In September 1974, Hyde Park became the birthplace of a pivotal cultural event: the first annual Lesbian Writers’ Conference. This gathering, envisioned by activist Marie J. Kuda and renowned pulp novelist Valerie Taylor, marked a significant period of transition within the gay-rights movement. At a time when lesbian pulp fiction of the 1950s and '60s was giving way to groundbreaking works like Rita Mae Brown’s Rubyfruit Jungle (1973), the conference celebrated both thepast and the emerging future of lesbian literature. Over the years, the conference grew, attracting attendees from across the nation until its final meeting in 1978. It explored the literary process from creation to publication and produced the first annotated bibliography of lesbian literature, Women Loving Women, edited by Kuda and published in 1975. Although the 1978 conference was the last, Marie J. Kuda envisioned its revival as a weeklong festival in Chicago, celebrating lesbian literature, art, and music, a dream that captures the enduring spirit and impact of this remarkable literary eve.