Current Finalists
Congratulations to these creators of the 2026 Lammy Award finalist titles. Support our finalist authors by experiencing their work through your local library, indie bookseller, and/or our shelf on bookshop.org. The ceremony will take place in-person on Friday, June 12 at Sony Hall in NYC. Tickets are now available below. We hope to see you there!
Lesbian Fiction
- A Language of Limbs // Dylin Hardcastle. Dutton
- A Sharp Endless Need // Marisa Crane. The Dial Press
- Girls Girls Girls // Shoshana von Blanckensee. Penguin Random House | G.P. Putnam’s Sons
- Hungerstone // Kat Dunn. Zando
- milktooth // Jaime Burnet. Vagrant Press
Gay Fiction
- Mothers and Sons // Adam Haslett. Little, Brown
- Nova Scotia House // Charlie Porter. Nightboat Books
- The South // Tash Aw. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
- The Sunflower Boys // Sam Wachman. HarperCollins
- Waiting for Something Else // Martin Cloutier. Heliotrope Books
Bisexual Fiction
- And I’ll Take Out Your Eyes // A. M. Sosa. Algonquin Books
- Beyond All Reasonable Doubt, Jesus Is Alive!: Stories // Melissa Lozada-Oliva. Astra House
- House of Beth // Kerry Cullen. Simon & Schuster
- Sympathy for Wild Girls // Demree McGhee. The Feminist Press
- The Salvage // Anbara Salam. Zando/Tin House
Transgender Fiction
- Make Sure You Die Screaming // Zee Carlstrom. Flatiron Books
- Terry Dactyl // Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore. Coffee House Press
- The Lilac People: A Novel // Milo Todd. Counterpoint Press
- The Uncontinented Stars // Haden Cross. Self-published
- Woodworking // Emily St. James. Zando | Crooked Media Reads
Bisexual Nonfiction
- Look Ma, No Hands // Gabrielle Drolet. McClelland & Stewart
- Reading the Waves // Lidia Yuknavitch. Riverhead Books
- The Maps They Gave Us: One Marriage, Reimagined // Wayne Scott. Black Lawrence Press
- The Möbius Book // Catherine Lacey. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
- unMothered, unTongued // Lee Horikoshi Roripaugh. University of Georgia Press
Transgender Nonfiction
- Both/And // Denne Michele Norris with Electric Literature. HarperOne
- Cleavage: Men, Women, and the Space Between Us // Jennifer Finney Boylan. Celadon Books, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers
- Gendertrash From Hell: The First Print Collection of the Zine That Changed Everything // Edited by Mirha Soleil-Ross. Little Puss Press
- Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson // Tourmaline. Tiny Reparations Press
- Uncanny Valley Girls // Zefyr Lisowski. Harper Perennial
Gay Memoir/Biography
- Alligator Tears // Edgar Gomez. Crown
- Deep House: The Gayest Love Story Ever Told // Jeremy Atherton Lin. Little, Brown, and Company
- On the Boardwalk // Martin Sherman. Inkandescent.
