Winners of the 26th Annual Lambda Literary Awards Announced

Author: Edit Team

June 3, 2014

26th Annual Lambda Literary Award Winners Announced

Alison Bechdel and Kate Bornstein Honored

Special Performance Given by Justin Vivian Bond

New York, NY – The winners of the 26th Annual Lambda Literary Awards (the “Lammys”) were announced last night in a gala ceremony hosted by comedienne Kate Clinton at The Great Hall at Cooper Union. It occurred on the heels of BookExpo America, the book publishing industry’s largest annual gathering of booksellers, publishers, authors, and readers. The Lambda ceremony brought together over 500 attendees, sponsors, and celebrities to celebrate excellence in LGBT literature and 26 years of the groundbreaking literary awards. Obie Award-winning performance artist and past Lambda Award winner Justin Vivian Bond graced the ceremony with a special “half-time” performance. The celebration continued at the VIP After-Party hosted by Scholastic at the Scholastic Greenhouse & Terrace with DJ Sean McMahill.

The ceremony opened with a powerful montage of video clips from the “What LGBTQI Book Changed Your Life” campaign, a project conducted in conjunction with the Lammys to recognize LGBT literature of all types, from poetry to erotica, that has influenced millions of readers. As master of ceremonies for the third consecutive year, Clinton treated the audience to her signature brand of topical, political comedy. She kept the audience laughing with lines like “Happy Pride Month, the month formerly known as June,” and “I’m happy about the new pope. He’s our first Christian one.”

Cartoonist Justin Hall, award-winning creator of the series True Travel Tales in presenting the Board of Trustees Award for Excellence in Literature to Alison Bechdel said that her body of work from her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For to graphic memoirs Fun Home and Are You My Mother? solidify her unique place in the comic book cannon. Bechdel gave a funny and moving acceptance speech filled with memories from when she won her first Lammy in 1991.

Appropriately, Bechdel presented the first award for the new category of best LGBT Graphic Novel to Calling Dr. Laura: A Graphic Memoir by Nicole J. Georges.

Kate Bornstein was presented the Pioneer Award by her life partner, Barbara Carrellas who said that when people are asked what Kate Bornstein means to them, “the overwhelming answer is ‘Kate Bornstein saved my life.'” Bornstein’s call to action to stop the history of shaming with regard to sex and gender brought the audience to a standing ovation.

Michael Thomas Ford and Radclyffe were awarded with the Dr. James Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Prize and Imogen Binnie and Charles Rice-Gonzalez were presented with the Dr. Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award.

Justin Vivian Bond provided the “half-time” entertainment with three songs from ve’s recent show, “The Drift,” all of which were inspired by classic literature.

“Throughout the beautiful ceremony, we were reminded of the meaningfulness of LGBT literature and writers in our lives,” said Tony Valenzuela, Lambda Literary Foundation Executive Director.  “Congratulations to all the winners and honorees.”

Once again, the stage glittered with a stellar roster of presenters from the worlds of film, television, theatre, politics, religion, sex, and, of course, literature. Just some of the presenters who graced the stage were: Mike Albo, Henry Alford, Hilton Als, Masha Gessen, A.M. Homes, Sassafras Lowrey, David Mixner, Pauline Park, Seth Rudetsky, Ira Silverberg and Urvashi Vaid.

26th ANNUAL LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD WINNERS

 

TRANSGENDER FICTION

• Nevada, a novel, Imogen Binnie, Topside Press
• Tiresias, Devon Llywelyn Jones, Devon Llywelyn Jones
• Wanting in Arabic, Trish Salah, TSAR Publications [Winner]

BISEXUAL FICTION

• Corona, Bushra Rehman, Sibling Rivalry Press
• Hild: A Novel, Nicola Griffith, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• In His Secret Life, Mel Bossa, Bold Strokes Books
• My Education, Susan Choi, Penguin Group/Viking [Winner]
• The Two Hotel Francforts: A Novel, David Leavitt, Bloomsbury

