22nd Annual Lambda Literary Awards

Author: Tony Valenzuela

May 10, 2010

These Finalists represent books published in 2009.

LGBT Anthology

• Portland Queer: Tales of the Rose City, edited by Ariel Gore (Lit Star Press)
• Gay American Autobiography: Writings from Whitman to Sedaris, edited by David Bergman (University of Wisconsin Press)
• Moral Panics, Sex Panics: Fear and the Fight Over Sexual Rights, edited by Gilbert Herdt (NYU Press)
• My Diva: 65 Gay Men on the Women Who Inspire Them, edited by Michael Montlack (University of Wisconsin Press)
• Smash the Church, Smash the State! The Early Years of Gay Liberation, edited by Tommi Avicolli Mecca (City Lights)

LGBT Children’s/Young Adult

• Sprout, by Dale Peck (Bloomsbury USA)
• Ash, by Malinda Lo (Little, Brown)
• How Beautiful the Ordinary, edited by Michael Cart (HarperCollins)
• In Mike We Trust, by P.E. Ryan (HarperCollins)
• The Vast Fields of Ordinary, by Nick Burd (Penguin Books)

LGBT Drama

• The Collected Plays Of Mart Crowley, by Mart Crowley (Alyson Books)
• The Beebo Brinker Chronicles, by Kate Moira Ryan & Linda S. Chapman (Dramatists Play Service)
• Revenge of the Women’s Studies Professor, by Bonnie J. Morris (Indiana University Press)

LGBT Nonfiction

• The Greeks and Greek Love, by James Davidson (Random House)
• The Golden Age of Gay Fiction, edited by Drewey Wayne Gunn (MLR Press)
• I Am Your Sister: Collected and Unpublished Writings of Audre Lorde, edited by Rudolph P. Byrd, Johnnetta Betsch Cole & Beverly Guy-Sheftall (Oxford University Press)
• Ties That Bind: Familial Homophobia and Its Consequences, by Sarah Schulman (The New Press)
• Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America, by Nathaniel Frank (St. Martin’s Press)

LGBT SF/Fantasy/Horror

• Palimpsest, by Catherynne M. Valente (Bantam/Spectra Books)
• Centuries Ago and Very Fast, by Rebecca Ore (Aqueduct Press)
• Fist of the Spider Woman, by Amber Dawn (Arsenal Pulp Press)
• In the Closet, Under the Bed, by Lee Thomas (Dark Scribe Press)
• Pumpkin Teeth, by Tom Cardamone (Lethe Press)

LGBT Studies

• The Straight State: Sexuality and Citizenship in Twentieth Century America, by Margot Canaday (Princeton University Press)
• Metropolitan Lovers: The Homosexuality of Cities, by Julie Abraham (University of Minnesota Press) [Review]
• Moving Politics: Emotion and ACT UP’s Fight Against AIDS, by Deborah B. Gould (University of Chicago Press)
• The Queer Child, or Growing Sideways in the Twentieth Century, by Kathryn Bond Stockton (Duke University Press) [Review]
• The Resurrection of the Body: Pier Paolo Pasolini from Saint Paul to Sade, by Armando Maggi (University of Chicago Press)

Bisexual Fiction [TIE]

• Holy Communion, by Mykola Dementiuk (Synergy Press)
• Love You Two, by Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli (Random House Australia)
• Arusha, by J.E. Knowles (Spinsters Ink) [Review]
• The Janeid, by Bobbie Geary (The Graeae Press)
• Torn, by Amber Lehman (Closet Case Press) [Review]

Bisexual Nonfiction

• Leaving India: My Family’s Journey From Five Villages to Five Continents, by Minal Hajratwala (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• Byron in Love: A Short Daring Life, by Edna O’Brien (W. W. Norton)
• Cheever: A Life, by Blake Bailey (Alfred A. Knopf) [Review]
• Map, by Audrey Beth Stein (Lulu.com) [Review]
• Vincente Minnelli: Hollywood’s Dark Dreamer, by Emanuel Levy (St. Martin’s Press)

Transgender

• Lynnee Breedlove’s One Freak Show, by Lynn Breedlove (Manic D Press)
• Bharat Jiva, by Kari Edwards (Litmus Press)
• The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You, by S. Bear Bergman (Arsenal Pulp Press)
• Transmigration, by Joy Ladin (Sheep Meadow Press)
• Troglodyte Rose, by Adam Lowe (Cadaverine Publications)

Lesbian Debut Fiction

• The Creamsickle, by Rhiannon Argo (Spinsters Ink)
• The Bigness of the World, by Lori Ostlund (University of Georgia Press)
• Land Beyond Maps, by Maida Tilchen (Savvy Press)
• More of This World or Maybe Another, by Barb Johnson (Harper Perennial) [Review]
• Verge, by Z Egloff (Bywater Books) [Review]

Gay Debut Fiction

• Blue Boy, by Rakesh Satyal (Kensington Books)
• God Says No, by James Hannaham (McSweeneys)
• Pop Salvation, by Lance Reynald (HarperCollins)
• Shaming the Devil: Collected Short Stories, by G. Winston James (Top Pen Press)
• Sugarless, by James Magruder (University of Wisconsin Press)

