The 2021 Lambda Literary Awards recognized books in 24 categories published between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020. Finalists were selected by a panel of more than 60 literary professionals from more than 1,000 book submissions. The awards are typically held in-person in New York City, but their virtual format this year allowed them to open the ceremony to readers and literature lovers across the world. The event was hosted by Rakesh Satyal, author of Blue Boy, and awards announced by James Sie. Awards were presented by a spectacular range of authors, including Carmen Maria Machado (In the Dream House), R.O. Kwon (The Incendiaries), Cyrée Jarelle Johnson (SLINGSHOT), Katherine V. Forrest (Curious Wine), and Torrey Peters (Detransition, Baby), among others. The ceremony was rich and full of pride, a quick-moving virtual experience to kick off Pride Month. It included a performance by Meshell Ndegeocello, with Chris Bruce. Winners of the main prizes included Samantha Irby’s Wow, No Thank You; Kacen Callender’s King and the Dragonflies; Jenn Shapland’s My Autobiography of Carson McCullers; and Love after the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction edited by Joshua Whitehead; among others. Among the categories were several special prizes. The Randall Kenan Prize for Black LGBTQ Fiction was presented for the first time. It honors “Black LGBTQ writers whose fiction explores themes of Black LGBTQ life, culture, and/or history,” and it includes a cash prize of $3,000. It honors Kenan, author of Let the Dead Bury Their Dead, also former faculty at the Lambda Literary’s Writer’s Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices. The inaugural award went to Ana-Maurine Lara, author of Streetwalking: LGBTQ Lives and Protest in the Dominican Republic. — Lambda Literary (@LambdaLiterary) June 1, 2021 The Jim Duggins, PhD Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Prize went to Sarah Gerard, author of True Love and Binary Star, and Brontez Purnell, author of 100 Boyfriends and The Cruising Diaries. The Judith A. Markowitz Award for Emerging LGBTQ Writers was awarded to Taylor Johnson (Inheritance) and T Kira Madden (Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls). Finally, the Jeanne Córdova Prize for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction, honoring lesbian/queer-identified and trans/gender-nonconforming nonfiction authors committed to “nonfiction work that captures the depth and complexity of lesbian/queer life, culture, and/or history.” The winner was Nancy Agabian, author of Me as Her Again: True Stories of an Armenian Daughter. Get your reading lists ready: you’ll want to add a ton of these books to your library holds and to-read lists. See the full list of winners for the 2021 Lambda Literary Awards:
Transgender Fiction: The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar Transgender Nonfiction: The Black Trans Prayer Book by J. Mase III and Dane Figueroa Edidi Lesbian Romance: Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur Gay Romance: The Ghost and Charlie Muir by Felice Stevens LGBTQ Erotica: The Nerves by Lee Suksi LGBTQ Nonfiction: The Lonely Letters by Ashon T. Crawley Bisexual Nonfiction: wow, no thank you by Samantha Irby Bisexual Fiction: You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat Lesbian Poetry: Funeral Diva by Pamela Sneed Gay Poetry: Guillotine by Eduardo C. Corral Bisexual Poetry: Salt Body Shimmer by Aricka Foreman Trans Poetry: I Love You and I’m Not Dead by Sade LaNay Lesbian Memoir/Biography: My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland Gay Memoir/Biography: A Dutiful Boy: A Memoir of a Gay Muslim’s Journey to Acceptance by Mohsin Zaidi LGBTQ Drama: The Book of Mountains and Seas by Yilong Liu LGBTQ Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror: Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel by Julian K. Jarboe LGBTQ Comics: Apsara Engine by Biskakh Som LGBTQ Mystery: I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan LGBTQ Anthology: Love after the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction edited by Joshua Whitehead LGBTQ Studies: Becoming Human: Matter and Meaning in an Antiblack World by Zakiyyah Iman Johnson LGBTQ Children’s/Middle Grade: King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender LGBTQ Young Adult: Flamer by Mike Curato Gay Fiction: Neotenica by Joon Oluchi Lee Lesbian Fiction: Fiebre Tropical by Juli Delgado Lopera
Learn more about Lambda Literary here, and brush up on last year’s winners here.