GAY GENERAL FICTION

• A Visit to Priapus and Other Stories, by Glenway Wescott, Ed. Jerry Rosco, University of Wisconsin Press
• An Honest Ghost, Rick Whitaker, Jaded Ibis Press
• The City of Devi, Manil Suri, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
• Damn Love, Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, Ig Publishing
• The Desperates, Greg Kearney, Cormorant Books
• Fire Year, Jason K. Friedman, Sarabande Books
• Local Souls, Allan Gurganus, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
• Mundo Cruel: Stories, Luis Negron; translated by Suzanne Jill Levine, Seven Stories Press [Winner]
• Necessary Errors, Caleb Crain, Penguin Books
• The Red Shoes, John Stewart Wynne, Riverdale Ave Books/Magnus

LESBIAN GENERAL FICTION

• The Albino Album, Chavisa Woods, Seven Stories Press
• Bodies of Water, T. Greenwood, Kensington
• Cha-Ching!, Ali Liebegott, City Lights
• Cream, Christiana Harrell, Createspace
• The Daylight Gate, Jeanette Winterson, Grove/Atlantic Inc./Grove Press
• Fat Angie, e.E. Charlton-Trujillo, Candlewick Press
• Happiness, Like Water, Chinelo Okparanta, Mariner Books (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) [Winner]
• She Rises: A Novel, Kate Worsley, Bloomsbury
• Survival Skills, Jean Ryan, Ashland Creek Press
• We Are Water, Wally Lamb, HarperCollins/Harper

LGBT DEBUT FICTION

TRANSGENDER NONFICTION

• Blood, Marriage, Wine & Glitter, S. Bear Bergman, Arsenal Pulp Press
• The End of San Francisco, Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, City Lights Publishers [Winner]
• Testo Junkie, Beatriz Preciado, Feminist Press

BISEXUAL NONFICTION

• The B Word: Bisexuality in Contemporary Film and Television, Maria San Filippo, Indiana University Press [Winner]
• Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution, Shiri Eisner, Seal Press
• The Soundtrack of My Life, Clive Davis, Simon & Schuster

LGBT NONFICTION

• Among the Bloodpeople, Thomas Glave, Akashic Books
• Does Jesus Really Love Me?, Jeff Chu, Harper Collins
• The End of the Homosexual?, Dennis Altman, University of Queensland Press
• Living Out Islam: Voices of Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Muslims, Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle, NYU Press
• Meet Grindr: How One App Changed The Way We Connect, Jamie Woo, Self-Published
• Plane Queer: Labor, Sexuality, and AIDS in the History of Male Flight Attendants, Phil Tiemeyer, University of California Press
• The Queer Limit of Black Memory Black Lesbian Literature and Irresolution, Matt Richardson, The Ohio State University Press
• Radical Relations: Lesbian Mothers, Gay Fathers, and Their Children in the United States since World War II, Daniel Winunwe Rivers, University of North Carolina Press
• Tom Bianchi: Fire Island Pines. Polaroids 1975-1983, Ben Smales, Tom Bianchi, Edmund White, Damiani
• White Girls, Hilton Als, McSweeney’s Publishing [Winner]
• You Can Tell Just By Looking: And 20 Other Myths about LGBT Life and People, Michael Bronski, Ann Pellegrini and Michael Amico, Beacon Press

GAY POETRY

• Alternative Medicine, Rafael Campo, Duke University Press
• The Apartment of Tragic Appliances, Michael D. Snediker, Peanut Books (an imprint of punctum books)
• Clay, David Groff, Trio House Press
• Companion Grasses, Brian Teare, Omnidawn Publishing
• Metaphysical Dog, Frank Bidart, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Obscenely Yours, Angelo Nikolopoulos, Alice James Books
• Silverchest, Carl Phillips, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Straight Razor, Randall Mann, Persea Books
• The Talking Day, Michael Klein, Sibling Rivalry Press
• Unpeopled Eden, Rigoberto Gonzalez, Four Way Books [Winner]

