The 28th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists have been announced. The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony on Monday evening, June 6, 2016, in New York City.
Lesbian Fiction: Apocalypse Baby, Virginie Despentes, The Feminist Press; Blue Talk and Love, Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, Riverdale Avenue Books; The Cherokee Rose, Tiya Miles, John F. Blair; The First Bad Man, Miranda July, Scribner; Jam on the Vine: A Novel, LaShonda Katrice Barnett, Grove Press; Like a Woman, Debra Busman, Dzanc Books; Therese and Isabelle, Violette Leduc, The Feminist Press; Under the Udala Trees, Chinelo Okparanta, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Gay Fiction: Breathing Lessons, Andy Sinclair, Vehicule Press; The Early Stories of Truman Capote, Truman Capote, Random House; God in Pink, Hasan Namir, Arsenal Pulp Press; Immaculate Blue, Paul Russell, Cleis Press; JD: A Novel, Mark Merlis, Terrace Books; A Poet of the Invisible World, Michael Golding, Macmillan/Picador; The Rise and Fall of the Yellow House, John Whittier Treat, Big Table Publishing Company; Still Life, Las Vegas, James Sie, St. Martin's Press.
Bisexual Literature (Fiction & Nonfiction): Irrepressible: The Jazz Age Life of Henrietta Bingham, Emily Bingham, Farrar, Straus and Giroux; The Life and Death of Sophie Stark, Anna North, Penguin Random House/Blue Rider Press; The Gap of Time, Jeanette Winterson, Hogarth; Eat My Heart Out, Zoe Pilger, The Feminist Press; My Riastrad, Kevin Hogan, Antrim House.
Transgender Fiction: Defiant, Michael Scott Monje, Jr., Autonomous Press; Lost Boi, Sassafras Lowry, Arsenal Pulp Press; Tiny Pieces of Skull, or a Lesson in Manners, Roz Kaveny, Team Anjelica Publishing.
LGBT Debut Fiction: The Brink, Austin Bunn, Harper Perennial; Do U., Mark S. Luckie, Amazon/CreateSpace; His Steadfast Love and Other Stories, Paul Brownsey, Lethe Press; Hotel Living, Ioannis Pappos, Harper Perennial; Life is Wonderful, People are Terrific, Meliza Banales, Ladybox Books; A Love Like Blood, Victor Yates, Hillmont Press; Lovesick, James Driggers, Kensington Publishing; Lum: A Novel, Libby Ware, She Writes Press.
LGBT Nonfiction: Considering Hate: Violence, Goodness, and Justice in American Culture and Politics, Kay Whitlock and Michael Bronski, Beacon Press; Fading Scars: My Queer Disability History, Corbett Joan O'Toole, Autonomous Press; Galileo's Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and the Search for Justice in Science, Alice Dreger, Penguin Press; The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle, Lillian Faderman, Simon & Schuster; Modern Families: Stories of Extraordinary Journeys to Kinship, Joshua Gamson, NYU Press; Namibia's Rainbow Project, Robert Lorway, Indiana U. Press; "No One Helped": Kitty Genovese, New York City, and the Myth of Urban Apathy, Marcia M. Gallo, Cornell U. Press; What Color Is Your Hoodie? Essays on Black Gay Identity, Jarrett Neal, Chelsea Station Editions.
Transgender Nonfiction: Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family, Amy Ellis Nutt, Random House; Born on the Edge of Race and Gender: A Voice for Cultural Competency, Willy Wilkinson, Hapa Papa Press; Hiding in Plain Sight, Zane Thimmesch-Gill, Avenue Books.
Lesbian Poetry: The Devastation, Melissa Buzzeo, Nightboat Books; Everybody's Bread, Claudia Rodriguez, Korima Press; Experience in the Medium of Destruction, Sara Jane Stoner, Portable Press@Yo-Yo Labs; Girls Like You , Margot Douaihy, Clemson U. Press; Life in a Box is a Pretty Life, Dawn Lundy Martin, Nightboat Press; Pelvis with Distance, Jessica Jacobs, White Pine Press; Say/Mirror: Poems and Histories, JP Howard, The Operating System; Shorthand and Electric Language Stars, Stephanie Gray, Portable Press@Yo-Yo Labs.
