{{Short description|American journalist}}
thumb|Brent Calderwood reading at Georgia Center for the Book event
'''Brent Calderwood''' is an American author and journalist. He was named by ''Out'' magazine in the magazine’s annual “Out 100” issues, identifying important LGBT newsmakers in both 1995 and 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 18, 2014 |title=Poet Brent Calderwood On 'The God of Longing' & the Need For Naughtiness |url=http://www.out.com/entertainment/art-books/2014/11/18/poet-brent-calderwood-god-longing-need-naughtiness |last=McDonald |first=James |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=Out |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204064225/http://www.out.com/entertainment/art-books/2014/11/18/poet-brent-calderwood-god-longing-need-naughtiness |archive-date=December 4, 2014}}</ref> His writing and advocacy on behalf of LGBTQ youth is documented in the films ''The Butch Factor''<ref>{{Citation|last1=Hines|first1=Christopher|title=The butch factor: what kind of man are you?|date=2010|place=New Almaden, CA|publisher=Wolfe|language=English|oclc=971009209|last2=Wolfe Video (Firm)}}</ref> and ''Now We Can Dance: The Story of the Hayward Gay Prom'',<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Willis |first1=Laurie |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6aNougFMtc|title=Now we can dance: the story of the Hayward gay prom |last2=Sherman |first2=Shawna |last3=Thomas |first3=Sally |date=2012 |publisher=Hayward Public Library |location=Hayward, CA|language=English|oclc=875287415}}</ref> as well as the television program ''Lifestories with Gabrielle Carteris''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Marshfield News-Herald from Marshfield, Wisconsin on October 15, 1994 · 54|url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/268564241/|access-date=2022-02-20|website=Newspapers.com|date=15 October 1994 |language=en}}</ref> His first book, ''The God of Longing'',<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Calderwood|first1=Brent|title=The god of longing|last2=Bemis/Flaherty Collection of Gay Poetry|date=2014|publisher=Sibling Rivalry Press |isbn=978-1-937420-81-9|language=English|oclc=890624384}}</ref> was recommended by the American Library Association<ref>{{Cite web |title=God of Longing |url=https://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/god-longing |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=American Library Association |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220044816/https://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/god-longing |archive-date=February 20, 2022}}</ref> in 2014 and is housed in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The god of longing |url=https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchCode=LCCN&searchArg=2014944842&searchType=1&limitTo=none&fromYear=&toYear=&limitTo=LOCA%3Dall&limitTo=PLAC%3Dall&limitTo=TYPE%3Dall&limitTo=LANG%3Dall&recCount=25 |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=Library of Congress |isbn=9781937420819 |oclc=890624384 |last1=Calderwood |first1=Brent |date=2014 |publisher=Sibling Rivalry Press}}</ref>
== Journalism == Calderwood’s writing has included essays and op-ed articles, as well as profiles and interviews with artists such as director Guillermo del Toro, musician-composer David Amram,<ref>{{Cite magazine|last1=Calderwood|first1=Brent|date=2021-03-01|title='I Never Was a Beat Poet': Lawrence Ferlinghetti's Musical Vision|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/lawrence-ferlinghetti-beat-poet-musical-vision-1134730/|access-date=2022-02-20|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}}</ref> women’s music pioneer Holly Near,<ref>{{Cite web|title=July 31, 2014 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter by Bay Area Reporter - Issuu|url=https://issuu.com/bayareareporter/docs/july_31_2014|access-date=2022-02-20|website=issuu.com|date=30 July 2014 |language=en}}</ref> Harvey Milk photographer Daniel Nicoletta,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Needle|first=Chael|title=Daniel Nicoletta: Artist {{!}} A&U Magazine|url=https://aumag.org/2011/06/07/daniel-nicoletta/|access-date=2022-02-20|language=en-US}}</ref> painter Lenore Chinn, and the singer-songwriters Mary Lambert and Justin Vivian Bond.<ref>{{Cite web|title=July 31, 2014 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter by Bay Area Reporter - Issuu|url=https://issuu.com/bayareareporter/docs/july_31_2014|access-date=2022-02-20|website=issuu.com|date=30 July 2014 |language=en}}</ref> His work has been published in ''Rolling Stone'',<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Brent Calderwood|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/author/brent-calderwood/|access-date=2022-02-20|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}}</ref> ''Out'',<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-12-16|title=Year in Review: Asleep at the Wheel|url=http://www.out.com/news-commentary/2011/12/15/chris-colfer-glee-sissy-boy-gay-rodemeyer|access-date=2022-02-20|website=www.out.com|language=en}}</ref> the ''San Francisco Examiner'',<ref>{{Cite web|last=Calderwood|first=Brent|date=1995-08-22|title=Out of the closet, onto the dance floor|url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Out-of-the-closet-onto-the-dance-floor-3135461.php|access-date=2022-02-20|website=SFGATE|language=en-US}}</ref> and ''Noir City'' magazine.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Film Noir Foundation - NOIR CITY Magazine|url=https://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/noircitymagazine.html|access-date=2022-02-20|website=www.filmnoirfoundation.org}}</ref>
