23rd Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 16, 2011   Press Contact: Tony Valenzuela (323) 376-6801, info@lambdaliterary.org    23rd Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists Announced      Los Angeles, CA - Finalists for the Lambda Literary Award were announced today by the Lambda Literary Foundation in Los Angeles.  Books from major mainstream publishers and from academic presses, from both long-established and brand new LGBT publishers, and even from emerging publish-on-demand technologies, make up the 114 finalists for the "Lammys."  The finalists were selected from a record number of nominations.   The awards, now in their twenty-third year, celebrate achievement in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) writing for books published in 2010. Winners will be announced at a May 26 ceremony in New York at the School of Visual Arts Theater (333 West 23rd Street).   Lambda set a record in 2009 for both the number of LGBT books nominated (462) and the number of publishers participating (about 200), reports Lambda Awards Administrator Richard Labonté. But that record has been surpassed this year, with more than 520 titles represented from about 230 publishers.   "Some of the increase in nominations stems from the growth in recent years of self-published books, reflecting an expanding reliance on ever-more-accessible publish-on-demand technology by talented LGBT authors with worthwhile stories to tell - a do-it-yourself approach that hearkens back to the late 1970s and 1980s, when lesbians and gay men established their own presses and launched the queer book boom," Labonté said. "The books came, and the Lammys soon followed."   "These record-breaking numbers are occurring at a time when the publishing industry is under siege and we hear report after report on the death of books," said LLF Board Co-Chair, Dr. Judith Markowitz. "What's even more heartening is that the quality of those nominations is extremely high. All of this bodes well for the future of LGBT literature and for the Foundation's continued role in advocating on behalf of that literature."   Another sign of evolution in the state of LGBT publishing: the Transgender category joined the Bisexual category in garnering enough nominations to merit dividing it this year into Transgender Fiction and Transgender Nonfiction; the Bisexual category was split for the first time last year. More than 90 booksellers, book reviewers, librarians, authors, previous Lammy winners and finalists, and other book professionals volunteered many hours of reading time, critical thinking, and invigorating shared discussion to select the finalists in 24 categories.   "Lambda Literary depends on the generous gifts of time and talent from its volunteer judges, year after year, to keep the Lammys vibrant.  We couldn't do it without them," said Lambda Executive Director, Tony Valenzuela. "This day really belongs to our finalists, whose work has entered the elite company of Lammy nominated books that enrich our community's literature.  Congratulations to these talented authors on their momentous achievement."   23rd Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists   LGBT Anthologies Best Lesbian Romance, edited by Radclyffe, Cleis Press Gay Shame, edited by David Halperin, University of Chicago Press Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation, edited by Kate Bornstein & S. Bear Bergman, Seal Press Kicked Out, edited by Sassafras Lowrey, Homofactus Press War Diaries, edited by Tisa Bryant & Ernest Hardy, AIDS Project Los Angeles and the Global Forum on MSM & HIV   LGBT Children's/Young Adult Christian, the Hugging Lion, by Justin Richardson & Peter Parnell, illustrated by Amy June Bates, Simon & Schuster God Loves Hair, by Vivek Shraya, illustrated by Juliana Neufeld, Vivek Shraya Jumpstart the World, by Catherine Ryan Hyde, Random House Children's Books Love Drugged, by James Klise, Flux Books Wildthorn, by Jane Eagland, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt   LGBT Drama The Brother/Sister Plays, by Tarell Alvin McCraney, Theatre