23rd Annual Lambda Literary Awards Announced in New York
Three-time Pulitzer Prize Winning Playwright Edward Albee &
Award-Winning Crime Writer Val McDermid Honored at
23rd Annual Lambda Literary Awards
New York, NY -- Three-time Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Edward Albee and Gold Dagger Award-winning crime fiction writer Val McDermid were honored last night at the 23rd Annual Lambda Literary Awards, in a ceremony at the School of Visual Arts Theater in New York City. Taking place the same week of Book Expo America-the book publishing industry's biggest annual gathering of booksellers, publishers, and others in the industry-the Lambda ceremony brought together over 400 attendees, sponsors, and celebrities to celebrate excellence in LGBT literature.
The ceremony was hosted by comedienne Lea DeLaria who kept the evening light and hilarious with her brand of bawdy humor saying, "I don't know what the [expletive] I'm doing here. You're all smarter than me." Also in attendance were presenters such as Jim McGreevey, Stefanie Powers, and award-winning author, Emma Donoghue.
Awards were presented in twenty-four categories. Among the winners were Eileen Myles's Inferno (A Poet's Novel) which took the top honor in Lesbian Fiction and Adam Haslett's Union Atlantic in Gay Fiction. There were two ties as well, an unusual occurrence for the Awards, in the Lesbian Memoir category as well as in LGBT Studies.
Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally presented the Foundation's Pioneer Award to Edward Albee, saying of the legendary playwright, "He has avoided gay subject matter throughout his career that people wonder if he's gay. Well, I'm here to tell you he is ... I picked him up at a party in 1960." In accepting his honor, Albee remarked "I'm not a gay writer. I'm a writer who happens to be gay."
The other Pioneer Award was given to acclaimed Scottish crime writer Val McDermid who joked that there were no lesbians in the small town she grew up in believing they were "mythical, like mermaids." McDermid went on to thank the writers who came before, such as her award presenter Katherine V. Forrest, saying, "I understand the importance of doors being opened. Other people opened doors for me."
LLF Executive Director, Tony Valenzuela, in his remarks from the stage appealed to the audience to support the literary arts. He said, "If civil rights are another way of saying quality of life, of what makes life meaningful and gives us joy, then writers, publishers, literature, arts, are a key component of civil rights and we have to say that over and over again."
Alex Sánchez, Mexican-American author of award-winning novels for teens and adults, and Susan Stinson, winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award in Fiction, received the Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists' Prizes, and the University of Wisconsin Press received a special Publisher's Service Award.
The Lambda Awards ceremony's glamour quotient reached new highs this year with a stellar roster of presenters from a diverse cross section from the worlds of film, television, theatre, politics, religion, sex, and of course literature. Besides McGreevey and Powers, gracing the stage to bestow awards were transgender photographer Amos Mac, feminist porn actress and director Tristan Taormino, former speech writer for Billy Graham Mel White, Mr. Gay USA Eddie Rabon, and beauty queen Claire Buffie, Miss New York.
Immediately following the awards ceremony, a VIP after-party took place at Chelsea's Cheim & Read, the legendary art gallery that has exhibited Robert Mapplethorpe, Don Barchardy, and Diane Arbus. The performance troop Unitard (Mike Alboof the Underminer, Nora Burns, of the Nellie Olesons, and David Ilku, of the Dueling Bankheads) provided their twisted and sardonic brand of entertainment.
Ceremony Sponsors:
Sponsors of the event include: RÖKK Vodka, Harper Perennial (all at Benefactor level); Kensington Publishing (Patron level); Northwest Press, Barefoot Wine (Mentor level); Cleis Press, Blind Eye Books, Arsenal Pulp Press, Seal Press, Bywater Books, The American Institute of Bisexuality, Rainbow Book Fair (all at Friend level); and FLUX Books (Gift Bag level).
