The Lambda Literary Foundation (also known as Lambda Literary) is an American LGBTQ literary organization whose mission is to nurture and advocate for LGBTQ writers, elevating the impact of their words to create community, preserve their legacies, and affirm the value of LGBTQ stories and lives.
23-621: Lambda Literary traces its beginnings back to 1987 when L. Page (Deacon) Maccubbin, owner of Lambda Rising Bookstore in Washington, DC, published the first Lambda Book Report, which brought critical attention to LGBTQ books. The Lambda Literary Awards were born in 1989. At that first gala event, honors went to such distinguished writers as National Book Award finalist Paul Monette (author of Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir ), Dorothy Allison ( Trash ), Alan Hollinghurst ( The Swimming-Pool Library ), and Edmund White ( The Beautiful Room
46-582: A carefully designed one week period. Faculty have included well-known and highly regarded writer-teachers such as Dorothy Allison, John Rechy , Fenton Johnson , Katherine V. Forrest, Claire McNab , Bernard Cooper , Nicola Griffith , Ellen Bass , Rigoberto Gonzalez , D. A. Powell , Ellery Washington and Eloise Klein Healy . The retreat provides open access to industry professionals and the opportunity for fellows to create for themselves an ongoing community of practice as they advance in their craft and careers. It
69-511: A smaller number of titles is deemed eligible, then a merged Literature shortlist is put forward. However, even when the category shortlists have been merged, judges still retain the right to identify a single winner in the unlisted category; for example, at the 25th Lambda Literary Awards in 2013 the judges named both fiction and non-fiction winners in the Bisexual Literature category, and at the 29th Lambda Literary Awards in 2017
92-620: Is Empty ). The purpose of the awards in the early years was to identify and celebrate the best lesbian and gay books in the year of their publication. The awards gave national visibility to a literature that had established a firm if nascent beachhead through a network of dynamic lesbian and gay publishers and bookstores springing up across America. Since their inception, the Lambda Literary Awards ceremony has consistently drawn an audience representing every facet of publishing. The awards have ranged over many categories, reflecting
115-443: Is one of Lambda’s most important initiatives: it represents the future of LGBTQ literature. In early 2010, in an effort led by board member Nicola Griffith, Lambda Literary funded, staffed, and launched an online presence at LambdaLiterary.org which celebrates, supports, serves, informs, entertains, and connects the whole of the diverse community that creates and supports lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans literature. The website replaced
138-558: Is the only writer to have won two awards in the Gay Non-Fiction category, for Borrowed Time in 1989 and for Becoming a Man in 1993 . Lillian Faderman is the only writer to have won awards in seven different categories, having received: Several writers have won awards in more than one category in the same year for the same work (note that according to current guidelines a book may only be entered in one category): Several writers have won awards in more than one category in
161-635: The Lesbian Fiction category, for Tipping the Velvet ( 2000 ), Fingersmith ( 2002 ), and The Night Watch in ( 2007 ), and is one of only three writers to have won the Lesbian Fiction award more than once (with two-time winners Dorothy Allison and Achy Obejas ). Mark Doty and Adrienne Rich have each won three awards in the Poetry category, and are two of seven poets to have won
184-459: The Gay Mystery category, the most by any single author, and is one of only four writers to have won the award more than once (with three-time winner John Morgan Wilson , two-time winner R. D. Zimmerman , and two-time winner Marshall Thornton ). Marshall Thornton is the only author in the gay mystery category to have won twice for two different series. Alison Bechdel has won four awards in
207-683: The Humor category, the most by any single author, and is one of five writers to have won the award more than once (with Joe Keenan , Michael Thomas Ford , David Sedaris , and David Rakoff ). The Humor category has been discontinued. Nicola Griffith and Melissa Scott have each won four awards in the Scifi/Fantasy/Horror category, and are two of six writers to have won the SFFH award more than once (with Stephen Pagel, Jim Grimsley , and Lee Thomas ). Sarah Waters has won three awards in
230-597: The Lambda Book Report. In 2012 Lambda Literary launched the LGBTQ Writers in School program, where LGBTQ writers visit K-12 classrooms to discuss LGBTQ literature with young people. Lambda Literary Awards Lambda Literary Awards , also known as the " Lammys ", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ+ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate
253-620: The Romance category, each winning one before the category was split into Gay and Lesbian subdivisions – Kallmaker with Maybe Next Time and Ford with Last Summer , but in 2004 – and each winning their second after the category was split – Ford with Changing Tides in 2008 and Kallmaer with The Kiss That Counted in 2009 . Colm Tóibín is the only writer to have won two awards in the Gay Fiction category for The Master in 2004 and for The Empty Family in 2011 . Paul Monette
