28th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists and Winners

Lesbian Fiction

 

• Apocalypse Baby, Virginie Despentes, The Feminist Press
• Blue Talk and Love, Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, Riverdale Avenue Books
• The Cherokee Rose, Tiya Miles, John F. Blair
• The First Bad Man, Miranda July, Scribner
• Jam on the Vine: A Novel, LaShonda Katrice Barnett, Grove Press
• Like a Woman, Debra Busman, Dzanc Books
• Thérèse and Isabelle, Violette Leduc, The Feminist Press
• Under the Udala Trees, Chinelo Okparanta, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Winner)

 

Gay Fiction

 

• Breathing Lessons, Andy Sinclair, Véhicule Press
• The Early Stories of Truman Capote, Truman Capote, Random House
• God in Pink, Hasan Namir, Arsenal Pulp Press (Winner)
• Immaculate Blue, Paul Russell, Cleis Press
• JD: A Novel, Mark Merlis, Terrace Books
• A Poet of the Invisible World, Michael Golding, Macmillan/Picador
• The Rise and Fall of the Yellow House, John Whittier Treat, Big Table Publishing Company
• Still Life, Las Vegas, James Sie, St. Martin’s Press

 

Bisexual Literature (TIE)

 

• Irrepressible: The Jazz Age Life of Henrietta Bingham, Emily Bingham, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Winner — Nonfiction)
• The Life and Death of Sophie Stark, Anna North, Penguin Random House/Blue Rider Press (Winner — Fiction)
• The Gap of Time, Jeanette Winterson, Hogarth
• Eat My Heart Out, Zoe Pilger, The Feminist Press
• My Riastrad, Kevin Hogan, Antrim House

 

Transgender Fiction

 

• Defiant, Michael Scott Monje, Jr., Autonomous Press
• Lost Boi, Sassafras Lowrey, Arsenal Pulp Press
• Tiny Pieces of Skull, or a Lesson in Manners, Roz Kaveney, Team Angelica Publishing (Winner)

 

LGBT Debut Fiction

 

• The Brink, Austin Bunn, Harper Perennial
• Do U., Mark S. Luckie, Amazon/CreateSpace
• His Steadfast Love and Other Stories, Paul Brownsey, Lethe Press
• Hotel Living, Ioannis Pappos, Harper Perennial
• Life is Wonderful, People are Terrific, Meliza Bañales, Ladybox Books
• A Love Like Blood, Victor Yates, Hillmont Press (Winner)
• Lovesick, James Driggers, Kensington Publishing
• Lum: A Novel, Libby Ware, She Writes Press

 

LGBT Nonfiction

 

• Considering Hate: Violence, Goodness, and Justice in American Culture and Politics, Kay Whitlock and Michael Bronski, Beacon Press
• Fading Scars: My Queer Disability History, Corbett Joan O’Toole, Autonomous Press
• The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle, Lillian Faderman, Simon & Schuster
• Modern Families: Stories of Extraordinary Journeys to Kinship, Joshua Gamson, NYU Press
• Namibia’s Rainbow Project, Robert Lorway, Indiana University Press
• “No One Helped”: Kitty Genovese, New York City, and the Myth of Urban Apathy, Marcia M. Gallo, Cornell University Press (Winner)
• What Color Is Your Hoodie? Essays on Black Gay Identity, Jarrett Neal, Chelsea Station Editions

 

Transgender Nonfiction

 

• Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family, Amy Ellis Nutt, Random House
• Born on the Edge of Race and Gender: A Voice for Cultural Competency, Willy Wilkinson, Hapa Papa Press (Winner)
• Hiding in Plain Sight, Zane Thimmesch-Gill, Riverdale Avenue Books

 

Lesbian Poetry

 

• The Devastation, Melissa Buzzeo, Nightboat Books
• Everybody’s Bread, Claudia Rodriguez, Korima Press
• Experience in the Medium of Destruction, Sara Jane Stoner, Portable Press@Yo-Yo Labs
• Girls Like You, Margot Douaihy, Clemson University Press
• Life in a Box is a Pretty Life, Dawn Lundy Martin, Nightboat Books (Winner)
• Pelvis with Distance, Jessica Jacobs, White Pine Press
• Say/Mirror: Poems and Histories, JP Howard, The Operating System
• Shorthand and Electric Language Stars, Stephanie Gray, Portable Press@Yo-Yo Labs

 

Gay Poetry (TIE)

 