- TAKE MY NAME BUT SAY IT SLOW: ESSAYS // Thomas Dai. W.W. Norton
- The Einstein of Sex: Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, Visionary of Weimar Berlin // Daniel Brook. W.W. Norton
Lesbian Memoir/Biography
- Black Panther Woman: The Political and Spiritual Life of Ericka Huggins // Mary Frances Phillips and Charlene A. Carruthers (foreword). New York University Press
- Gertrude Stein // Francesca Wade. Scribner
- The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland // Michelle Young. HarperOne
- The Autobiography of H. Lan Thao Lam // Lana Lin. Dorothy, a publishing project
- The Dry Season // Melissa Febos. Alfred A. Knopf
LGBTQ+ Nonfiction
- Baldwin: A Love Story // Nicholas Boggs. Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Guest Privileges: Queer Lives and Finding Home in the Middle East // Gaar Adams. Dzanc Books
- Queer Enlightenments: A Hidden History of Lovers, Lawbreakers, and Homemakers // Anthony Delaney. Grove Atlantic
- Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line // Elizabeth Lovatt. Legacy Lit
- The Hollow Half: A Memoir of Bodies and Borders // Sarah Aziza. Catapult
LGBTQ+ Studies
- Abolitionist Intimacies: Queer and Trans Migrants against the Deportation State // Eithne Luibhéid. Duke University Press
- Intersex: A Manifesto Against Medicalization // Iain Morland. Columbia University Press
- Lessons in Drag: A Queer Manual for Academics, Artists, and Aunties // Kareem Khubchandani, with LaWhore Vagistan. Brandeis University Press
- Queer Lasting: Ecologies of Care for a Dying World // Sarah Ensor. New York University Press
- Sodomy’s Solicitations: A Right to Queerness // Joseph J. Fischel. Temple University Press
LGBTQ+ Children's Books
- A Year of Pride and Joy // Simon James Green. Magic Cat
- Devin’s Gift // Alana Tyson, illustrated by Ebony Glenn. Philomel an Imprint of Penguin Young Readers
- JIM! Six True Stories about One Great Artist: James Marshall // Jerrold Connors. Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers
- O.K. Is Gay // Vincent X. Kirsch. Abrams Books for Young Readers
- Tales from Beyond the Rainbow // Pete Jordi Wood. Penguin Young Readers
- The Bi Book // A.J. Irving, illustrated by Cynthia Alonso. Random House Children’s Books | Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
LGBTQ+ Middle Grade
- A Song for You and I // K.O’Neill. Random House Children’s Books | Random House Graphic
- Glitch Girl! // Rainie Oet. Penguin Young Readers
- It’s All or Nothing, Vale // Andrea Beatriz Arango. Random House Children’s Books | Random House Books for Young Readers
- Pasta Girls // Taylor Tracy. HarperCollins – Quill Tree Books
- The Queen Bees of Tybee County // Kyle Casey Chu. HarperCollins – Quill Tree Books
LGBTQ+ Young Adult
- An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys // Rob Costello. Lethe Press
- Camila Núñez’s Year of Disasters // Miriam Zoila Pérez. Page Street Publishing | Page Street YA
- Come Home to My Heart // Riley Redgate. Union Square & Co.
- He’s So Possessed with Me // Corey Liu. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
- The Transition // Logan-Ashley Kisner. Random House Children’s Books | Delacorte Press
Gay Poetry
- Bachelor // Gustavo Hernandez. FlowerSong Press
- boy maybe: poems // W. J. Lofton. Beacon Press
- It Was Never Supposed To Be // Ben Kline. Variant Literature
- Kitchen Hymns // Pádraig Ó Tuama. Copper Canyon Press
- Seabeast // Rajiv Mohabir. Four Way Books
Lesbian Poetry
- Cactus Flowers: Selected Poems // Judith Teixeira, translated by Samantha Pious. Headmistress Press
- Glove Money // Sophia Dahlin. Nightboat Books
- pleasureis amiracle // Bianca Rae Messinger. Nightboat Books
- savings time // Roya Marsh. MCD
- The Natural Order of Things // Donika Kelly. Graywolf Press
Bisexual Poetry
- antibody // Rebecca Salazar. McClelland & Stewart
