This gathering of writings from well-known authors is a celebration of sensual love from classic times to the present day. Representing some of literature's brightest lights, this anthology aptly fulfills the many purposes of erotic writing. Included here are selections from Anais Nin, Anne Rice, Pat Califia, Alice Joanou, and many others.

From bookstores to the Internet to Susie Bright's own tremendous success with the BEST AMERICAN EROTICA series, we are clearly reading and writing erotica more than ever. Now Susie Bright shows readers how to heat up sex scenes in everything from traditional novels and romances to science fiction and horror. She guides aspiring writers in reading erotica to discover the elements and styles that work. Then she walks them through the writing process: how to get hot ideas, devise steamy plots, use language like a pro and bring the story to a memorable climax. Each chapter features writing exercises and suggestions for non-writing activities that will galvanise the imagination and flatten any hurdle. Drawing on her own experiences, Bright explains how to find an agent, work with an editor, choose a publishing company and sell the work.

Stories by: Kathy Acker, Isabel Allende, Laila Baalabaki, Simone de Beauvoir, Svetlana Boym, Angela Carter, Kate Chopin, Colette, Elizabeth Cook, Candas Jane Dorsey, Carol Emshwiller, L.A. Hall, Radclyffe Hall, Bessie Head, Siv Holm, Evelyn Lau, La Marquise de Mannoury d'Ectot, Katherine Mansfield, Ann Oakley, Iva Pekárková, Claire Rabe, Alifa Rifaat, Joanna Russ, May Sinclair, Verena Stefan, Gertrude Stein, Nicole Ward Jouve, Anna- Elisabeth Weirauch, Edith Wharton, Amy Yamada. Tales of forbidden lust, illicit desires, the twin hungers of loneliness and lust and the complexities of intimacy: all are explored in this fascinating anthology of stories on erotic themes. Spanning the last hundred years The Penguin Book of Erotic Stories by Women brings together tales that capture the sexual mores of their ages. This is an anthology that acknowledges and confirms a woman's right to shape and define her own sexuality, rather than having it forced on her by men.

The Encyclopedia of Erotic Literature is a two-volume work that contains some 540 entries on erotic literature on an international scale. The Encyclopedia has an unprecedented scope, the first scholarly reference resource to bring the field together in all its fascinating variety. The entries examine the history of the literature in different countries and languages from classical antiquity to the present day, individual writers from around the world (not all of them necessarily known as specialist writers of erotic literature), significant works, genres and critical approaches, and general themes pertinent to erotic literature (nudity, prostitution, etc.). The definition of erotic literature is broad, encompassing all the material recognized in the study of the field: not just fiction in all genres (novels, poetry, short stories, drama), but also essays, autobiographies, treatises and sex manuals from different cultures. This Encyclopedia deals with sexually explicit texts characterized by sexual representations and suggestions. All types of sexuality are included. For more information about the title and the editors, go to: http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/news/latest-news/erotic-encyclopedia-edited-by-london-met-professor.cfm/

From the Introduction. THIS book sets itself the interesting and intriguing task of writing the erotic history of France and its erotic literature. Perhaps someone will inquire why we choose such a theme, and what profit is to be derived from a knowledge of the numerous piquant and gallant details that we shall meet on our quest. It is possible, too, that some reader will wonder about the latter part of the title: The History of French Erotic Literature. What is the justification for this phrase? Let us spend a few moments now in trying to understand why France should be chosen as the subject of an erotic history; why the history of the vast system of practices connected with the most unbridled and diverse expression of sex life in the land of the Gauls is of importance for us. Then we shall be in a position to realize the tremendous value of French erotic writings, which shall be our guides in our expedition through this land of love. It is a nice question whether there is an essential and an all-pervasive difference between the different races of mankind. But whatever be the truth about this very moot question, it is an indisputable fact that France has for many centuries been renowned as the home par excellence of eroticism, and Frenchmen as the typical representatives of the erotic spirit and practitioners of the erotic art. This by no means implies that there is something inherent in the French which impels them to this type of activity. We are merely stating a fact which can be buttressed by numerous phenomena, historical and sociological. Many investigators have asserted the fundamental unity of all nations, and have even denied that there has been any development through the course of history, by which modern men, for instance, have come into the possession of new traits of character or elements of physical structure. The French critic - Remy de Gourmont - has gone so far as to develop a quasi-law of history which claims that in all ages and in all climes men are alike, and the same diversities which separated classes of men and individuals at a bygone age are still observable today, mutatis mutandis. If this view is true, and we incline to believe that it is, then the sources for the development and importance of the erotic motif in French culture are to be led back not to certain structural peculiarities of the French people but to certain peculiarities in their history and sociological organization. Just at what date these traits first became manifest it is difficult to assert with precision. During the Renaissance period, when new blood began to run in the veins of the awakened and enlightened Europeans, and the first fruits of the new culture became documented in literature, we are already able to discern the strength of this motif. Of course at this time other nations of Europe, the Italians principally and also the Germans, were producing similar works. Indeed, the beginning of this literature as forsooth of the whole drive and potency of the Renaissance is to be seen in Italy; but at any rate this direction manifested in literature was the reflection of tendencies continued, developed, and augmented which at a later date made France the mundane residence of Venus in Europe....

From ancient Egypt to the recent past, this compilation of erotic stories, poems, songs, illustrations, and photographs follows the history of erotic art and literature. Designed to be tastefully displayed, this book contains excerpts from the Kama Sutra, the Chinese Golden Lotus, the Japanese Shunga, and, representing the Western tradition, the story of Salome and the Song of Songs from the Bible.