December 4, 2025
To Our Community,
As we look to the end of 2025, I am filled with hope and certainty that together with our robust community, we are on a path where love and honesty ring true. I have now been at Lambda Literary for a full six months and learned that the power of this work falls in the hearts and minds of the same people who are harmed by the turmoil in the U.S. and abroad. While I have only been here since June 16, 2025, Lambda Literary has been alongside you advocating for all of us as readers, authors, publishers, agents, and loved ones since 1987 (1985 if you dig deep enough). I can say definitively that Lambda Literary is ready to be the organization that has been promised to you since then.
At the top of this letter, I want to speak directly of the staff who believed in this organization even when times were not clear all because they believe in our community. They believe and know that the path to greatness begins with the children and youth supported in our LGBTQ+ Writers in Schools programming; that is why we are in early conversations to expand Writers in Schools beyond New York to additional cities. Our staff also see the importance of nurturing talent and fueling the magical embers of queer creativity wherever they glow–we just opened the application for the 2026 Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ+ Voices taking place virtually August 1-8, 2026. And, our insightful staff knows that we have to celebrate and embrace the brilliance of our active and published authors throughout their careers–for this reason, the Lambda Literary Awards ceremony is slated to return in-person for June 2026 in New York City with more details to be announced soon (if you’d like to partner with us, please reach out to sponsor@lambdaliterary.org). Most of all, our staff knows Lambda Literary is ready to awaken our bones, stretch into our fullness, and embrace a legacy that has been collectively ours as a community.
We have heard you! You want transparency, you want to be seen, and you want to be valued for all you have to offer. So, as we move forward, Lambda Literary has begun the process of soliciting proposals from strategic planning consultants to help map a future that incorporates your feedback and serves our community in the ways we are both meant and able to. Lambda Literary is a strong and determined organization filled with joy and brilliance that will only continue to shimmer and shine. Our board, which recently onboarded five new members between July and October, has announced an interim mission statement to shape our work as the consultant we select helps craft a long-term mission and vision:
Lambda Literary champions LGBTQ+ writers and literature to affirm queer lives, ignite imagination, and transform culture. We nurture emerging and established voices, amplify stories that reflect the full spectrum of LGBTQ+ experience, and build inclusive literary ecosystems that foster connection, equity, and creative freedom.
In July, I spoke to the reality of our situation, which is “that we must work toward the future and our improvements while we maintain our current status quo.” This remains true, but the excitement for 2026 is palpable within the walls of Lambda as we strategize deeper relationships with bookstores, libraries, municipalities, and national non-profit partners. We also seek to be more present and assistive to our publishers working with great heart and passion to get our authors onto shelves. As we enter 2026, I will hold additional town hall meetings with our community just to listen along with Individual Giving Manager Laurel Larson-Harsch and Board Chair Gary Mobley. Please check your emails in the new year for periodic opportunities to be heard. As a final note, I should say that none of the great things we have planned would be possible without the generosity of people like you, and if you’d like to get involved to support our vision for 2026, you can do so here.
May your Winter be filled with the reflections of your past and intentions for your future. Know that I am rooting for your joy, happiness, and flourishing.
With gratitude and hope,
Jozie “J. Clapp” Clapp
Executive Director – Lambda Literary
