House on the Ocean, A House on the Bay

"e;From the smoky salons of 1970s New York to the vibrant heart of New Orleans' French Quarter, Felice Picano blazed a trail through the cultural frontier, reshaping the landscape of queer literature with wit, courage, and unflinching truth. Felice's writing and life were a love letter to community, to mentorship, and to the enduring power of story (and he loved to tell a good, dishy story!). Felice was a frequent attendee at the Saints & Sinners LGBTQ+ Literary Festival in New Orleans. Through panels, readings, and late-night conversations, he played a crucial role in shaping an environment where queer writers could gather, grow, and be recognized."e; —Sven Davisson, Rebel Satori publisher, author of Puck You!, Breeding Devils in Chaos, and The United Rite"e;I've long delighted in Felice Picano's boundless curiosity, his eidetic observations, his digressions inward and social, but A House on the Ocean, A House on the Bay gives us all of his genius. It's in our tongue, mother: barbed, quick, camp. Picano's voice pilots readers through triumphs and heartbreak, offering a perspective on ourselves from a post in gay paradise–the sparkling, 'irretrievable moment of glory' that was Fire Island before the devastation. A House on the Ocean, A House on the Bay is intimate, enchanting, and trenchant session from a legendary raconteur. —Dale Corvino, author of Afterlife of a Kept Boy and Bonds & Boundaries"e;Felice Picano's A House on the Ocean, A House on the Bay is a lush Fire Island seascape that revels as much in its cool, humid breeze as it does the people around whom it whirls. Picano builds sandcastles for his friends, lovers, and acquaintances and moves them through his recollections, never losing track of the architecture of their memories—a deeply moving achievement as illustrative of when it was written as when it happened to him."e; —Jerry Wheeler, author of the BookFest award-winning novel, Mercedes General and Pangs"e;In his love letter to the Fire Island of the 70's and 80's, Picano brings us back to a moment in queer history, when gay men created a refuge within a natural refuge. Although the men are mostly gone and Fire Island is gentrified, with Picano's words, we can still feel the wind and hear the voices of men who came to freely live, love, and create community in an otherwise hostile world."e; —Alan Lessik, author of Make the Dark Night ShineFelice Picano (1944–2025) was a central figure in queer letters. A member of the Violet Quill, he founded SeaHorse Press in 1977 and, in 1981, co-founded The Gay Presses of New York, serving as its editor-in-chief. Remarkably prolific, Picano published fiction, memoir, poetry, nonfiction, and drama, with work appearing in countless anthologies and magazines. Widely honored with literary awards, he was also a generous mentor and true friend to innumerable writers.