Dr. Phillip Gordon, associate professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, has helped facilitate the release of a new edition of a 1948 novel, “The Welcome,” by Hubert Creekmore. The novel, which has been out of print for more than 50 years, is being re-issued by the University Press of Mississippi this week and includes an introduction by Gordon.
“Hubert Creekmore’s ‘The Welcome’ was way ahead of its time when it was published in 1948, which is why it didn’t sell very well when it was first released and fell out of print over half a century ago,” said Gordon, who also provided copy-editing and page proofing for this new edition. “It is a story about two young men who love each other, but social convention prevents them from expressing their love. It is a novel about rural LGBTQ+ life. It is an argument in favor of same-sex marriage from long before the rest of the nation even acknowledged the validity of queer people’s lives.”
Gordon will be presenting a public lecture on Creekmore’s life and legacy as part of the “History is Lunch” series at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson, Mississippi, on March 22. The lecture will be streamed live.
“It has been an honor to be part of bringing this ‘lost gay novel’ back into print with the University Press of Mississippi,” said Gordon. “I’ve been working on projects about Hubert Creekmore for over ten years, and I am grateful for the Creekmore family’s faith in my work and support. I am also very grateful to my mentors from the University of Mississippi who introduced me to Creekmore’s novel and have been instrumental in helping revive the legacy of this important American author.”
Gordon is also author of “Gay Faulkner: Uncovering a Homosexual Presence in Yoknapatawpha and Beyond” (December 2019, University Press of Mississippi).