Will Fellows, born in 1957, grew up on the family farm near Evansville, Wisconsin. After
completing undergraduate and graduate degrees at Cornell University, he returned to
Wisconsin. He was living in Madison when he began working on the Gay Farm Boys Project. From
1992 to 1993, he interviewed seventy-five gay men from farming backgrounds. Fellows selected
approximately half of the interviews for inclusion in a book and shaped the transcript
material into autobiographical narratives, consulting with the interview subjects throughout
the process to ensure authenticity. Farm Boys: Lives of Gay Men from
the Rural Midwest was published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 1996. It
was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award in 1997.
A play inspired by the book was written by Dean Gray and Amy Fox. Farm Boys has been produced in New York (2004, Blue Heron Theatre), St. Paul
(2006, Great American History Theatre), and San Francisco (2007, New Conservatory
Theatre).
Will Fellows and his life partner, Bronze Quinton, have been Milwaukee residents since
1994. Fellows's second book, A Passion to Preserve: Gay Men as
Keepers of Culture, was published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 2004. It
was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award in 2005.