LESBIAN POETRY

• A Wild Surmise: New & Selected Poems & Recordings, Eloise Klein Healy, Red Hen Press
• Chopper! Chopper! Poetry From Bordered Lives, Veronica Reyes, Red Hen Press/Arktoi Books
• Chord Box, Elizabeth Lindsey Rogers, The University of Arkansas Press
• The Collected Poems of Ai, Ai, W.W. Norton & Company
• The Exchange, Sophie Cabot Black, Graywolf Press
• Proxy, R. Erica Doyle, Belladonna Collaborative
• Rise in the Fall, Ana Bozicevic, Birds, LLC [Winner]
• She Has a Name, Kamilah Aisha Moon, Four Way Books
• Viral, Suzanne Parker, Alice James Books
• We Come Elemental, Tamiko Beyer, Alice James Books

GAY MYSTERY

• Baton Rouge Bingo, Greg Herren, Bold Strokes Books
• Boystown 5: Murder Book, Marshall Thornton, MLR Press
• Fierce, David Lennon, Blue Spike Publishing
• Foxed, Garry Ryan, NeWest Press
• The General and the Elephant Clock of Al-Jazari, Sarah Black, Dreamspinner Press
• How to Greet Strangers: A Mystery, Joyce Thompson, Lethe Press
• In Real Life, The 3rd Gemini & Flowers Mystery, Jonathan Gregory, Amazon Digital Services Inc
• Pawn of Satan, Mark Zubro, MLR Press
• Pretty Boy Dead, Jon Michaelsen, Wilde City Press
• The Prisoner of the Riviera: A Francis Bacon Mystery, Janice Law, MysteriousPress.com/Open Road Media [Winner]

LESBIAN MYSTERY

• Cross and Burn, Val McDermid, Grove/Atlantic/Atlantic Monthly Press
• Death of the Demon, Anne Holt, Scribner
• High Desert, Katherine V. Forrest, Spinsters Ink [Winner]
• The Killer Wore Leather: A Mystery, Laura Antoniou, Cleis Press
• Point of Betrayal, Ann Roberts, Bella Books
• The Rainey Season, R.E. Bradshaw, R.E. Bradshaw Books
• She Overheard Murder, Jean Sheldon, Wellworth Publishing/Bast Press
• Taken by the Wind, Ellen Hart, St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books
• Turning on the Tide, Jenna Rae, Bella Books
• Web of Obsessions, Diane Wood, Bella Books
• The Wild Beasts of Wuhan: An Ava Lee Novel, Ian Hamilton, Picador

GAY MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY

• A Heaven of Words: Last Journals, by Glenway Wescott, Ed. Jerry Rosco, University of Wisconsin Press [Winner]
• The AIDS Generation: Stories of Survival and Resilience, Perry N. Halkitis, Oxford University Press
• American Hipster: A Life of Herbert Huncke, The Times Square Hustler Who Inspired the Beat Movement, Hilary Holladay, Riverdale Ave Books/Magnus
• Darling: A Spiritual Autobiography, Richard Rodriguez, Penguin Group/Viking
• Dreadful: The Short Life and Gay Times of John Horne Burns, David Margolick, Other Press
• Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father, Alysia Abbott, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
• Farther and Wilder: The Lost Weekends and Literary Dreams of Charles Jackson, Blake Bailey, Alfred A. Knopf
• Henry Darger, Throwaway Boy: The Tragic Life of an Outsider Artist, Jim Elledge, Overlook Duckworth
• In Bed With Gore Vidal, Tim Teeman, Riverdale Ave Books/Magnus
• Returning to Reims, Didier Eribon, Semiotext(e)