Calderwood began his journalism career in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1992 as cofounder of ''InsideOUT'' magazine, the first nationally distributed magazine for LGBT youth in the United States.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Due|first=Linnea A.|title=Joining the tribe : growing up gay & lesbian in the '90s|date=1995|publisher=Anchor Books|isbn=0-385-47500-4|edition=1st Anchor books|location=New York|oclc=32167850}}</ref> As a result of local news coverage of the magazine and his own articles on LGBT youth issues, which were distributed to national newspapers by Pacific News Service, Calderwood became the target of antigay harassment,<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Cronin|first1=Mary|title="I could not speak my heart": education and social justice for gay and lesbian youth|last2=McNinch|first2=James |date=2004|publisher=Canadian Plains Research Center, University of Regina|isbn=978-0-88977-178-9|location=Regina|language=English|oclc=55474750}}</ref> including vandalism and death threats.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Calderwood|first=Brent|date=1995-08-22|title=Out of the closet, onto the dance floor|url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Out-of-the-closet-onto-the-dance-floor-3135461.php|access-date=2022-02-20|website=SFGATE|language=en-US}}</ref> In the months following those events, he was invited to speak on the syndicated program ''Lifestories with Gabrielle Carteris''; other guests on the episode, which focused on violence toward LGBT youth, included Mary Griffith, mother of Bobby Griffith, as well as friends and associates of Brandon Teena.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Marshfield News-Herald from Marshfield, Wisconsin on October 15, 1994 · 54|url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/268564241/|access-date=2022-02-20|website=Newspapers.com|date=15 October 1994 |language=en}}</ref>
For Calderwood’s activism and writing, he was the only LGBT youth included in the 1995 "OUT 100" issue of ''Out'' magazine.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-11-16|title=1996|url=http://www.out.com/out-exclusives/cover-gallery/2011/11/16/1996|access-date=2022-02-20|website=www.out.com|language=en}}</ref> A large format two-page comic strip that Calderwood illustrated and wrote, titled “Memoirs from a Closet",<ref>{{Cite book|last=Woog|first=Dan|title=School's out: the impact of gay and lesbian issues on America's schools|date=1995|publisher=Alyson Publications |isbn=978-1-55583-249-0|language=English|oclc=32013883}}</ref> was recognized as culturally significant by GLAAD and is still used in classrooms to educate students on homophobia and diversity. Calderwood also lobbied in Sacramento during the 1995-1996 legislative session for AB101, sponsored by Sheila Kuehl, the first Assembly Bill in California to explicitly prohibit discrimination against LGBT students; the bill was eventually passed as AB222, the Freedom for All Students Act, and was signed into law as AB537 in 2000.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-03-30|title=About the Law|url=http://www.casafeschools.org/aboutlaw.html|access-date=2022-02-20|website=California Safe Schools Coalition|language=en-US}}</ref>
== Literary work == Calderwood, a member of the National Book Critics Circle,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2022-01-10|title=New reviews and more from NBCC members|url=https://www.bookcritics.org/2022/01/10/new-reviews-and-more-from-nbcc-members-85/|access-date=2022-02-20|website=National Book Critics Circle|language=en-US}}</ref> has served as a judge for those awards as well as the Lambda Literary Awards in poetry and YA fiction. He was the literary editor for ''Art & Understanding'' (''A&U'') magazine from 2011 to 2016; during that time, he cofounded the international Christopher Hewitt Awards in poetry, fiction, and drama, naming the award for the magazine’s original literary editor.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Needle|first=Chael|title=Chris Hewitt 2014 Winners Announced {{!}} A&U Magazine|url=https://aumag.org/2014/08/07/chris-hewitt-2014-winners-announced/|access-date=2022-02-20|language=en-US}}</ref> Since 2013, the awards have been given to writers from Africa, Asia, South America, Europe, and North America. Calderwood has also been a guest editor for the poetry journals ''Assaracus'', ''Locuspoint'',<ref>{{Cite web|title=LOCUSPOINT: SAN FRANCISCO {{!}} Third Edition {{!}} BRENT CALDERWOOD|url=http://www.locuspoint.org/volume3/sf/index.html|access-date=2022-02-20|website=www.locuspoint.org}}</ref> and ''The Squaw Valley Review.''
In addition to the collected poems in ''The God of Longing'', Calderwood’s poetry and essays appear in dozens of anthologies and journals including ''The Southern Poetry Anthology'',<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Southern poetry anthology|orig-date=2007|year=2018|publisher=Texas Review Press|others=Stephen Gardner, William Wright|isbn=978-1-933896-06-9|edition=1st |location=Huntsville, Tex.|oclc=141484433}}</ref> ''The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide'', and ''Gathered Light: The Poetry of Joni Mitchell’s Songs'' (an essay anthology published with participation from Mitchell in which notable poets such as Cornelius Eady and Kim Addonizio each write about the prosody and literary merits of the lyrics of an individual Mitchell song).<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gathered light : the poetry of Joni Mitchell's songs|date=2013|others=Joni Mitchell, Lisa Sornberger, John Sornberger|isbn=978-1-927513-12-5|location=Toronto, ON|oclc=833553366}}</ref>
Calderwood also writes and performs music; he plays guitar and sings an original song in the documentary ''The Butch Factor''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BARtab August 2010 Edition by Bay Area Reporter - Issuu |url=https://issuu.com/bayareareporter/docs/bartab_august_2010 |access-date=2022-05-10 |website=issuu.com |date=3 August 2010 |language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calderwood, Brent}} Category:21st-century American journalists Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people