Lambda Literary Finalists Announced
(except no one cares)

The finalists for the 2009 Lambda Literary Awards — which honor the year’s best LGBT authors and books — were announced late on Sunday night by Lambda, Exec. Director Charles Flowers.

This is a particularly special year for GLBT books (and publishing) in general. And with the closing of Oscar Wilde Book Shop in Greenwich Village this year (among many indie-store shut downs) and with many publishing houses consolidating imprints and record industry layoffs, the question is, does anybody care? The book-buying public (yes, they exist) seems unfazed.

My personal favorite books of the year are highlighted in bold, but then again I’ve never read MLR Press’ erotica novel “Mexican Heat,” so, who knows what I’ve been missing out on.

Interesting facts, there’s definitely some overlap with the Publishing Triangle Awards (the other GLBT Book Awards) which I’ve noted with asterisks.

The best books on this list (Mark Doty aside) are in the Children’s and Young Adult category where many authors are making a name for themselves. Notice how there are 6 YA novels nominated on this list and only 3 books in the Gay Erotica and 3 in the Gay Romance sections. Which makes you wonder, what’s the difference between gay romance and gay erotica?–Enough for two categories apparently.FULL LIST AFTER JUMP.

According to Flowers there are “105 finalists representing 72 publishers are competing for awards in 22 [!!!] categories.” The 22 winners will be announced a formal awards ceremony on Thursday, May 28 in New York City.

BISEXUAL

* Open, Jenny Block, Seal Press
* Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women’s Love & Desire, Lisa M. Diamond, Harvard University Press
* The Bishop’s Daughter, Honor Moore, W.W. Norton
* Kinsey Zero Through Sixty: Bisexual Perspectives on Kinsey, Ron Jackson Suresha, Taylor & Francis
* Rimbaud, Edmund White, Atlas & Company

TRANSGENDER

* 10,000 Dresses, Marcus Ewert & Rex Ray, Seven Stories Press
* Intersex (For Lack of a Better Word), Thea Hillman, Manic D Press
* Two Truths and a Lie, Scott Schofield, Homofactus Press
* Boy with Flowers, Ely Shipley, Barrow Street Press (*nominated for Triangle Award/Gay Poetry)
* Transgender History, Susan Stryker, Seal Press

LGBT ANTHOLOGIES

* A Casulty of War: Gay Short Fiction, Peter Burton, Arcadia Books
* Live Through This, edited by Sabrina Chapadjiev, Seven Stories Press
* Love, West Hollywood, edited by Chris Freeman and James J. Berg, Alyson
* Our Caribbean, edited by Thomas Glave, Duke University Press
* Big Trips: More Good Gay Travel Writing, edited by Raphael Kadushin, University of Wisconsin Press

LGBT CHILDRENS/YOUNG ADULT

* Hit the Road, Manny: A Manny Files Novel, Christian Burch, Simon and Schuster
* Out of the Pocket, Bill Konigsberg, Dutton
* How They Met & Other Stories, David Levithan, Knopf Children’s Books
* Mousetraps, Pat Schmetz, Carolrhoda Books
* What They Always Tell Us, Martin Wilson, Random House Children’s Books
* Love & Lies: Marisol’s Story, Ellen Wittlinger, Simon and Schuster (*nominated for Triangle Award)

LGBT DRAMA [Isn't all drama gay?]

* Phi Alpha Gamma, Dan Bernitt, Sawyer House
* Radical Acts: Collected Political Plays, Martin Duberman, The New Press
* The Second Coming of Joan of Arc, Carolyn Gage, Outskirts Press
* Two Truths and a Lie, Scott Schofield, Homofactus Press
* Vile Affections, Vanda, Original Works Publishing

LGBT NONFICTION

* Me as Her Again, Nancy Agabian, Aunt Lute Books
* If I Could Write This in Fire, Michelle Cliff, Univ of Minnesota Press
* Dishonorable Passions: Sodomy Laws in America 1861-2003, William N. Eskridge Jr, Penguin Group
* Beyond (Straight & Gay) Marriage, Nancy Polikoff, Beacon Press (*nominated for Triangle Award)
* Loving The Difficult, Jane Rule, Hedgerow Press
* Drifting Toward Love, Kai Wright, Beacon Press (*nominated for Triangle Award)

LGBT SCI-FI/FANTASY/HORROR

* The Archer’s Heart, Astrid Amara, Blind Eye Books
* The Magician and the Fool, Barth Anderson, Bantam Del Rey
* Wilde Stories 2008, Steve Berman, Lethe Press
* Sea, Swallow Me and Other Stories, Craig Gidney, Lethe Press
* Turnskin, Nicole Kimberling, Blind Eye Books

LGBT STUDIES

* Tomboys: A Literary & Cultural History, Michelle Ann Abate, Temple University Press
* The Dividends of Dissent: How Conflict and Culture Work in Lesbian and Gay Marches on Washington, Amin Ghaziani, The University of Chicago Press
* Criminal Intimacy: Prison and the Uneven History of Modern American Sexuality, Regina Kunzel, The University of Chicago Press (*nominated for Triangle Award)
* Political Manhood: Red Bloods, Mollycoddles, & & the Politics of Progressive Reform, Kevin P. Murphy, Columbia University Press
* Screening Sex, Linda Williams, Duke University Press