23rd Annual Lambda Literary Award Winners
Lesbian Fiction
Inferno (A Poet's Novel), by Eileen Myles, OR Books
Gay Fiction
Union Atlantic, by Adam Haslett, Doubleday
Lesbian Debut Fiction
Sub Rosa, by Amber Dawn, Arsenal Pulp Press
Gay Debut Fiction
Bob the Book, by David Pratt, Chelsea Station Editions
Lesbian Memoir/Biography (TIE)
Hammer! Making Movies Out of Sex and Life, by Barbara Hammer, The Feminist Press
Wishbone: A Memoir in Fractures, by Julie Marie Wade, Colgate University Press
Gay Memoir/Biography
Secret Historian: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward, Professor, Tattoo Artist and Sexual Renegade, by Justin Spring, Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Lesbian Mystery
Fever of the Bone, by Val McDermid, HarperCollins
Gay Mystery
Echoes, by David Lennon, Blue Spike Publishing
LGBT Anthology
Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation, edited by Kate Bornstein & S. Bear Bergman, Seal Press
LGBT Children's/Young Adult
Wildthorn, by Jane Eagland, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
LGBT Drama
Oedipus at Palm Springs, by The Five Lesbian Brothers: Maureen Angelos, Dominique Dibbell, Peg Healey, and Lisa Kron, Samuel French, Inc.
LGBT Nonfiction
King Kong Theory, by Virginia Despentes, The Feminist Press
LGBT SF/Fantasy/Horror
Diana Comet and Other Improbable Stories, by Sandra McDonald, Lethe Press
LGBT Studies (TIE)
Another Country: Queer Anti-Urbanism, by Scott Herring, New York University Press
Assuming a Body: Transgender and Rhetorics of Materiality, by Gayle Salaman, Columbia University Press
Bisexual Fiction
The Lunatic, the Lover and the Poet, by Myrlin Hermes, Harper Perennial
Bisexual Nonfiction
Border Sexualities, Border Families in Schools, by Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli,Rowman & Littlefield
Transgender Fiction
Holding Still For as Long as Possible, by Zoe Whittall, House of Anansi Press
Transgender Nonfiction
Balancing on the Mechitza: Transgender in Jewish Community, edited by Noach Dzmura, North Atlantic Books
Lesbian Erotica
Sometimes She Lets Me: Best Butch/Femme Erotica, edited by Tristan Taormino, Cleis Press
Gay Erotica
Teleny and Camille, by Jon Macy, Northwest Press
Lesbian Poetry
The Nights Also, by Anna Swanson, Tightrope Books
Gay Poetry
Pleasure, by Brian Teare, Ahsahta Press
Lesbian Romance
River Walker, by Cate Culpepper, Bold Strokes Books
Gay Romance
Normal Miguel, by Erik Orrantia, Cheyenne Press
PHOTOS OF THE 23RD ANNUAL LAMBDA LITERARY AWARDS
found in link below: Photo credit: Donna Aceto
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lambdaliterary/
Start you summer reading by buying the Lammy winner!
http://www.lambdaliterary.org/2011-lambda-literary-award-winners/
23rd Annual Lambda Literary Awards Committee Members
Honorary Host Committee
Ann Bannon
Don Bachardy
Bill Clegg
Kate Clinton
Mart Crowley
Michael Cunningham
Stacey D'Erasmo
Jim McGreevey
David Mixner
Ann Patchett
Stefanie Powers
Andrew Tobias
Edmund White
New York Host Committee
David McConnell - Co-Chair
Don Weise - Co-Chair
S. Chris Shirley - Co-Chair
Jamie Brickhouse
J. Brooks
Benoit Denizet-Lewis
Dick Donahue
Jessica Falvo
David Gale
Charles Rice-Gonzalez
Nicholas Nicholson
Heather Aimee O'Neill
Julia Pastore
Lori Perkins
Patrick Ryan
Rakesh Satyal
Liz Scheier
Bob Smith
Jerl Surratt
Linda Villarosa
Paul Whitlatch
About the Lambda Literary Foundation: The Foundation nurtures, celebrates, and preserves LGBT literature through programs that honor excellence, promote visibility and encourage development of emerging writers. LLF's programs include the Lambda Literary Awards, the Writers' Retreat for Emerging LGBT Voices, and our web magazine at www.lambdaliterary.org.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
I Knew a Woman
by Theodore Roethke
I knew a woman, lovely in her bones,
When small birds sighed, she would sigh back at them;
Ah, when she moved, she moved more ways than one:
The shapes a bright container can contain!
