including the essay collection “Bad Feminist,” as well as a contributing writer for The New York Times opinion section. Lyon told the audience that she had looked up to Gay previously and that her agent when telling her the news, asked, “Are you sitting down?”
“I lost my mind,” Lyon said. The author affirmed that Gay was very involved in the process of editing “Lush Lives,” sharing that Gay helped her “take three pages [of background] and disperse it,” allowing the narrative to expand more organically.
Darwin Michener-Rutledge ’24, a liaison for both the English and the Art History departments, attended the event.
“I came to the reading because a friend who knows me well recommended ‘Lush Lives’ before it was even released. … As a lesbian moving into the professional art world this book is especially important to me,” they said. “I loved Lyon's candor throughout the event. Hearing her speak about the personal experiences that shaped the book gave ‘Lush Lives’ a new dimension. ... It's incredible to see such a steamy and dazzling possibility presented for queer, BIPOC and disabled people. I hope [Lush Lives] will be very widely read.”
“Lush Lives” is available at the Odyssey Bookshop, with an audiobook available online. This author's talk was the first in the Odyssey’s anniversary celebration, 60 Days for 60 Years. Each day until Nov. 11, 2023, the Odyssey will have an event, a presentation or a flash sale in honor of their 60th anniversary.