Lambda Literary is pleased to announce Ariel Goldberg as the winner of the Jeanne Córdova Prize for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction!
This prize is offered in memory of the beloved activist and author, and honors lesbian/queer-identified women and trans/gender non-conforming nonfiction authors. The award will go to a writer committed to nonfiction work that captures the depth and complexity of lesbian/queer life, culture, and/or history. The winner of the prize will have published at least one book and show promise in continuing to produce groundbreaking and challenging work. The award was introduced in 2018 and includes a cash prize of $2,500.
Ariel Goldberg
Ariel Goldberg is a writer, curator, educator, and conflict mediator. Their books include The Estrangement Principle (Nightboat Books, 2016) and The Photographer (Roof Books, 2015). Images on which to build, 1970s-1990s, which tells the story of six political education projects, is forthcoming from Inventory Press + Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in 2027.
A forthcoming companion book on trans and queer photographic histories, Seeking Captions, received a 2026 New York State Council of the Arts grant, 2024 Diamonstein-Spielvogel Fellowship at New York Public Library; and a 2020 Andy Warhol Foundation’s Arts Writers Award. Goldberg has curated public programs and exhibitions at venues including Magnum Foundation, The Poetry Project, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, and Center for LGBTQ Studies at the City University of New York (CLAGS). Goldberg teaches photography, writing, and contemporary art practices independently and at The New School. They are a proud member of Academics Come Together—United Auto Workers (ACT-UAW) Local 7902 and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). Goldberg works as a conflict and divorce mediator as part of the Queer Mediation Cooperative.
Ariel Goldberg is this year's recipient of the Jeanne Córdova Award for lesbian/queer non-fiction, because of their fearless and genre-defying contributions to queer and trans literature, cultural criticism, and community memory. Through works such as The Estrangement Principle and Just Captivity, Goldberg has expanded the possibilities of memoir and experimental writing, weaving together personal narrative, disability, queerness, and political history with emotional depth, and rigorous intellectual engagement. Their work not only challenges dominant narratives about gender, queerness and belonging, but also preserves and honors the complexities of queer life across generations. Like Córdova, the award's namesake, Goldberg embodies a commitment to literary innovation that is also attentive to community accountability, creating work that is deeply invested in liberation, solidarity, and collective survival.
