SOURCE: Rich, B. Ruby. “In Profile: Jeanette Winterson.” Advocate (24 June 1997): 105–06.

In the following essay, Rich provides an overview of Winterson's literary career, incorporating Winterson's comments on her own celebrity and public identity as a lesbian writer.

Jeanette Winterson published her first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, in 1985 at age 26. It made her an instant literary celebrity—and a lesbian hero too, after the BBC filmed her autobiographical tale. She is an adopted daughter of Pentecostals, and she fights God and Mum as her lust for other women surfaces.

Six novels and a book of essays later, Winterson is recognized by the British literary establishment as one of the foremost writers of her generation. Her latest book, Gut Symmetries, proves once again that she is a grand master of literary style, with a knack for coaxing readers through intricate philosophical inquiries or historical details only to flatten...