LESBIAN MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY

• Body Geographic, Barrie Jean Borich, University of Nebraska Press [Winner]
• Growing up Golem, Donna Minkowitz, Riverdale Ave Books/Magnus
• How Poetry Saved My Life, Amber Dawn, Arsenal Pulp Press
• L Is for Lion: An Italian Bronx Butch Freedom Memoir, Annie Rachel Lanzillotto, SUNY Press, Excelsior Editions
• Lost Cat: A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology, Caroline Paul and Wendy MacNaughton, Bloomsbury

GAY ROMANCE

• Covet Thy Neighbor, L. A. Witt, Riptide Publishing
• Glitterland, Alexis Hall, Riptide Publishing
• Into This River I Drown, TJ Klune, Dreamspinner Press [Winner]
• King Mai, Edmond Manning, Pickwick Ink Publishing
• My Dear Watson, L.A. Fields, Lethe Press
• Pickup Men, L.C. Chase, Riptide Publishing
• Play Me, I’m Yours, Madison Parker, Harmony Ink Press
• Rocky’s Road, Lynley Wayne, MLR Press
• Unbroken, Larry Benjamin, Beaten Track Publishing
• Where You Are, J.H. Trumble, Kensington

LESBIAN ROMANCE

• All That Lies Within, Lynn Ames, Phoenix Rising Press
• At Seventeen, Gerri Hill, Bella Books
• Broken Trails, D Jordan Redhawk, Bella Books
• Clean Slate, Andrea Bramhall, Bold Strokes Books [Winner]
• Date with Destiny, Mason Dixon, Bold Strokes Books
• Hold Me Forever, D. Jackson Leigh, Bold Strokes Books
• Hoosier Daddy, Ann McMan, Salem West, Bedazzled Ink Publishing Company/Nuance
• Last Salute, Tracey Richardson, Bella Books
• Love by the Numbers, Karin Kallmaker, Bella Books
• The Princess Affair, Nell Stark, Bold Strokes Books

GAY EROTICA

• Capture & Surrender, Aleksandr Voinov & L.A. Witt, Riptide Publishing
• The Padisah’s Son and the Fox: an erotic novella, Alex Jeffers, Lethe Press [Winner]
• Sensual Travels: Gay Erotic Stories, Michael Luongo (Ed.), Bruno Gmuender
• Show-Offs: Gay Erotic Stories, Ed. Richard Labonte, Cleis Press
• Team Players: Gay Erotic Stories, Winston Gieseke (Ed.), Bruno Gmuender

LESBIAN EROTICA

• At Her Feet, Rebekah Weatherspoon, Bold Strokes Books
• Best Lesbian Erotica 2014, Kathleen Warnock, Ed., Cleis Press
• Wild Girls Wild Nights: True Lesbian Sex Stories, Ed. Sacchi Green, Cleis Press [Winner]

LGBT ANTHOLOGY

• An Archive of Hope: Harvey Milk’s Speeches and Writings, Harvey Milk, Jason Edward Black, Charles E. Morris, University of California Press
• The Feminist Porn Book, Tristan Taormino, Constance Penley, Celine Parrenas Shimizu & Mireille Miller-Young, Feminist Press
• Flicker and Spark: A Contemporary Queer Anthology of Spoken Word and Poetry, Editors: Brittany Fonte and Regie Cabico, Lowbrow Press
• Ghosts in Gaslight. Monsters in Steam. Gay City: Volume 5, Evan J Peterson & Vincent Kovar, Gay City Anthologies
• Queer Africa: New and Collected Fiction, Karen Martin and Makhosazana Xaba, MaThoko’s Books [Winner]
• Queer in Aztlan: Chicano Male Recollentions of Consciousness and Coming Out, Ed. Adelaida R. Del Castillo and Gibran Guido, Cognella Academic Publishing
• This Assignment Is So Gay: LGBTIQ Poets on the Art of Teaching, Megan Volpert, Sibling Rivalry Press
• Troubling the Line: Trans and Genderqueer Poetry and Poetics, T.C. Tolbert and Tim Trace Peterson, Nightboat Books
• What I LOVE about being QUEER, Vivek Shraya, George Brown College
• Who’s Yer Daddy?: Gay Writers Celebrate Their Mentors and Forerunners, Eds. Jim Elledge and David Groff, The University of Wisconsin Press [Winner]

