Coming on the heels of a year when we all read maybe more than we have since the halcyon days of summer vacations during high school, there seemed to be an even higher level of excellence nominated for the 2021 LAMBDA Literary Awards!
Hosted virtually by Rakesh Satyal June 1, the winners were chosen by a panel of over 60 literary professionals. Additionally, special awards were given to four writers: Ana-Maurine Lara received the Randall Kenan Prize for Black LGBTQ Fiction; Sarah Gerard and Brontez Purnell received the Jim Duggins, PhD Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Prize; Nancy Agabian received the Jeanne Córdova Prize for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction; and the Judith A. Markowitz Award for Emerging LGBTQ Writers was awarded to Taylor Johnson and T Kira Madden.
READ: Novelist Garth Greenwell on the Eroticism of Frustration and Gratification
Lesbian Fiction
- Fiebre Tropical, Juli Delgado Lopera, Feminist Press
READ: Kiss Him, Hit Him, Collect Your Reward: The 2020 Booker Prize Winner, ‘Shuggie Bain’
Gay Fiction
- Neotenica, Joon Oluchi Lee, Nightboat Books
Bisexual Fiction
- You Exist Too Much, Zaina Arafat, Catapult
Transgender Fiction
- The Thirty Names of Night, Zeyn Joukhadar, Atria Books
Bisexual Nonfiction
- Wow, No Thank You.: Essays, Samantha Irby, Vintage
Transgender Nonfiction
- The Black Trans Prayer Book, J Mase III & Dane Figueroa Edidi, The Black Trans Prayer Book
LGBTQ Nonfiction
- The Lonely Letters, Ashon T. Crawley, Duke University Press
Lesbian Poetry
- Funeral Diva, Pamela Sneed, City Lights Books
Gay Poetry
- Guillotine, Eduardo C. Corral, Graywolf Press
Bisexual Poetry
- Salt Body Shimmer, Aricka Foreman, YesYes Books
Transgender Poetry
- I Love You and I’m Not Dead, Sade LaNay, Argos Book
Lesbian Memoir/Biography
- My Autobiography of Carson McCullers, Jenn Shapland, Tin House Books
Gay Memoir/Biography
- A Dutiful Boy: A Memoir of a Gay Muslim’s Journey to Acceptance, Mohsin Zaidi, Square Peg