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#1732801675526276-569: The award more than once (with two-time winners Joan Larkin , Michael Klein, Marilyn Hacker , Audre Lorde , and J. D. McClatchy ) Richard Labonté , Radclyffe , and Tristan Taormino have each won two awards in the Erotica category, each winning once before the category was split into Gay and Lesbian subdivisions, and each winning their second after the category was split. Karin Kallmaker and Michael Thomas Ford have each won two awards in
299-472: The bisexual community launched a multi-year struggle that eventually culminated in 2006 with the addition of a Bisexual category. In 2004, the book The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism by the highly controversial researcher J. Michael Bailey was announced as a finalist in the Transgender category of the 2003 Awards. Transgender people immediately protested
322-440: The first awards ceremony may be described in different sources as either the 1989 awards (for the year of presentation) or the 1988 awards (for the year in which the nominated works were published). In 1992, despite requests from the bisexual community for a more appropriate and inclusive category, the groundbreaking bisexual anthology Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out by Loraine Hutchins and Lani Kaʻahumanu
345-560: The foundation’s executive director in January 2006." 25th Lambda Literary Awards The 25th Lambda Literary Awards were held on June 3, 2013, to honor works of LGBT literature published in 2012. Yolanda Wallace became the first African-American writer to win the Lesbian Romance category with her win for Month of Sundays . Tom Léger and Riley MacLeod, co-editors of the anthology The Collection: Short Fiction from
368-628: The judges picked a title from the Bisexual Fiction shortlist as the winner in Bisexual Poetry despite the lack of an advance poetry shortlist. Ellen Hart has won five awards in the Lesbian Mystery category, the most by any single author, and is one of only three writers to have won the award more than once (with three-time winners Katherine V. Forrest and J. M. Redmann ). Similarly, Michael Nava has won five awards in
391-645: The nomination and gathered thousands of petition signatures in opposition within a few days. After the petition, the Foundation's judges examined the book more closely, decided that they considered it transphobic and removed it from their list of finalists. Within a year the executive director who had initially approved of the book's inclusion resigned. Executive director Charles Flowers later stated that "the Bailey incident revealed flaws in our awards nomination process, which I have completely overhauled since becoming
414-513: The primary literary awards, Lambda Literary also presents a number of special awards. In both the bisexual and transgender categories, presentation may vary according to the number of eligible titles submitted in any given year. If the number of titles warrants, then separate awards are presented in either two (Fiction and Nonfiction, with the Fiction category inclusive of poetry titles) or three (Fiction, Nonfiction and Poetry) categories, while if
437-434: The reality that a distinct, definable LGBT literature existed. Lambda Literary was created in 1997 as a 501(3)(c) corporation; its first Executive Director was Jim Marks. In 2007, led by board president Katherine V. Forrest and executive director Charles Flowers, Lambda Literary founded its Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices, a residency designed to offer intensive and sophisticated instruction to selected writers over
460-417: The same year for different works: Several other writers have won awards in more than one category in different years and for different works: Several authors have won awards in three different categories: Numerous Lambda Award-winning works have been adapted for film and television: The Lambda Literary Awards are presented each year to honor works of literature published in the previous year; accordingly,
483-506: The very best in LGBTQ+ literature. The awards were instituted in 1989. The program has grown from 14 awards in early years to 24 awards today. Early categories such as HIV/AIDS literature were dropped as the prominence of the AIDS crisis within the gay community waned, and categories for bisexual and transgender literature were added as the community became more inclusive. In addition to
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#1732801675526506-402: The wide spectrum of LGBTQ books, and from the first year they have made the statement that lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans stories are part of the literature of the nation. The Lammys' first virtual ceremony, in response to COVID-19, was held in 2021. Lambda Book Report, meanwhile, grew into a comprehensive review periodical, and together with the Lambda Literary Awards, these programs cemented
529-490: Was forced to compete, and lost, in the category "Lesbian Anthology". Additionally, in 2005, Directed by Desire: Collected Poems , a posthumous collection of the bisexual Jamaican-American writer June Jordan 's work, competed (and won) in the category "Lesbian Poetry". Led by BiNet USA , and assisted by other bisexual organizations including the American Institute of Bisexuality , BiPOL , and Bialogue ,
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