Of her choice virtues only gods should speak,
Or English poets who grew up on Greek
(I'd have them sing in a chorus, cheek to cheek).
How well her wishes went! She stroked my chin,
She taught me Turn, and Counter-turn, and Stand;
She taught me Touch, that undulant white skin;
I nibbled meekly from her proffered hand;
She was the sickle; I, poor I, the rake,
Coming behind her for her pretty sake
(But what prodigious mowing we did make).
Love likes a gander, and adores a goose:
Her full lips pursed, the errant notes to seize;
She played it quick, she played it light and loose;
My eyes, they dazzled at her flowing knees;
Her several parts could keep a pure repose,
Or one hip quiver with a mobile nose
(She moved in circles, and those circles moved).
Let seed be grass, and grass turn into hay:
I'm martyr to a motion not my own;
What's freedom for? To know eternity.
I swear she cast a shadow white as stone.
But who would count eternity in days?
These old bones live to learn her wanton ways:
(I measure time by how a body sways).
"I Knew a Woman" by Theodore Roethke, from The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke. © Anchor, 1974. From today's The Writer's Almanac.
by Theodore Roethke
I knew a woman, lovely in her bones,
When small birds sighed, she would sigh back at them;
Ah, when she moved, she moved more ways than one:
The shapes a bright container can contain!
Of her choice virtues only gods should speak,
Or English poets who grew up on Greek
(I'd have them sing in a chorus, cheek to cheek).
How well her wishes went! She stroked my chin,
She taught me Turn, and Counter-turn, and Stand;
She taught me Touch, that undulant white skin;
I nibbled meekly from her proffered hand;
She was the sickle; I, poor I, the rake,
Coming behind her for her pretty sake
(But what prodigious mowing we did make).
Love likes a gander, and adores a goose:
Her full lips pursed, the errant notes to seize;
She played it quick, she played it light and loose;
My eyes, they dazzled at her flowing knees;
Her several parts could keep a pure repose,
Or one hip quiver with a mobile nose
(She moved in circles, and those circles moved).
Let seed be grass, and grass turn into hay:
I'm martyr to a motion not my own;
What's freedom for? To know eternity.
I swear she cast a shadow white as stone.
But who would count eternity in days?
These old bones live to learn her wanton ways:
(I measure time by how a body sways).
"I Knew a Woman" by Theodore Roethke, from The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke. © Anchor, 1974. From today's The Writer's Almanac.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Review of Sisterhood!
Lambda Literary published a review by V. Jo Hsu of three chapbooks, including my chapbook, Sisterhood. I am so pleased! It is especially great because I am in the wonderful company of Christina Hutchins and Stacey Waite, two poets I admire greatly. You can read the review over at Lambda Literary here. And if you don't have a copy of Sisterhood, I think that the incredible publisher Ron Mohring of Seven Kitchens Press has a few left. You can visit Ron's publishing empire here.
Lambda Literary published a review by V. Jo Hsu of three chapbooks, including my chapbook, Sisterhood. I am so pleased! It is especially great because I am in the wonderful company of Christina Hutchins and Stacey Waite, two poets I admire greatly. You can read the review over at Lambda Literary here. And if you don't have a copy of Sisterhood, I think that the incredible publisher Ron Mohring of Seven Kitchens Press has a few left. You can visit Ron's publishing empire here.
Friday, May 13, 2011
MILK AND HONEY: A CELBRATION OF JEWISH LESBIAN POETRY
Official Release: September 2011
Advance copies on sale now at A Midsummer Night's Press
In this land of Milk & Honey, poems flow. Contemporary Jewish, lesbian poets address an array of experiences – relationships between and among women, family relationships, politics, solitude, ethical responsibilities, history, solidarity, and community.
Milk & Honey features beloved poets like Ellen Bass, Robin Becker, Elana Dykewomon, Marilyn Hacker, Sharron Hass, Eleanor Lerman, Joan Nestle, Lesléa Newman and Ellen Orleans, as well as new and emerging voices.