Lesbian Erotica

• Lesbian Cowboys, edited by Sacchi Green & Rakelle Valencia (Cleis Press)
• Flesh and Bone, by Ronica Black (Bold Strokes Books)
• Punishment with Kisses, by Diane Anderson-Minshall (Bold Strokes Books)
• Where the Girls Are, by D.L. King (Cleis Press)
• Women of the Bite, Edited by Cecilia Tan (Alyson Books)

Gay Erotica

• Impossible Princess, by Kevin Killian (City Lights)
• Rough Trade: Dangerous Gay Erotica, edited by Todd Gregory (Bold Strokes Books) [Review]
• I Like It Like That: True Tales of Gay Desire, edited by Richard Labonté & Lawrence Schimel (Arsenal Pulp Press)
• The Low Road, by James Lear (Cleis Press)
• Eight Inches, by Sean Wolfe (Kensington Books)

Lesbian Fiction

• A Field Guide to Deception, by Jill Malone (Bywater Books)
• Dismantled, by Jennifer McMahon (HarperCollins)
• Forgetting the Alamo, Or, Blood Memory, by Emma Pérez (University of Texas Press)
• Risk, by Elana Dykewomon (Bywater Books) [Review]
• This One’s Going to Last Forever, by Nairne Holtz (Insomniac Press)

Gay Fiction

• Lake Overturn, by Vestal McIntyre (HarperCollins)
• The River In Winter, by Matt Dean (Queens English Productions)
• Said and Done, by James Morrison (Black Lawrence Press)
• Salvation Army, by Abdellah Taia (Semiotext(e)) [Review]
• Silver Lake, by Peter Gadol (Tyrus Books) [Review]

Lesbian Memoir/Biography

• The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith, by Joan Schenkar (St. Martin’s Press)
• Called Back: My Reply to Cancer, My Return to Life, by Mary Cappello (Alyson Books)
• Mean Little deaf Queer, by Terry Galloway (Beacon Press) [Review]
• My Red Blood: A Memoir of Growing Up Communist, Coming Onto the Greenwich Village Folk Scene, and Coming Out in the Feminist Movement, by Alix Dobkin (Alyson Books)
• Likewise: The High School Comic Chronicles of Ariel Schrag, by Ariel Schrag (Touchstone)

Gay Memoir/Biography

• Ardent Spirits: Leaving Home, Coming Back, by Reynolds Price (Scribner Books)
• City Boy: My Life in New York During the 1960’s and 70’s, by Edmund White (Bloomsbury USA) [Review]
• Deflowered: My Life in Pansy Division, by Jon Ginoli (Cleis Press)
• Once You Go Back, by Douglas A. Martin (Seven Stories Press) [Review]
• The Pure Lover: A Memoir of Grief, by David Plante (Beacon Press) [Review]

Lesbian Mystery

• Death of a Dying Man, by J.M. Redmann (Bold Strokes Books)
• Command of Silence, by Paulette Callen (Spinsters Ink)
• From Hell to Breakfast, by Joan Opyr (Blue Feather Books)
• The Mirror and the Mask, by Ellen Hart (St. Martin’s/Minotaur)
• Toasted, by Josie Gordon (Bella Books)

Gay Mystery

• What We Remember, by Michael Thomas Ford (Kensington Books)
• All Lost Things, by Josh Aterovis (P.D. Publishing)
• Killer of Orchids, by Ralph Ashworth (State Street Press)
• Murder in the Garden District, by Greg Herren (Alyson Books)
• Straight Lies, by Rob Byrnes (Kensington Books)

Lesbian Poetry

• Zero at the Bone, by Stacie Cassarino (New Issues Poetry & Prose)
• Bird Eating Bird, by Kristin Naca (HarperCollins)
• Gospel: Poems, by Samiya Bashir (Red Bone Press)
• Names, by Marilyn Hacker (W.W. Norton)
• Stars of the Night Commute, by Ana Božičević (Tarpaulin Sky Press)

Gay Poetry

• Sweet Core Orchard, by Benjamin S. Grossberg (University of Tampa Press)
• Breakfast with Thom Gunn, by Randall Mann (University of Chicago Press)
• The Brother Swimming Beneath Me, by Brent Goodman (Black Lawrence Press)
• The First Risk, by Charles Jensen (Lethe Press)
• What the Right Hand Knows, by Tom Healy (Four Way Books)

Lesbian Romance

• The Sublime and Spirited Voyage of Original Sin, by Colette Moody (Bold Strokes Books)
• It Should Be a Crime, by Carsen Taite (Bold Strokes Books)
• No Rules of Engagement, by Tracey Richardson (Bella Books)
• Stepping Stone, by Karin Kallmaker (Bella Books)
• Worth Every Step, by KG MacGregor (Bella Books)

Gay Romance

• Drama Queers!, by Frank Anthony Polito (Kensington Books)
• A Keen Edge, by H. Leigh Aubrey (iUniverse)
• The Rest of Our Lives, by Dan Stone (Lethe Press)
• Time After Time, by J.P. Bowie (MLR Press)
• Transgressions, by Erastes (Running Press)

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For a complete list of past Winners & Finalists (1988 – 2008) click here.