Elaine Williams

Elaine Williams (November 10, 1933 - December 19, 1961) was an American lesbian pulp fiction author and editor of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She wrote under a pseudonym, largely either as Sloan Britton or Sloane Britain.

Personal life Elaine Williams was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the daughter of Louis Williams and Maude Saxe Williams. Fellow pulp author Gilbert Fox said of Williams: "Her family refused to accept the fact that she was a lesbian".

Career

Williams became one of the first editors at Midwood Books in 1959. Along with editing for Midwood, Williams was asked to author her own lesbian pulp books.

At the same time, Williams began writing her own paperback lesbian pulps under a collection of pseudonyms following a similar pattern: Sloan Britain, Sloane Britain, Sloane Britton, Sloan Britton, and possibly other variations. Literary scholar Yvonne Keller named Williams as one of a small group of writers whose work formed the subgenre of "pro-lesbian" pulp fiction; others include Ann Bannon, Paula Christian, Joan Ellis, March Hastings, Marjorie Lee, Della Martin, Rea Michaels, Claire Morgan, Vin Packer, Randy Salem, Artemis Smith, Valerie Taylor, Tereska Torres, and Shirley Verel.

Her 1961 novel These Curious Pleasures revolves around a main character named Sloane Britain. It is thought that the plot is somewhat autobiographical of Williams, or at least depicts a lesbian relationship which Williams dreamed of. Also in this book is a character named Harry “Happy” Broadman, who is curiously similar to Midwood Books co-founder and publisher Harry Shorten. Both in real life and fiction, Shorten has been said to have been an unpredictable and at times aggressive man. A husband and four children are mentioned as survivors.

Works First Person-Third Sex, 1959 The Needle, 1959 Meet Marilyn, 1960 Unnatural, 1960 Insatiable, 1960 These Curious Pleasures, 1961 That Other Hunger, 1961 Strumpet's Jungle, 1962 Woman Doctor, 1962 Ladder of Flesh, 1962 The Delicate Vice, 1963 Finders Keepers, 1965 Summer of Sin Peep Booth