Joan Drury
Joan Drury | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | November 9, 2020 (aged 75) Grand Marais, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Author, publisher, bookseller, philanthropist |
| Known for | Proprietor of Spinsters, Ink; founder of Drury Lane Books; National Lesbian Writer’s Award |
Joan Drury (February 2, 1945 – November 9, 2020) was an American author, publisher, bookseller, and philanthropist. She was the proprietor of Spinsters, Ink, a publishing house dedicated to works by women, with a particular emphasis on lesbian writers. Drury penned a mystery series starring Tyler Jones, a lesbian detective, and managed Drury Lane Books located in Grand Marais, Minnesota. Her achievements in both publishing and writing earned her multiple honors, including a Lambda Literary Award. Additionally, she supported literary retreats and established the National Lesbian Writer’s Award.
Biography
Drury was born in Minneapolis in 1945 into a family that operated a thriving garbage collection business. She spent her childhood in Richfield, Minnesota and contributed to the family enterprise. At 18, she married and later became a mother to three children before divorcing in 1978. Subsequently, she completed a degree in women's studies at the University of Minnesota. Drury passed away from kidney failure on November 9, 2020, in Grand Marais, Minnesota.
Career
In 1992, Drury acquired Spinsters Ink from Sherry Thomas. Under her guidance, the press—focused on feminist and lesbian literature—was moved from its original base in San Francisco first to Minneapolis and then to Duluth. She led the company until its sale to Hovis Publishing in Denver in 2001. Drury was honored with a Lambda Literary Foundation award in 1994 for her contributions to publishing. Spinsters Ink published prominent writers such as Val McDermid, Maureen Brady, Ellen Frye, Susan Stinson, and Sandra Butler. An obituary published in Publishers Weekly underscored the influential role Drury and Spinsters Ink played in feminist publishing during periods of industry transformation. Although Spinsters Ink ceased operations in 2017, it was later revived as an imprint under Bella Books. Author Susan Stinson attributed significant career support to Drury’s encouragement.
Drury established Drury Lane Books in Grand Marais in 2002. She also wrote a trilogy of detective novels featuring the lesbian character Tyler Jones; her book Silent Words was awarded the 1997 Minnesota Book Award and saw a re-release by Clover Valley Press in 2009.
Her philanthropic efforts encompassed founding a writers' retreat along Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior which operated from 1993 to 2007 and benefited over six hundred women writers including Elana Dykewomon. To finance this initiative, she created Harmony Women’s Fund, which supported more than one hundred women-centered projects throughout Minnesota. In 1991, she launched the National Lesbian Writer’s Award, judged by esteemed literary figures such as Audre Lorde, Jewelle Gomez, Gloria E. Anzaldúa, and Sarah Schulman. Notable awardees include Dorothy Allison, Nikky Finney, JP Howard, Lisa Moore, and Achy Obejas.
Julie R. Enszer from Lambda Literary remarked that without dedicated patrons like Joan Drury—who committed both resources and passion to women’s literary culture—such dynamic literary communities would not have thrived.