Communications Group Lydia, by Octavio Solis, Samuel French, Inc Oedipus at Palm Springs, by Maureen Angelos, Samuel French, Inc Slipping, by Daniel Talbott, Dramatists Play Service With Bated Breath, by Bryden MacDonald, Talonbooks   LGBT Nonfiction Balancing on the Mechitza: Transgender in Jewish Community, by Noach Dzmura, North Atlantic Books Ex-Gay No Way: Survival and Recovery from Religious Abuse, by Jallen Rix, Findhorn Press Inseparable, by Emma Donoghue, Alfred A. Knopf King Kong Theory, by Virginia Despentes, The Feminist Press The Right To Be Out, by Stuart Biegel, University of Minnesota Press   LGBT SF/Fantasy/Horror Diana Comet and Other Improbable Stories, by Sandra MacDonald, Lethe Press Disturbed By Her Song, by Tanith Lee, Lethe Press Flowers of Edo: A Ghost Story, by Nene Adams, Black Car Publishing Wilde Stories 2010, edited by Steve Berman, Lethe Press Wolfsbane Winter, by Jane Fletcher, Bold Strokes Books   LGBT Studies 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 Backward Glances: Contemporary Chinese Cultures and the Female Homoerotic Imaginary, by Fran Martin, Duke University Press Citizen Invert Queer: Lesbianism and War in Early Twentieth-Century Britain, by Deborah Cohler, University of Minnesota Press Queering the Public Sphere in Mexico and Brazil: Sexual Rights Movements in Emerging Democracies, by Rafael de la Dehesa, Duke University Press   Bisexual Fiction Fall Asleep Forgetting, by Georgann Packard, The Permanent Press If You Follow Me, by Malena Watrous, Harper Perennial Krakow Melt, by Daniel Allen Cox, Arsenal Pulp Press The Lunatic, the Lover and the Poet, by Myrlin Hermes, Harper Perennial Pride/Prejudice, by Ann Herendeen, Harper Paperback   Bisexual Nonfiction Border Sexualities, Border Families in Schools, by Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli, Rowman & Littlefield Dear John, I Love Jane: Women Write about Leaving Men for Women, edited by Candace Walsh & Laura Andre, Seal Press Just Kids, by Patti Smith, Ecco Press Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead, by Paula Byrne, HarperCollins/It Books Sal Mineo, by Gregg Michael Michaud, Crown Archetype   Transgender Fiction Holding Still For as Long as Possible, by Zoe Whittall, House of Anansi Press Glamazonia: The Uncanny Super-Tranny, by Justin Hall with Diego Gomez, Fred Noland & Jon Macy, Northwest Press Jumpstart the World, by Catherine Ryan Hyde, Random House Children's Books   Transgender Nonfiction Assume Nothing, by Rebecca Swan, Soft Skull Press Balancing on the Mechitza: Transgender in Jewish Community, by Noach Dzmura, North Atlantic Books The Color of Sunlight, by Michelle Alexander, CreateSpace Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation, edited by Kate Bornstein and S. Bear Bergman, Seal Press Just One of the Guys? Transgender Men and the Persistence of Inequality, by Kristin Schilt, University of Chicago Press   Lesbian Debut Fiction Alcestis, by Katharine Beutner, Soho Press Fall Asleep Forgetting, by Georgann Packard, The Permanent Press One More Stop, by Lois Walden, Arcadia Books The More I Owe You, by Michael Sledge, Counterpoint Press Sub Rosa, by Amber Dawn, Arsenal Pulp Press   Gay Debut Fiction Bob the Book, by David Pratt, Chelsea Station Editions The Palisades, by Tom Schabarum, Cascadia Publishing Passes Through, by Rob Stephenson, University of Alabama Press/FC2 Probation, by Tom Mendicino, Kensington Books XOXO Hayden, by Chris Corkum, P.D. Publishing   Lesbian Erotica Best Lesbian Erotica 2011, edited by Katherine Warnock & selected by Lea DeLaria, Cleis Press Sometimes She Lets Me: Best Femme/Butch Erotica, edited by Tristan Taormino, Cleis Press This is How We Do It: A Raw Mix of Lesbian Erotica, edited by D. Alexandria, RedThorn Art   Gay Erotica Best of the Best Gay Erotica 3, edited by Richard Labonte, Cleis Press Gay Erotic Tales from Under the Big Top, edited by Jerry Wheeler, Lethe Press Teleny and Camille, by Jon Macy, Northwest Press A Twist of Grimm: Erotic Fairy Tales for Gay Men, by William Holden, Lethe Press Vancouver Nights, by Hank Edwards, Lethe Press   