• Angel Park, Roberto F. Santiago, Lethe Press/Tincture
• Boy with Thorn, Rickey Laurentiis, University of Pittsburgh Press
• Canto Hondo/Deep Song, Francisco X. Alarcón, University of Arizona Press
• Crevasse, Nicholas Wong, Kaya Press (Winner)
• Otter, Ben Ladouceur, Coach House Books
• Reconnaissance, Carl Phillips, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Winner)
• Steep Tea, Jee Leong Koh, Carcanet
• Teaching a Man to Unstick His Tail, Ralph Hamilton, Sibling Rivalry Press

 

Transgender Poetry

 

• Why Dust Shall Never Settle Upon This Soul, Ryka Aoki, Biyuti Publishing
• Impersonation, Joy Ladin, The Sheep Meadow Press
• succubus in my pocket, kari edwards, EOAGH Books (Winner)

 

Lesbian Mystery (TIE)

 

• The Grave Soul, Ellen Hart, Minotaur Books
• Illicit Artifacts, Stevie Mikayne, Bold Strokes Books
• Ordinary Mayhem, Victoria Brownworth, Bold Strokes Books (Winner)
• No Good Reason, Cari Hunter, Bold Strokes Books
• The Red Files, Lee Winter, Ylva Publishing
• Relatively Rainey, R.E. Bradshaw, R.E. Bradshaw Books
• Tarnished Gold, Ann Aptaker, Bold Strokes Books (Winner)
• The Tattered Heiress: Volume Two of the Charlotte Olmes Mystery Series, Debra Hyde, Riverdale Avenue Books

 

Gay Mystery

 

• After the Horses, Jeffrey Round, Dundurn
• The Boys from Eighth and Carpenter, Tom Mendicino, Kensington Publishing
• Boystown 7: Bloodlines, Marshall Thornton, Kenmore Books (Winner)
• Cheap as Beasts, Jon Wilson, Bold Strokes Books
• Introducing Sunfish & Starfish: Tropical Drag Queen Detectives, Wallace Godfrey, Strand Hill Books
• Murder and Mayhem, Rhys Ford, Dreamspinner Press
• Orient, Christopher Bollen, Harper
• The Swede, Robert Karjel, Harper

 

Lesbian Memoir/Biography

 

• Cooking as Fast as I Can: A Chef’s Story of Family, Food, and Forgiveness, Cat Cora, Scribner
• Dirty River, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Arsenal Pulp Press
• Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, Carrie Brownstein, Riverhead Books/Penguin Random House
• Objects in the Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear, Kate Carroll de Gutes, Ovenbird Books (Winner)
• You’re Not Edith, Allison Gruber, George Braziller

 

Gay Memoir/Biography

 

• Chasing Lost Time: The Life of C. K. Scott Moncrieff: Soldier, Spy, and Translator, Jean Findlay, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Exiled for Love: The Journey of an Iranian Queer Activist, Arsham Parsi and Marc Colbourne, Roseway Publishing
• A House in St. John’s Wood, Matthew Spender, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• James Merrill: Life and Art, Langdon Hammer, Alfred A. Knopf (Winner)
• My Avant-Garde Education: A Memoir, Bernard Cooper, W.W. Norton & Company
• My Body Is Yours, Michael V. Smith, Arsenal Pulp Press
• Smash Cut, Brad Gooch, Harper
• Until My Heart Stops, Jameson Currier, Chelsea Station Editions

 

Lesbian Romance

 

• Autumn Spring, Shelley Thrasher, Bold Strokes Books
• The Chameleon’s Tale, Andrea Bramhall, Bold Strokes Books
• Full Circle, Dillon Watson, Bella Books
• Heart of the Game, Rachel Spangler, Bold Strokes Books
• Infiltration, Jackie D, Bold Strokes Books
• Making A Comeback, Julie Blair, Bold Strokes Books (Winner)
• My Best Friend’s Girl, Blythe H. Warren, Bella Books
• The Renegade, Amy Dunne, Bold Strokes Books

 

Gay Romance

 

• Blueberry Boys, Vanessa North, Riptide Publishing
• Brothers, Ralph Josiah Bardsley, Bold Strokes Books
• For Real, Alexis Hall, Riptide Publishing
• General Misconduct, L.A. Witt, Samhain Publishing
• Misfits, Garrett Leigh, Riptide Publishing
• Something Like Stories, Volume One, Jay Bell, Jay Bell Books
• When Skies Have Fallen, Debbie McGowan, Beaten Track (Winner)
• Yes, Brad Boney, Dreamspinner Press

 

Lesbian Erotica

 

• Desire Behind Bars: Lesbian Prison Erotica, Salome Wilde and Talon Rihai (editors), Hillside Press
• The Muse, Meghan O’Brien, Bold Strokes Books (Winner)
• Sweet & Rough: Queer Kink Erotica, Sinclair Sexsmith, Maverick Press

