Jim Elledge

James Elledge (born 1950) is an American author, editor, and poet. he has authored six book-length biographies and ten poetry collections, as well as edited six collections. His works include Sweet Nothings, A History of My Tattoo (2006), Who's Yer Daddy? (2012), Henry Darger, Throwaway Boy (2013), The Boys of Fairy Town (2018), and An Angel in Sodom (2022). Among other honors, Elledge won the 2007 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry and the 2014 Lambda Literary Award for Anthology.

Early life and education Elledge was born in 1950 in Granite City, Illinois. He attended Eastern Illinois University, from which he earned a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1971 and a Master of Science in library science in 1973. In 1986, Elledge earned a Doctor of Philosophy in English with a specialization in creative writing from the University of Illinois Chicago.

Career Elledge started his academic career as a reference librarian at Mundelein College, then worked as the assistant medical librarian at the Columbus-Cuneo-Cabrini Medical Center. He has since published multiple biographies and poetry collections, as well as edited several anthologies.

From 1983 to 1988, Elledge was the assistant editor of Poetry, later working as an assistant editor with Illinois Writers Review, as well as a book review editor with Pikestaff Forum. With 125 poems from 79 writers, the collection explores the connection between rock and roll music and poetry among the Baby Boomer poets in the United States. Among others, the collection includes work from Frank O'Hara, Joyce Carol Oates, David Wojahn, Thom Gunn, Rita Dove, Lynda Hull, Albert Goldbarth, Lisel Mueller, Yusef Komunyakaa, Gary Soto, and William Matthews.

According to Publishers Weekly, Sweet Nothings "is intriguing less for the general sociohistorical reasons noted than because it harbors an underlying current of sadness and loss".

A History of My Tattoo (2006) A History of My Tattoo is a poetry collection published by Brickhouse Books in 2006. The collection provides "a completely fictionalized book-length poem" that "tells the story(ies) of a life close to his own. but not quite his own: the best of all possible poetry scenarios, keeping the reader intrigued and guessing". Maureen Seaton, writing for Lambda Book Report, described the collection as "gorgeous and disturbing" as poems "repeat and organize the longer narrative". and was a finalist for the 2007 Thom Gunn Award. Authors include Mark Doty, Richard Blanco, Justin Chin, Rigoberto González, Richard McCann, and Michael Klein.

Writing for Library Journal, Richard J. Violette noted that the subjects discussed in Who's Yer Daddy? "are not all literary figures, and of those many are neither gay nor male; dip in and you're as likely to come up with Captain Kirk or Bette Midler as Walt Whitman". The account takes a questioning look at the life of Henry Darger, a reclusive dishwasher whose writings and illustrations sparked controversy, particularly his drawings of young girls with male genitalia. While some have accused Darger of pedophilia and of potentially murdering a child, Elledge argues that Darger may have been the victim of sexual assault as a child, while also speculating about other arenas of Darger's life.

Although Henry Darger, Throwaway Boy is marketed as a biography, the book established that Elledge "'intentionally dramatized details of the events depicted in order to bring them to life for the reader,' to create scenes that are, 'by necessity, a literary reconstruction'". Reviewers were critical of the work in part because of these insertions. While Kirkus Reviews conceded that "Elledge has clearly conducted an impressive amount of research on Darger's milieu", they noted that "the author's assertions speculative at best", given Darger's lack of writing during specific periods of his life.

The Boys of Fairy Town (2018) The Boys of Fairy Town: Sodomites, Female Impersonators, Third-Sexers, Pansies, Queers, and Sex Morons in Chicago's First Century is a nonfiction book published by Chicago Review Press in 2018. The book provides queer history in Chicago, focusing on specific neighborhoods where gay people lived in the late 1830s to the mid-1940s. During this time, Elledge describes how queer and non-queer people openly interacted despite larger societal stigmas in what became known as the Pansy Craze, though this was negatively impacted by the Great Depression. Subjects of focus include gay rights' activist Henry Gerber, American scientist and sexologist Alfred Kinsey, the Dill Pickle Club, Bughouse Square, and the Fine Arts Building.

In a starred review, Booklist's June Sawyers described The Boys of Fairy Town as "a thoroughly researched, invaluable, and vastly entertaining tale of lost Chicago".

Biography Winner Publishing Triangle Randy Shilts Award Finalist Who's Yer Daddy?|Lambda Literary Awards Anthology Winner 2018

Traditional Nonfiction Book of the Year Honorable Mention 2019 Lambda Literary Awards Nonfiction Finalist 2022 '' Lambda Literary Awards Gay Memoir or Biography Finalist Publications

As author

Biography and nonfiction

Poetry

As editor