Lesbian Fiction Big Bang Symphony, by Lucy Jane Bledsoe, University of Wisconsin Press Fifth Born II: The Hundredth Turtle, by Zelda Lockhart, LaVenson Press Holding Still For as Long as Possible, by Zoe Whittall, House of Anansi Press Homeschooling, by Carol Guess, PS Press Inferno (A Poet's Novel), by Eileen Myles, OR Books   Gay Fiction By Nightfall, by Michael Cunningham, Farrar, Straus & Giroux Children of the Sun, by Max Schaefer, Soft Skull Press Consolation, by Jonathan Strong, Pressed Wafer The Silver Hearted, by David McConnell, Alyson Books Union Atlantic, by Adam Haslett, Doubleday   Lesbian Memoir Blood Strangers, by Katherine A. Bricetti, Heyday Hammer! Making Movies Out of Sex and Life, by Barbara Hammer, The Feminist Press Like Me: Confessions of a Heartland Country Singer, by Chely Wright, Pantheon Books She Looks Just Like You: A Memoir of (Nonbiological) Motherhood, by Arnie Klempnauer Miller, Beacon Press Wishbone: A Memoir in Fractures, by Julie Marie Wade, Colgate University Press   Gay Memoir Beyond Normal: The Birth of Gay Pride, by Gale Chester Whittington, BookLocker.com Grant Wood: A Life, by R. Tripp Evans, Alfred A. Knopf Secret Historian: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward, Professor, Tattoo Artist and Sexual Renegade, by Justin Spring, Farrar, Straus & Giroux The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham, by Selina Hastings, Random House She Ain't Heavy, She's My Mother, by Bryan Batt, Harmony Books   Lesbian Mystery The Cruel Ever After, by Ellen Hart, Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Press Fever of the Bone, by Val McDermid, HarperCollins Missing Lynx, by Kim Baldwin & Xenia Alexiou, Bold Strokes Books Parallel Lies, by Stella Duffy, Bywater Books Watermark, by J.M. Redmann, Bold Strokes Books   Gay Mystery Cockeyed, by Richard Stevenson, MLR Press Echoes, by David Lennon, Blue Spike Publishing Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers, by I.E. Woodward, iUniverse Smoke, by Garry Ryan, NeWest Press Vieux Carre Voodoo, by Greg Herren, Bold Strokes Books   Lesbian Poetry The Inquisition Yours, by Jen Currin, Coach House Books Money for Sunsets, by Elizabeth J. Colen, Steel Toe Books The Nights Also, by Anna Swanson, Tightrope Books The Sensual World Re-Emerges, by Eleanor Lerman, Sarabande Books White Shirt, by Laurie MacFayden, Frontenac House   Gay Poetry darkacre, by Greg Hewett, Coffee House Press Other Flowers: Uncollected Poems, by James Schuyler, Farrar, Straus & Giroux  Pleasure, by Brian Teare, Ahsahta Press The Salt Ecstasies: Poems, by James L. White, The Graywolf Poetry Re/View Series "then, we were still living", by Michael Klein, GenPop Books   Lesbian Romance Above Temptation, by Karin Kallmaker, Bella Books Awakening to Sunlight, by Lindsey Stone, Bold Strokes Books Beacon of Love, by Ann Roberts, Bella Books  River Walker, by Cate Culpepper, Bold Strokes Books Starting From Scratch, by Georgia Beers, Brisk Press   Gay Romance Normal Miguel, by Erik Orrantia, Cheyenne Press Three Wrong Turns in the Desert, by Neil Plakcy, Loose ID The Road Home, by Michael Thomas Ford, Kensington Books   ##   Tickets for the Lambda Literary Awards ceremony and After-Party go on sale today.  The ceremony will be held Thursday, May 26, 2011 at the School of Visual Arts Theater in New York City (333 W. 23rd St), followed by a private after-party nearby.  For information: www.lambdaliterary.org/awards.  For the complete list of Finalists on our website: www.lambdaliterary.org/awards/2011-finalists   23rd Annual Lambda Literary Awards   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 City Host Committee David McConnell - Co-Chair Don Weise - Co-Chair S. Chris Shirley - Co-Chair Jamie Chelsea Brickhouse   J. Brooks Benoit Denizet-Lewis 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.   For information: Tony Valenzuela Lambda Literary Foundation Executive Director phone (213) 568-3570 cell (323) 376-6801 info@lambdaliterary.org  www.lambdaliterary.org Richard Labonté  Lambda Literary Awards Administrator richardlabonte@lambdaliterary.org