LGBT CHILDREN’S/YOUNG ADULT

• Better Nate Than Ever, Tim Federle, Simon & Schuster, Inc./ Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Boy In Box, Christopher R. Michael, Hubbub Publishing
• Girls I’ve Run Away With, Rhiannon Argo, Moonshine Press
• If You Could Be Mine, Sara Farizan, Algonquin Books [Winner]
• Openly Straight, Bill Konigsberg, Arthur A. Levine Books
• Rapture Practice, Aaron Hartzler, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Secret City, Julia Watts, Bella Books
• The Secret Ingredient, Stewart Lewis- Author, Rebecca Short-Editor, Delacorte Press (Penguin/Random House)
• The Summer Prince, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Arthur A. Levine Books
• Two Boys Kissing, David Levithan, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers [Winner]
• What Makes a Baby, Cory Silverberg and illustrated by Fiona Smyth, Seven Stories Press/Triangle Square

LGBT DRAMA

• Las Hociconas: Three Locas with Big Mouths and Even Bigger Brains, Adelina Anthony, Korima Press
• sash & trim and other plays, Djola Branner, RedBone Press
• Tom at the Farm, Michel Marc Bouchard, Talonbooks [Winner]

LGBT GRAPHIC NOVEL

• Artifice, Alex Woolfson (author), Winona Nelson (Illustrator), AMW Comics
• Calling Dr. Laura: A Graphic Memoir, Nicole J. Georges, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt [Winner]
• Duck! Second Chances, Tana Ford, Bang A Left
• The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story, Vivek J. Tiwary, Andrew C. Robinson, Kyle Baker, Steve Dutro, M Press

LGBT SF/F/HORROR

• Collaborators, Deborah Wheeler, Dragon Moon Press
• Death by Silver, Melissa Scott & Amy Griswold, Lethe Press [Winner]
• Deprivation; or, Benedetto furioso: an oneiromancy, Alex Jeffers, Lethe Press
• Dragon Slayer, Isabella Carter, Less Than Three Press
• Dust Devil on a Quiet Street, Richard Bowes, Lethe Press
• Hell’s Belle, Marie Castle, Bella Books
• Invisible Soft Return :\, Roberta Degnore, Digital Fabulists
• Light, ‘Nathan Burgoine, Bold Strokes Books
• Like Light for Flies, Lee Thomas, Lethe Press
• The Stars Change, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Circlet Press, Inc.

LGBT STUDIES

• Butch Queens Up in Pumps Gender, Performance, and Ballroom Culture in Detroit, Marlon M. Bailey, University of Michigan Press
• Feeling Women’s Liberation, Victoria Hesford, Duke University Press
• Just Queer Folks: Gender and Sexuality in Rural America, Colin R. Johnson, Temple University Press
• Love and Money: Queers, Class, and Cultural Production, Lisa Henderson, NYU Press
• Oye Loca: From the Mariel Boatlift to Gay Cuban Miami, Susana Pena, University of Minnesota Press
• Professing Selves: Transsexuality and Same-Sex Desire in Contemporary Iran, Afsaneh Najmabadi, Duke University Press
• Safe Space: Gay Neighborhood History and the Politics of Violence, Christina B. Hanhardt, Duke University Press [Winner]
• Shanghai Lalas, Lucetta Yip Lo Kam, Hong Kong University Press
• Tomorrow’s Parties: Sex and the Untimely, Peter M. Coviello, NYU Press
• Transforming Citizenships: Transgender Articulations of the Law, Isaac West, NYU Press