Gay Poetry: Angel Park, Roberto F. Santiago, Lethe Press/Tincture; Boy with Thorn, Rickey Laurentiis, U. of Pittsburgh Press; Canto Hondo/Deep Song, Francisco X. Alarcon, U. of Arizona Press; Crevasse, Nicholas Wong, Kaya Press; Otter, Ben Ladouceur, Coach House Books; Reconnaissance, Carl Phillips, Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Steep Tea, Jee Leong Koh, Carcanet; Teaching a Man to Unstick His Tail, Ralph Hamilton, Sibling Rivalry Press.
Transgender Poetry: Why Dust Shall Never Settle Upon This Soul, Ryka Aoki, Biyuti Publishing; Impersonation, Joy Ladin, The Sheep Meadow Press; succubus in my pocket, kari edwards, EOAGH Books.
Lesbian Mystery: The Grave Soul, Ellen Hart, Minotaur Books; Illicit Artifacts, Stevie Mikayne, Bold Strokes Books; Ordinary Mayhem, Victoria Brownworth, Bold Stroke Books; No Good Reason, Cari Hunger, Bold Strokes Books; The Red Files, Lee Winter, Ylva Publishing; Relatively Rainey, R.E. Bradshaw, R.E. Bradshaw Books; Tarnished Gold, Ann Aptaker, Bold Strokes Books; The Tattered Heiress: Volume Two of the Charlotte Olmes Mystery Series, Debra Hyde, Riverdale Avenue Books.
Gay Mystery: After the Horses, Jeffrey Round, Dundurn; The Boys from Eighth and Carpenter, Tom Mendicino, Kensington Publishing; Boystown 7: Bloodlines, Marshall Thornton, Kenmore Books; Cheap as Beasts, Jonathon Wilson, Bold Strokes Books; Introducing Sunfish & Starfish: Tropical Drag Queen Detectives, Wallace Godfrey, Strand Hill Books; Murder and Mayhem, Rhys Ford, Dreamspinner Press; Orient, Christopher Bollen, Harper; The Swede, Robert Karjel, Harper.
Lesbian Memoir/Biography: Cooking as Fast as I Can: A Chef's Story of Family, Food, and Forgiveness, Cat Cora, Scribner; Dirty River, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Arsenal Pulp Press; Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, Carrie Brownstein, Riverhead Books/Penguin Random House; Objects in the Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear, Kate Carroll de Gutes, Ovenbird Books; You're Not Edith, Allison Gruber, George Braziller.
Gay Memoir/Biography: Chasing Lost Time: C.K. Scott Moncrieff: Soldier, Spy, and Translator, Jean Findlay, Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Exiled for Love: The Journey of an Iranian Queer Activist, Arsham Parsi and Marc Colbourne, Roseway Publishing; The House in St. John's Wood, Matthew Spender, Farrar, Straus and Giroux; James Merrill: Life and Art, Langdon Hammer, Alfred A. Knopf; My Avant-Garde Education: A Memoir, Bernard Cooper, W.W. Norton & Company; My Body Is Yours, Michael V. Smith, Arsenal Pulp Press; Smash Cut, Brad Gooch, Harper; Until My Heart Stops, Jameson Currier, Chelsea Station Editions.
Lesbian Romance: Autumn Spring, Shelley Thrasher, Bold Strokes Books; The Chameleon's Tale, Andrea Bramhall, Bold Strokes Books; Full Circle, Dillon Watson, Bella Books; Heart of the Game, Rachel Spangler, Bold Strokes Books; Infiltration, Jackie D, Bold Strokes Books; Making a Comeback, Julie Blair, Bold Strokes Books; My Best Friend's Girl, Blythe H. Warren, Bella Books; The Renegade, Amy Dunne, Bold Strokes Books.
Gay Romance: Blueberry Boys, Vanessa North, Riptide Publishing; Brothers, Ralph Josiah Bardsley, Bold Strokes Books; For Real, Alexis Hall, Riptide Publishing; General Misconduct, L.A. Witt, Samhain Publishing; Misfits, Garrett Leigh, Riptide Publishing; Something Like Stories, Volume One, Jay Bell, Jay Bell Books; When Skies Have Fallen, Debbie McGowan, Beaten Track; Yes, Brad Boney, Dreamspinner Press.
Lesbian Erotica: Desire Behind Bars: Lesbian Prison Erotica, Salome Wilde and Talon Rihai (editors), Hillside Press; The Muse, Meghan O'Brien, Bold Strokes Books; Sweet & Rough: Queer Kink Erotica, Sinclair Sexsmith, Maverick Press.
