Lambda Literary has announced the finalists in 25 categories for the 35th Annual Lambda Literary Awards. The finalists were selected by a panel of over 65 literary professionals from more than 1,350 book submissions. These selections represent the best of LGBTQ literature this year.
The Awards Ceremony will be held on June 9 at the Edison Ballroom in New York City or virtually! Tickets at lambdaliterary.org/awards/get-tickets/ including Virtual Venue: Lambda on Airmeet.
Lesbian Fiction
Big Girl: A Novel by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, W.W. Norton & Company
Gods of Want by K-Ming Chang, One World
Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda, translated by Sarah Booker, Coffee House Press
Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley, Alfred A. Knopf
Our Wives Under the Sea: A Novel by Julia Armfield, Flatiron Books
Gay Fiction
Call Me Cassandra by Marcial Gala, translated from Spanish by Anna Kushner, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
The Foghorn Echoes by Danny Ramadan, Canongate Books
God's Children Are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu, A Public Space Books
Hugs and Cuddles by Joao Gilberto Noll, translated from Portuguese by Edgar Garbelotto, Two Lines Press
My Government Means to Kill Me: A Novel by Rasheed Newson, Flatiron Books
Bisexual Fiction
Meet Us by the Roaring Sea by Akil Kumarasamy, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Mother Ocean Father Nation by Nishant Batsha, Ecco, HarperCollins
Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste, S&S / Saga Press
Roses, In the Mouth of a Lion: A Novel by Bushra Rehman, Flatiron Books
Stories No One Hopes Are about Them by A.J. Bermudez, The University of Iowa Press
Transgender Fiction
All the Hometowns You Can't Stay Away From by Izzy Wasserstein, Neon Hemlock
Didn't Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta by James Hannaham, Little, Brown and Company
Manywhere by Morgan Thomas, Farrar, Straus and Giroux/MCD
The Call-Out by Cat Fitzpatrick, Seven Stories Press
Wrath Goddess Sing by Maya Deane, William Morrow
LGBTQ+ Young Adult
Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado, Sourcebooks Fire
Funny Gyal: My Fight Against Homophobia in Jamaica by Angeline Jackson with Susan McClelland, foreword by Diana King, Dundurn Press Ltd.
Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore, Feiwel & Friends, Macmillan Childrens Publishing Group
The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes, HarperCollins: Balzer + Bray
The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by Jen Ferguson, HarperCollins: Heartdrum
LGBTQ+ Middle Grade
Answers In the Pages by David Levithan, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Different Kinds of Fruit by Kyle Lukoff, Dial Books for Young Readers
Hazel Hill Is Gonna Win This One by Maggie Horne, HarperCollins: Clarion Books
Nikhil Out Loud by Maulik Pancholy, HarperCollins: Balzer + Bray
The Civil War of Amos Abernathy by Michael Leali, HarperCollins
LGBTQ+ Children's Book
A Song for the Unsung: Bayard Rustin by Carol Boston Weatherford and Rob Sanders, illustrated by Byron McCray, Holt Books for Young Readers
Kapaemahu by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, Illustrated by Daniel Sousa, Kokila
Mama and Mommy and Me in the Middle by Nina LaCour, Candlewick Press
Mighty Red Riding Hood by Wallace West, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
The Sublime Ms. Stacks by Robb Pearlman, illustrated by Dani Jones, Bloomsbury
Bisexual Nonfiction
Appropriate Behavior by Maria San Filippo, McGill-Queen's University Press
Carrying It Forward: Essays from Kistahpinanihk by John Brady McDonald, Wolsak and Wynn Publishers
Never Simple: A Memoir by Liz Scheier, Henry Holt / Macmillan
Open: An Uncensored Memoir of Love, Liberation, and Non-Monogamy by Rachel Krantz, Harmony Books, Penguin Random House
The Crane Wife by CJ Hauser, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Transgender Nonfiction
Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender by Kit Heyam, Basic Books
Faltas: Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn't My Rapist by Cecilia Gentili, LittlePuss Press
Feral City: On Finding Liberation in Lockdown New York by Jeremiah Moss, W.W. Norton & Company
The Terrible We: Thinking with Trans Maladjustment by Cameron Awkward-Rich, Duke University Press
The Third Person by Emma Grove, Drawn & Quarterly
LGBTQ+ Nonfiction
And the Category Is...: Inside New York's Vogue, House, and Ballroom Community by Ricky Tucker, Beacon Press
How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler, Little, Brown & Company
The Black Period: On Personhood, Race, and Origin by Hafizah Augustus Geter, Random House
The Women's House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison by Hugh Ryan, Bold Type Books, Hachette Book Group
Virology: Essays for the Living, the Dead, and the Small Things in Between by Joseph Osmundson, W.W. Norton & Company
LGBTQ+ Speculative Fiction
Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean, Tor Books
Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo, Tordotcom Publishing
The Circus Infinite by Khan Wong, Angry Robot Books
The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart, Ballantine
The Wicked and the Willing by Lianyu Tan, Shattered Scepter Press
Lesbian Poetry
As She Appears by Shelley Wong, YesYes Books
Beast at Every Threshold by Natalie Wee, Arsenal Pulp Press
Concentrate by Courtney Faye Taylor. Graywolf Press
Prelude by Brynne Rebele-Henry, University of Pittsburgh Press
Yearn by Rage Hezekiah, Diode Editions
Gay Poetry
Alive at the End of the World by Saeed Jones, Coffee House Press
Brother Sleep by Aldo Amparán, Alice James Books
Pleasure by Angelo Nikolopoulos, Four Way Books
Some Integrity by Padraig Regan, Carcanet Press
Super Model Minority by Chris Tse, Auckland University Press
Bisexual Poetry
50 Things Kate Bush Taught Me About the Multiverse by Karyna McGlynn, Sarabande Books
Dereliction by Gabrielle Octavia Rucker, The Song Cave
indecent hours by James Fujinami Moore, Four Way Books
Meat Lovers by Rebecca Hawkes, Auckland University Press
Real Phonies and Genuine Fakes by Nicky Beer, Milkweed Editions
Transgender Poetry
A Dead Name That Learned How to Live by Golden, Game Over Books
A Queen in Bucks County by Kay Gabriel, Nightboat Books
All the Flowers Kneeling by Paul Tran, Penguin Books
Emanations by Prathna Lor, Wolsak and Wynn Publishers Ltd.
