The Cambridge Companion to Lesbian Literature examines literary representations of lesbian sexuality, identities, and communities, from the medieval period to the present. In addition to providing a helpful orientation to key literary-historical periods, critical concepts, theoretical debates and literary genres, this Companion considers the work of such well-known authors as Willa Cather, Adrienne Rich, Jeanette Winterson, and Rita Mae Brown. Written by a host of leading critics and covering subjects as diverse as lesbian desire in the long eighteenth century and same-sex love in a postcolonial context, this Companion delivers insight into the variety of traditions that have shaped the present landscape of lesbian literature. This Companion examines literary representations of lesbian sexuality, identities, and communities, from the medieval period to the present. Jodie Medd is Associate Professor of English at Carleton University, Ottawa. She is the author of Lesbian Scandal and the Culture of Modernism (Cambridge, 2012) and essays on queer sexuality and modernism.