 

Gay Erotica

 

• Charming: Modern Gay Fairytales, Jennifer Levine and Rian Darcy, Circlet Press
• College Dive Bar, 1 AM, Natty Soltesz, Go Deeper Press
• Érotiques Suprèmes, Miodrag Kojadinovic, Choose the Sword Press (Winner)
• Grave Desires, William Holden, Lethe Press
• Green Eyes — an erotic novel (sort-of), Michael Ampersant, Lust Spiel Book

 

LGBT Anthology (TIE)

 

• Beyond: The Queer Sci-Fi & Fantasy Comic Anthology, Sfé R. Monster (Editor) & Taneka Stotts (Assistant Editor), Beyond Press (Winner)
• Glitter and Grit: Queer Performance from the Heels on Wheels Femme Galaxy, Edited by Damien Luxe, Heather M. Ács, Sabina Ibarrola, Publication Studio (Winner)
• Memories of the Revolution, Holly Hughes, Carmelita Tropicana, and Jill Dolan, Editors, University of Michigan Press
• Out of the Closet, Into the Archives: Researching Sexual Histories, Amy L. Stone and Jaime Cantrell, SUNY Press
• A Pride of Poppies: Modern GLBTQI fiction of the Great War, Julie Bozza (editor), Manifold Press
• Soy Lesbiana y Que! Out Latina Lesbians, Nívea Castro with Geny Cabral, Sinister Wisdom
• Speak My Language, and Other Stories: An Anthology of Gay Fiction, Edited by Torsten Højer, Little, Brown Book Group/Robinson
• Videogames for Humans: Twine Authors in Conversation, Merritt Kopas, Instar Books

 

LGBT Children’s/Young Adult

 

• About a Girl: A Novel, Sarah McCarry, St. Martin’s Griffin
• Anything Could Happen, Will Walton, Push
• Gay and Lesbian History for Kids: The Century-Long Struggle for LGBT Rights, Jerome Pohlen, Chicago Review Press
• George, Alex Gino, Scholastic Press (Winner)
• The Marvels, Brian Selznick, Scholastic Press
• More Happy Than Not, Adam Silvera, Soho Teen
• None of the Above, IW Gregorio, Balzer + Bray/ Harper Collins
• Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, Becky Albertalli, Balzer + Bray/Harper Collins

 

LGBT Drama

 

• Bright Half Life, Tanya Barfield, Dramatists Play Service (Winner)
• Fun Home, Music by Jeanine Tesori, Book and Lyrics by Lisa Kron, Based on the Graphic Novel by Alison Bechdel, Samuel French
• Hir, Taylor Mac, Northwestern University Press
• Love Alone, Deborah Salem Smith, Dramatists Play Service
• The Mystery of Love and Sex, Bathsheba Doran, Samuel French

 

LGBT Graphic Novels

 

• Curveball, Jeremy Sorese, Nobrow
• Honor Girl, Maggie Thrash, Candlewick Press
• The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ & Amal, EK Weaver, Iron Circus Comics (Winner)
• O Human Star: Volume One, Blue Delliquanti, Self-published
• Wuvable Oaf, Ed Luce, Fantagraphics Books

 

LGBT SF/F/Horror

 

• The Boys on the Mountain, John Inman, DSP Publications
• The Caphenon (Chronicles of Alsea – Book #1), Fletcher DeLancey, Ylva Publishing
• Down, Ally Blue, Riptide Publishing
• The Glittering World, Robert Levy, Gallery Books
• The Gracekeepers, Kirsty Logan, Crown Publishers (Winner)
• Minotaur, J.A. Rock, Riptide Publishing
• Sacrati, Kate Sherwood, Riptide Publishing
• Wonder City Stories, Jude McLaughlin, Createspace

 

LGBT Studies

 

• Arresting Dress: Cross-Dressing, Law, and Fascination in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco, Clare Sears, Duke University Press
• Funk the Erotic: Transaesthetics and Black Sexual Cultures, L.H. Stallings, University of Illinois
• Gay Fathers, Their Children, and the Making of Kinship, Aaron Goodfellow, Fordham University Press
• Indifference to Difference: On Queer Universalism, Madhavi Menon, University of Minnesota Press
• Not Gay: Sex between Straight White Men, Jane Ward, NYU Press
• Queer Marxism in Two Chinas, Petrus Liu, Duke University Press
• A Taste for Brown Bodies: Gay Modernity and Cosmopolitan Desire, Hiram Pérez, NYU Press (Winner)
• Thinking Sex with the Early Moderns, Valerie Traub, University of Pennsylvania Press