MissSettl by Kamden Ishmael Hilliard, Nightboat Books
LGBTQ+ Anthology
OutWrite: The Speeches That Shaped LGBTQ Literary Culture by Julie R. Enszer and Elena Gross, Rutgers University Press
Queer Nature: A Poetry Anthology edited by Michael Walsh, Autumn House Press
This Arab is Queer: An Anthology by LGBTQ+ Arab Writers by Elias Jahshan, Saqi Books
Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource by and for Transgender Communities Second Edition by Laura Erickson-Schroth, Oxford University Press
Xenocultivars: Stories of Queer Growth by Isabela Oliveira and Jed Sabin, Speculatively Queer
Lesbian Memoir/Biography
Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place by Neema Avashia, West Virginia University Press
Brown Neon by Raquel Gutiérrez, Coffee House Press
Lost & Found: Reflections on Grief, Gratitude, and Happiness by Kathryn Schulz, Random House
Ma and Me by Putsata Reang, Farrar, Straus and Giroux/MCD
Pretty Baby: A Memoir by Chris Belcher, Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
Gay Memoir/Biography
All Down Darkness Wide: A Memoir by Seán Hewitt, Penguin Press
An Angel in Sodom by Jim Elledge, Chicago Review Press
Boy with the Bullhorn: A Memoir and History of ACT UP New York by Ron Goldberg, Empire State Editions
High-Risk Homosexual by Edgar Gomez, Soft Skull Press
I'm Not Broken by Jesse Leon, Vintage Books
LGBTQ+ Mystery
A Death in Berlin by David C Dawson, Park Creek Publishing
And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling, Poisoned Pen Press
Dead Letters from Paradise by Ann McMan, Bywater Books
Dirt Creek: A Novel by Hayley Scrivenor, Flatiron Books
Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen, Forge Books
LGBTQ+ Comics
A Pros and Cons List for Strong Feelings: A Graphic Memoir by Will Betke-Brunswick, Tin House
Gay Giant by Gabriel Ebensperger, translated by Kelley D. Salas, Street Noise Books
Mamo by Sas Milledge, BOOM! Studios
Other Ever Afters by Melanie Gillman, Random House Graphics
The Greatest Thing by Sarah Winifred Searle, First Second
Lesbian Romance
Hard Pressed by Aurora Rey, Bold Strokes Books
If I Don't Ask by E. J. Noyes, Bella Books
Queerly Beloved by Susie Dumond, Dial Press
Southbound and Down by K.B. Draper, K.B. Draper, LLC.
The Rules of Forever by Nan Campbell, Bold Strokes Books
Gay Romance
Forever After by Marie Sinclair, Self-published
Forever, Con Amor by A.M. Johnson, Self-published
I'm So Not Over You by Kosoko Jackson, Berkley Romance
Just One Night by Felice Stevens, Self-published
Two Tribes by Fearne Hill, Self-published
LGBTQ+ Romance and Erotica
A Lady's Finder by Edie Cay, Self-published
Kiss Her Once For Me: A Novel by Alison Cochrun, Atria Books
Loose Lips: A Gay Sea Odyssey by Joseph Brennan, Hard Crossing Press
Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner, St. Martin's Griffin
The Romance Recipe by Ruby Barrett, Carina Adores
LGBTQ+ Drama
Duecentomila by kai fig taddei, Playwrights Canada Press
Iphigenia and the Furies (On Taurian Land) & Antigone: by Ho Ka Kei (Jeff Ho), Playwrights Canada Press
Rock 'n' Roll Heretic by Sikivu Hutchinson, Self-published
The Show on the Roof Book by Tom Ford, Music and Lyrics by Alex Syiek, Boise Contemporary Theater
Wolf Play by Hansol Jung, Samuel French, a Concord Theatricals Company
LGBTQ+ Studies
Keeping It Unreal: Black Queer Fantasy and Superhero Comics by Darieck Scott, NYU Press
Lesbian Death: Desire and Danger between Feminist and Queer by Mairead Sullivan, University of Minnesota Press
Sissy Insurgencies: A Racial Anatomy of Unfit Manliness by Marlon B. Ross, Duke University Press
Surface Relations: Queer Forms of Asian American Inscrutability by Vivian L. Huang, Duke University Press
There's a Disco Ball Between Us: A Theory of Black Gay Life by Jafari S. Allen, Duke University Press
