Roxane Gay and Medium launch Gay Magazine

NEW YORK – Author Roxane Gay and the online publishing platform Medium have launched Gay Magazine, dedicated to diverse, “intelligently provocative work” and a culture of respect for both readers and writers.

The first edition, posted earlier this week , includes essays by Grace Lavery and Athena Dixon. Lavery, whose debut book “Quaint, Exquisite” comes out later this month, describes her struggles with drinking and the meaning of a “new start.” Dixon, author of the poetry chapbook “No God In This Room,” writes about being a “woman of size.”

In an editor’s note, Gay writes that the magazine will focus on “nurturing talent” and support “not only diverse writers but diverse voices and esthetics.”

Gay’s books include “Bad Feminist,” ”Difficult Women” and “Hunger: A Memoir of My Body.”