What a year it’s been! We’ve seen some truly remarkable changes: welcoming Jozie Clapp, our new executive director and some new board members whose passionate support of our mission of championing LGBTQ writers and literature are currently guiding Lambda’s bright and exciting future. We also provided expanded virtual programming for the largest cohort of Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices Fellows ever (94!!), and celebrated our 37th annual Lammy Awards in October—after which, we immediately resumed our traditional awards cycle timing and opened submissions for the 38th annual Lammy Awards, set to take place in-person June 2026, barely eight months later. Whew.
We also lost some greats this year, including 2018 Visionary Award-winner Edmund White, and Lammy Award winner and 2012 Retreat faculty member Dorothy Allison. We are grateful to each of them for the lives they lived and the work they inspired.
In 2026, we are excited to return to more in-person events like the Bookfair at AWP in March, to explore expansion of Writers in Schools into more cities, and add a second emerging writers retreat to our schedule! You can help us make these dreams happen by making a donation today.
We’d like to thank our partners LGBT Books to Prisoners for helping us expand the reach of our books into places that need it most, and Sigma Tau Delta for integrating us into their service of emerging writers in higher education.
In spite of everything, we remain committed to the celebration, preservation, and amplification of LGBTQ+ people in the literary arts. Keep reading to check out our programming highlights from 2025. We’re out of the office the rest of the year, but can’t wait to reconnect with you in 2026!
IMPACT OF WRITERS IN SCHOOLS
Lambda Literary’s LGBTQ Writers in Schools program celebrated its tenth year serving New York City Public Schools. We served 4,735 K-12 students throughout all five boroughs of New York City, gifted 4,662 LGBTQ+ books and 789 educators from 170 schools. we delivered in-person and virtual program including 26 large group visits, 33 mini-poetry workshops, 124 standard visits, 5 in-person 8-week writing workshops, and 1 4-month LGBTQ+ Youth Poet Laureate Virtual Residency.
The Writers in Schools program also hit a significant milestone: the highest number of school applications in its history, 224 educators applied, marking a 25% increase from previous years. This surge highlights the growing demand for LGBTQ+ inclusive, engaging educational opportunities for students across the nation. Our programming delivered free books and programming to schools with 71% of participating schools served low-income students, continuing our efforts to better serve underserved communities and the diverse student population.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
After 11 years of success partnering with New York City Public Schools, we are focusing on expanding this programming to other cities. As we work on building these foundational partnerships, we will connect with NYC City Council members to develop district-specific programming for deeper engagement and connection. We look forward to serving all 184 schools that applied through 159 author visits, 23 mini-poetry workshops, 5 writing workshops, and 1 LGBTQ+ Youth Poet Virtual Residency. We’re looking forward to working with old and new friends!
IMPACT OF THE RETREAT
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
Not only is the Retreat a yearly reminder of the power of community, but it’s also a reminder of the brilliance of queer storytelling. “We’re so excited to continue expanding our community by welcoming in writers from new genres and new corners of our community each year”, reports chloe feffer, Writers Retreat Program Manager. “In 2026, we’re branching out even further to welcome in queer romantic fiction writers who will be studying under the tutelage of Casey McQuiston. We’re also psyched to hold the retreat in its current online iteration one more time before returning to a summer in-person retreat in 2027 while introducing an entirely new online model in the 2026/2027 winter. We’ve got some seriously magical ideas brewing up and can’t wait to share them with you all.”
The Lambda Literary Awards
IMPACT
2025 was an intense and wonderful year for the Lammy Awards, primarily because we executed nearly two full cycles! The ceremony for the 2025 Lammy Awards represented our 37th year, with a virtual ceremony held in October.
2025’s Lammys cycle also saw the introduction of Lammys Day, a full day of panels, interviews, and virtual readings with our finalists ahead of the ceremony. You can find those recordings over on YouTube.
We have also just concluded the submission cycle for the 2026 awards and are proud that our submission numbers and thus the volume of LGBTQ+ stories being published remains consistent even through the societal chaos of the last few years.
| Awards By The Numbers | |
|---|---|
|
2025 Submissions |
1,327 |
|
2025 Most Popular Category |
LGBTQ+ Young Adult |
|
2026 Submissions |
1,379 |
|
2026 Most Popular Category |
LGBTQ+ Speculative Fiction |
|
Number of Judges (combined) |
143 |
|
Books Donated – Lammys Library |
6,400+ |
|
Special Prizes Awarded (#) |
10 |
|
Special Prizes Awarded ($) |
$31,500 |
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
The ink is dry, so we’re excited to confirm that the 2026 Lammy Awards ceremony will return to Sony Hall in NYC on Friday, June 12, 2026! Tickets go on sale the day the shortlist is announced on March 18, so save the date! Special Prizes submissions also open on January 12. You can learn more about those here.