- Blue Opening // Chet’la Sebree. Zando/Tin House
- Hover // Liza Flum. Omnidawn Publishing
- Moon as Salted Lemon // Clayre Benzadón. Driftwood Press
- The Garbage Poems // Anna Swanson, illustrated by April White. Brick Books
Transgender Poetry
- a body more tolerable // jaye simpson. Arsenal Pulp Press
- Algarabía – The Song of Cenex, Natural Son of the Isle Alarabíyya // Roque Raquel Salas Rivera. Graywolf Press
- Death of the First Idea: Poems // Rickey Laurentiis. Alfred A. Knopf
- Local Woman // Jzl Jmz. Nightboat Books
- Reprise: Poems and Photographs // Golden. Haymarket Books
LGBTQ+ Poetry
- A Real Man Would Have a Gun: Poems // Stacey Waite. University of New Mexico Press
- Non-Prophet // Qurat Dar. icehouse poetry, an imprint of Goose Lane Editions
- Unfurl: Survivals, Sorrows, and Dreaming // Eli Clare. Duke University Press
- Wayward Creatures // heidi andrea restrepo rhodes. Host Publications
- YEET! // jason b crawford. Omnidawn Publishing
Gay Romance
- A Bridge in Glass // Derek Sowers. Dreamsprinner Press
- A Mannequin for Christmas: A Novel // Timothy Janovsky. St. Martin’s Griffin
- Disco Witches of Fire Island // Blair Fell. Alcove Press
- Good Boy // Carey Sass. Self-published
- He’s to Die For: A Novel // Erin Dunn. Minotaur Books
Lesbian Romance
- Bed and Breakup // Susie Dumond. The Dial Press
- Hot Tea & Bird Calls // Evie Marque. Self-published
- House of Rayne // Harley Laroux. Kensington Publishing Corporation
- Ladies in Hating // Alexandra Vasti. St. Martin’s Griffin
- The Woman from the Waves // Roslyn Sinclair. Self-published
LGBTQ+ Romance and Erotica
- A Gentleman’s Gentleman // TJ Alexander. Vintage Books
- Fanboy in the Falls // J.E. Birk. Maple Mountains Press
- It Had to Be Him // Adib Khorram. Forever | Grand Central Publishing | Hachette Book Group
- Single Player // Tara Tai. Alcove Press
- Strip Me Down // Aj Writer. Self under FWDIO Studios
LGBTQ+ Speculative Fiction
- Beings // Ilana Masad. Bloomsbury Publishing
- Blood on Her Tongue // Johanna van Veen. Sourcebooks, Poisoned Pen Press
- Cry, Voidbringer // Elaine Ho. Left Unread, an imprint of Bindery Books
- Two Truths and a Lie // Cory O’Brien. Pantheon Books
- Volatile Memory // Seth Haddon. Tordotcom
LGBTQ+ Anthology
- Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project // Meghan Kemp-Gee and Megan Praz. Stacked Deck Press
- Edge of the World: An Anthology of Queer Travel Writing // Edited by Alden Jones. Blair
- Queer Lens: A History of Photography // Edited by Paul Martineau and Ryan Linkof, with contributions by Jordan Bear, Ken Gonzales-Day, Alexis Bard Johnson, Derek Conrad Murray, and Catherine Opie. J. Paul Getty Museum
- Queers at the Table: An Illustrated Guide to Queer Food (with Recipes) // Alex D. Ketchum and Megan J. Elias (editors). Arsenal Pulp Press
- The New Lesbian Pulp // Sarah Fonseca and Octavia Saenz. The Feminist Press
LGBTQ+ Drama
- Ain’t No Mo’ // Jordan E. Cooper. Theatre Communications Group
- Another Kind of Silence // L M Feldman, translated by MoMo Holt. City Theatre Company
- Heartlines: A Love Story // Sarah Waisvisz. Talonbooks
- MERCUTIO LOVES ROMEO LOVES JULIET LOVES // Gina Femia. Original Works Publishing
- Prince Faggot // Jordan Tannahill. Playwrights Canada Press
LGBTQ+ Comics
- Gaysians // Mike Curato. Algonquin Books
- Love, Misha // Askel Aden. First Second
- Precious Rubbish // Kayla E. Fantagraphics
- Soften the Blow // Bread Tarleton (author). Fieldmouse Press
- Spent // Alison Bechdel. Mariner Books
LGBTQ+ Mystery
- A Queer Case // Robert Holtom. Titan Books
- Every Sweet Thing Is Bitter // Samantha Crewson. Crooked Lane Books
- Girl Falling // Hayley Scrivenor. Flatiron Books
- Mirage City // Lev AC Rosen. Minotaur Books
- The Case of the Missing Maid // Rob Osler. Kensington Publishing Corporation
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