Gay Erotica: Charming: Modern Gay Fairytales, Jennifer Levine and Rian Darcy, Circlet Press; College Dive Bar, 1 AM, Natty Soltesz, Go Deeper Press; Erotiques Supremes, Miodrag Kojadinovic, Choose the Sword Press; Grave Desires, William Holden, Lethe Press; Green Eyes - an erotic novel (sort-of), Michael Ampersant, Lust Spiel Book.
LGBT Anthology: Beyond: The Queer Sci-Fi & Fantasy Comic Anthology, Sfe R. Monster (Editor) & Taneka Stotts (Assistant Editor), Beyond Press; Glitter and Grit: Queer Performance from the Heels on Wheels Femme Galaxy, Edited by Damien Luxe, Heather M. Acs, and Sabina Ibarrola, Publication Studio; Memories of the Revolution, Holly Hughes, Carmelita Tropicana, and Jill Dolan, Editors, U. of Michigan Press; Out of the Closet, Into the Archives: Researching Sexual Histories, Amy L. Stone and Jaime Cantrell, SUNY Press; A Pride of Poppies: Modern GLBTQI fiction of the Great War, Julie Bozza, editor, Manifold Press; Soy Lesbiana y Que! Out Latina Lesbians, N'vea Castro with Geny Cabral, Sinister Wisdom; Speak My Language, and Other Stories: An Anthology of Gay Fiction, Edited by Torsten Hojer, Little, Brown Book Group/Robinson; Videogames for Humans: Twine Authors in Conversation, Merritt Kopas, Instar Books.
LGBT Children's/Young Adult: About a Girl: A Novel, Sarah McCarry, St. Martin's Griffin; Anything Could Happen, Will Walton, Push; Gay and Lesbian History for Kids: The Century-Long Struggle for LGBT Rights, Jerome Pohlen, Chicago Review Press; George, Alex Gino, Scholastic Press; The Marvels, Brian Selznick, Scholastic Press; More Happy than Not, Adam Silvera, Soho Teen; None of the Above, IW Gregorio, Balzer + Bray/ Harper Collins; Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, Becky Albertalli, Balzer + Bray/Harper Collins.
LGBT Drama: Bright Half Life, Tanya Barfield, Dramatists Play Service; Fun Home, Music by Jeanine Tesori, Book and Lyrics by Lisa Kron, based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, Samuel French; Hir, Taylor Mac, Northwestern U. Press; Love Alone, Deborah Salem Smith, Dramatists Play Service; The Mystery of Love and Sex, Bathsheba Doran, Samuel French.
LGBT Graphic Novels: Curveball, Jeremy Sorese, Nobrow; Honor Girl, Maggie Thrash, Candlewick Press; The Less than Epic Adventures of TJ & Amala, EK Weaver, Iron Circus Comics; O Human Star: Volume One, Blue Delliquanti, self-published; Wuvable Oaf, Ed Luce, Fantagraphics Books.
LGBT SF/F/Horror: The Boys on the Mountain, John Inman, DSP Publications; The Caphenon (Chronicles of Alsea - Book #1), Fletcher DeLancey, Ylva Publishing; Down, Ally Blue, Riptide Publishing; The Glittering World, Robert Levy, Gallery Books; The Gracekeepers, Kirsty Logan, Crown Publishers; Minotaur, J.A. Rock, Riptide Publishing; Sacrati, Kate Sherwood, Riptide Publishing; Wonder City Stories, Jude McLaughlin, Createspace.
LGBT Studies: Arresting Dress: Cross-Dressing, Law, and Fascination in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco, Clare Sears, Duke U. Press; Funk the Erotic: Transaesthetics and Black Sexual Cultures, L.H. Stallings, U. of Illinois; Gay Fathers, Their Children, and the Making of Kinship, Aaron Goodfellow, Fordham U. Press; Indifference to Difference: On Queer Universalism, Madhavi Menon, U. of Minnesota Press; Not Gay: Sex between Straight White Men, Jane Ward, NYU Press; Queer Marxism in Two Chinas, Petrus Liu, Duke U. Press; A Taste for Brown Bodies: Gay Modernity and Cosmopolitan Desire, Hiram Perez, NYU Press; Thinking Sex with the Early Moderns, Valerie Traub, U. of Pennsylvania Press.