Elsa Gidlow

Who was Elsa Gidlow?

Elfie Gidlow was a British-born, Canadian-American poet, freelance journalist, and philosopher. She is best known for writing On A Grey Thread, possibly the first volume of openly lesbian love poetry published in North America. In the 1950s, Gidlow helped found Druid Heights, a bohemian community in Marin County, California. She was the author of thirteen books and appeared as herself in the documentary film, Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives. Completed just before her death, her book Elsa, I Come With My Songs, became the first published lesbian autobiography.