With language and imagery that moves from the sensual and political to the tender and serene, Milk & Honey explores the vibrant, complicated, exhilarating experience of being Jewish and lesbian—or queer—in the world today.
Julie R. Enszer’s first book of poems is Handmade Love (A Midsummer Night’s Press). She has published also published the chapbook Sisterhood (Seven Kitchens Press). She has an MFA from the University of Maryland and is enrolled currently in the PhD program in Women’s Studies at the University of Maryland.
MILK AND HONEY: A CELEBRATION OF JEWISH LESBIAN POETRY
edited by Julie R. Enszer
Body Language 07
ISBN-13: 978-0-9794208-8-7
ISBN-10: 0-9794208-8-1
Poetry/Lesbian Studies/Jewish Studies
86 pages/perfect bound
Pub Date: 1 September 2011
US: $14.95
Europe: €11
FREE SHIPPING ON U.S. ORDERS!
Official Release: September 2011
Advance copies on sale now at A Midsummer Night's Press
In this land of Milk & Honey, poems flow. Contemporary Jewish, lesbian poets address an array of experiences – relationships between and among women, family relationships, politics, solitude, ethical responsibilities, history, solidarity, and community.
Milk & Honey features beloved poets like Ellen Bass, Robin Becker, Elana Dykewomon, Marilyn Hacker, Sharron Hass, Eleanor Lerman, Joan Nestle, Lesléa Newman and Ellen Orleans, as well as new and emerging voices.
With language and imagery that moves from the sensual and political to the tender and serene, Milk & Honey explores the vibrant, complicated, exhilarating experience of being Jewish and lesbian—or queer—in the world today.
Julie R. Enszer’s first book of poems is Handmade Love (A Midsummer Night’s Press). She has published also published the chapbook Sisterhood (Seven Kitchens Press). She has an MFA from the University of Maryland and is enrolled currently in the PhD program in Women’s Studies at the University of Maryland.
MILK AND HONEY: A CELEBRATION OF JEWISH LESBIAN POETRY
edited by Julie R. Enszer
Body Language 07
ISBN-13: 978-0-9794208-8-7
ISBN-10: 0-9794208-8-1
Poetry/Lesbian Studies/Jewish Studies
86 pages/perfect bound
Pub Date: 1 September 2011
US: $14.95
Europe: €11
FREE SHIPPING ON U.S. ORDERS!
A POEM BY DONALD HALL
From Today's The Writer's Almanac
Conversation‚s Afterplay
by Donald Hall
At dinner our first night
I looked at you, your bright green eyes,
In candlelight.
We laughed and told the hundred stories,
Kissed, and caressed, and went to bed.
"Shh, shh," you said,
"I want to put my legs around your head."
Green eyes, green eyes.
At dawn we sat with coffee
And smoked another cigarette
As quietly
Companionship and eros met
In conversation's afterplay,
On our first day.
Late for the work you love, you drove away.
Green eyes, green eyes.
"Conversation's Afterplay" by Donald Hall, from The Painted Bed. © Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. Reprinted with permission.
I just adore Donald Hall.
From Today's The Writer's Almanac
Conversation‚s Afterplay
by Donald Hall
At dinner our first night
I looked at you, your bright green eyes,
In candlelight.
We laughed and told the hundred stories,
Kissed, and caressed, and went to bed.
"Shh, shh," you said,
"I want to put my legs around your head."
Green eyes, green eyes.
At dawn we sat with coffee
And smoked another cigarette
As quietly
Companionship and eros met
In conversation's afterplay,
On our first day.
Late for the work you love, you drove away.
Green eyes, green eyes.
"Conversation's Afterplay" by Donald Hall, from The Painted Bed. © Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. Reprinted with permission.
I just adore Donald Hall.
Sunday, May 01, 2011
Publishing Triangle Announces Award Winners at Annual Ceremony
| Gender Outlaws Anthology Receives Special Award We're proud to present the winners for the best LGBT books of 2010. The winners were announced last night at the 23rd annual Triangle Awards, April 28, 2011, at the New School in New York. Also listed below are the finalists for each category. The Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction
The Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry
|
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