LESBIAN DEBUT FICTION

* Red Audrey & the Roping, Jill Malone, Bywater Books
* Passing for Black, Linda Villarosa, Kensington
* Closer to Fine, Meri Weiss, Kensington
* Love Does Not Make Me Gentle or Kind, Chavisa Woods, Fly by Night Press
* The Bruise, Magdalena Zurawski, Fiction Collective Two/University of Alabama Press

LESBIAN EROTICA

* Lipstick on Her Collar, Sacchi Green and Rakelle Valencia, Pretty Things Press
* Periphery: Erotic Lesbian Futures, Lynne Jamneck,
Lethe Press
* In Deep Waters 2: Cruising the Strip, Radclyffe and Karen Kallmaker, Bold Strokes Books

LESBIAN FICTION

* The Slow Fix, Ivan E. Coyole, Arsenal Pulp Press
* The Sealed Letter, Emma Donoghue, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
* Map of Ireland, Stephanie Grant, Scribner
* All the Pretty Girls, Chandra Mayor, Conundrum Press
* Breaking Spirit Bridge, Ruth Perkinson, Spinsters Ink

LESBIAN MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY

* Wrestling with the Angel of Democracy, Susan Griffin, Shambhala Publications
* Intersex (For Lack of a Better Word), Thea Hillman,
Manic D Press
* Sex Variant Woman, Joanne Passet, Da Capo
* Sex Talks to Girls, Maureen Seaton, University of
Arkansas Press
* Case of a Lifetime, Abbe Smith, Palgrave Macmillan

LESBIAN MYSTERY

* Blind Faith, Diane and Jacob Anderson-Minshall,
Bold Strokes Books
* Whacked, Josie Gordon, Bella Books
* Sweet Poison, Ellen Hart, St. Martin’s Press
* Losers Weepers, Jessica Thomas, Bella Books
* Calling the Dead, Ali Vali, Bold Strokes Books

LESBIAN POETRY

* Interpretive Work, Elizabeth Bradfield, Arktoi / Red Hen Press (*nominated for Triangle Award)
* Kissing Dead Girls, Daphne Gottlieb, Soft Skull Press (*nominated for a Triangle Award)
* love belongs to those who do the feeling, Judy Grahn, Red Hen Press
* Same Life, Maureen N. McLane, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (*nominated for a Triangle Award)
* Two Minutes of Light, Nancy K. Pearson, Perugia Press

LESBIAN ROMANCE

* Finding Home, Georgia Beers, Bold Strokes Books
* A Pirate’s Heart, Catherine Friend, Bold Strokes Books
* The Kiss That Counted, Karin Kallmaker, Bella Books
* Hotel Liaison, JLee Meyer, Bold Strokes Books
* The Lonely Hearts Club, Radclyffe, Bold Strokes Books

GAY DEBUT FICTION

* Shuck, Daniel Allen Cox, Arsenal Pulp Press
* Light Fell, Evan Fallenberg, Soho Press (*nominated for a Triangle Award)
* The Screwed-Up Life of Charlie The Second, Drew Ferguson, Kensington
* The Steve Machine, Mike Hoolboom, Coach House Books
* Finlater, Shawn Ruff, Quote Editions (*nominated for Triangle Award)

GAY EROTICA

* Best Gay Erotica 2009, Richard Labonte & James Lear, Cleis Press
* The Secret Tunnel, James Lear, Cleis Press
* Hard Working Men, William Maltese, Victor J. Banis, Jardonn Smith, & J.P. Bowie, MLR Press

GAY FICTION

* Stray Dog Winter, David Francis, Macadam/Cage Publishing
* The Torturer’s Wife, Thomas Glave, City Lights Publishers
* We Disappear, Scott Heim, HarperCollins
* The Conversion, Joseph Olshan, St. Martin’s Press
* The Boomerang Kid, Jay Quinn, Alyson

GAY MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY

* Bringing Him Home, Aaron Cooper, Late August Press
* Swish, Joel Derfner, Broadway Books
* Assisted Loving, Bob Morris, HarperCollins (*nominated for a Triangle Award)
* Edward Carpenter: A Life of Liberty and Love, Sheila Rowbotham, Verso Books
* King of Shadows, Aaron Shurin, City Lights Publishers

GAY MYSTERY

* The Fisher Boy, Stephen Anable, Poisoned Pen Press
* Sundowner Ubuntu, Anthony Bidulka, Insomniac Press
* Mahu Fire, Neil Plakcy, Alyson Books
* First You Fall, Scott Sherman, Alyson Books
* Spider Season, John Morgan Wilson, St. Martin’s Press

GAY POETRY

* Want, Rick Barot, Sarabande Press
* Please, Jericho Brown, New Issues (*nominated for a Triangle Award)
* Fire to Fire, Mark Doty, HarperCollins (*nominated for a Triangle Award)
* Now You’re the Enemy, James Allen Hall, University of Arkansas Press
* My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer, edited by Peter Gizzi & Kevin Killian, Wesleyan University Press

GAY ROMANCE

* Mexican Heat, Laura Baumbach & Josh Lanyon, MLR Press
* Got ’til it’s Gone, Larry Duplechan, Arsenal Pulp Press
* The Protector, N.L. Gassert, Seventh Window Publications

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