An archival interview from “Making Gay History” with Jill Johnston and Studs Terkel in 1973.
Jill Johnston launched her career as a writer tracking downtown’s postmodern dance scene to becoming one of the most prominent voices of lesbian feminism with a column in the Village Voice and a bestselling book, Lesbian Nation. Her writing has been arguably under-examined, yet in recent years a movement to uncover many of these archives has taken shape. Explore some of this work below, and mark your calendars for an event honoring Johnston at Skirball on February 8th.
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Recommended resources on Jill Johnston’s work.
Dwight Garner, What Was The Village Voice?, 2024
Frances Chapman, talking it out in new york city: is the sexual political?, 1973
Jill Johnston, The New American Modern Dance, 1976
The Gay and Lesbian Review, Was Lesbian Separatism Inevitable?, 2006
Read All About It
William Grimes for NYT | Sept. 21, 2010
Jill Johnston, Critic Who Wrote ‘Lesbian Nation,’ Dies at 81
“In the early 1970s she began championing the cause of lesbian feminism, arguing in “Lesbian Nation” (1973) for a complete break with men and with male-dominated capitalist institutions.”
Archived by Tony Ortega for The Village Voice | March 22, 2011
Jill Johnston: ‘A Woman Like Bella’
“Clip Job: an excerpt every day from the Voice archives.”
Jennifer Kabat for Frieze | Sept 22, 2019
The Revolutionary Dance Critic Jill Johnston
“‘She has this complete candor and gives me the license to say anything. When I started, I took that freedom.’”
Julie Bindel for The Guardian | October 11, 2010
Jill Johnston Obituary
“Feminist writer who gained notoriety with Lesbian Nation: the Feminist Solution”
Extra Credit

Stenberg Press
The Disintegration of a Critic
“This book collects thirty texts by Jill Johnston that were initially published in her weekly column for The Village Voice between 1960 and 1974.”