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*Conditions*
	The Black Women's Issue, November 1979
Frequency	Biannual (1976 - 1980); Annual (1980 - 1990)
Founder	Elly Bulkin; Jan Clausen; Irena Klepfisz; Rima Shore
First issue	1976
Final issue	1990
Country	United States
Based in	Brooklyn, New York
Language	English
ISSN	2381-5620
OCLC	646884046

Conditions (full title: Conditions: a feminist magazine of writing by women with a particular emphasis on writing by lesbians) was a lesbian feminist literary magazine that came out biannually from 1976 to 1980 and annually from 1980 until 1990, and included poetry, prose, essays, book reviews, and interviews.^[1] It was founded in Brooklyn, New York, by Elly Bulkin, Jan Clausen, Irena Klepfisz and Rima Shore.^[2]

Publishing collective

Conditions was a magazine that emphasized the lives and writings of lesbians, and, throughout its history, maintained an all-lesbian collective.^[3] This collective expressed a "long standing commitment to diversity; of writing style and content and of background of contributors", within the lesbian and feminist communities.^[4] Conditions was especially dedicated to publishing the work of lesbians, in particular working-class lesbians and lesbians of color.^[3]^[4] While the founders were all white, Conditions was committed to promoting multiracial, multicultural, and multiethnic voices from its inception. By the early 1980s, the magazine had a diverse group of editors, especially under the leadership of Cheryl L. Clarke.^[1]

The Black Women's Issue

The journal's fifth issue, published in November 1979, was edited by Barbara Smith and Lorraine Bethel. Conditions 5 was "the first widely distributed collection of Black feminist writing in the U.S.",^[2] and was later to be the basis for the anthology Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology (1983), one of the first books released by Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press.^[5] Conditions 5: The Black Women's Issue was hugely popular, and set a record in feminist publishing by selling 3,000 copies in the first three weeks it was available.^[6]

Publication ceases

Conditions ceased publication in 1990.^[3]^[7] It ended because the existing collective members were focusing on other projects and they were unable to find new members.^[1]

Editors

Barbara Smith
Lorraine Bethel
Dorothy Allison
Cheryl L. Clarke
Jewelle Gomez
Nancy Clarke Otter
Debbi Schaubman
Elly Bulkin
Jan Clausen
Irena Klepfisz
Rima Shore
Melinda Goodman
Paula Martinac
N. Mirtha Quintanales
Randye Lordon

Selected contributors

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Enszer, Julie R. (2015). "'Fighting to create and maintain our own Black women's culture': Conditions Magazine, 1977–1990". American Periodicals: A Journal of History & Criticism. 25 (2): 160–176. doi:10.1353/amp.2015.0025. S2CID 110217804. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
^ ^a ^b Smith, Barbara. The Truth That Never Hurts: Writings on Race, Gender, and Freedom, Rutgers University Press 1998, ISBN 0-8135-2761-9, p. ix.
^ ^a ^b ^c Busia, Abena P. A. Theorizing Black Feminisms: The Visionary Pragmatism of Black Women, Routledge, 1993, ISBN 0-415-07336-7, p. 225n.
^ ^a ^b Allison, Clarke, Schaubman editorial. Conditions 11/12, p. 3.
^ Munro, C. Lynn (1984). "Review: Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology. By Barbara Smith". Black American Literature Forum. 8 (4): 175. doi:10.2307/2904298. JSTOR 2904298.
^ Smith, Barbara. Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology, Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 1983, p. 1.
^ Armstrong, David. Trumpet to Arms: Alternative Media in America, South End Press, 1985, ISBN 0-89608-193-1, p. 240.
^ "English.asu.edu" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 22, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2013.