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Robert Drake
(1962 - living) U.S.A.

Robert Drake

Author

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Robert won a Lambda award last year for an anthology in 1997, for which he was a co-editor, ''His 2: Brilliant New Fiction by Gay Writers.'' His most recent book is ''The Gay Canon: Great Books Every Gay Man Should Read.'' In the mid-90's, he wrote a novel about a gay man who is murdered because of his sexual orientation.

In 1999, Robert Drake, a prominent American writer on gay themes , was living in a rented house in Sligo, Ireland, with his partner, Kieran. The couple were happy, the relationship comfortable. Robert's literary career was doing well and life was good. One January night, while Kieran was out, Robert bumped into two local men in their early 20's, Glen Mahon and Ian Monaghan. According to reports from the time, they were invited into Robert's house. Hours later, Kieran discovered Robert in a pool of blood inside their ransacked apartment. He had been viciously attacked by Mahon and Monaghan, left with brain injuries and fighting for his life

In court, the pair alleged that they attacked Robert because he made a pass at them, but this was denied by friends of Robert (he has no memory of that night). 16 years after the attack, life is utterly changed for Robert Drake. He and his former partner are great friends, but their relationship had to change. He is a wheelchair user, his balance is not good, and his brain injuries have affected his speech and memory. His attackers got eight years in prison. But Robert is not defined by his injuries.

Today, Drake is moving on with his life, with the help of his writing community, church community and friends. The internet has also "opened a whole [new] level of communication" for him, as have devices such as tablets.

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Source: http://www.thejournal.ie & http://www.thejournal.ie

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