Lambda Literary announced the winners of its 29th Annual Lambda Literary Awards for excellence in LGBT literature at a ceremony Monday night at the NYU Skirball Center of the Performing Arts in New York City.
Hosted by trans-genre artist Justin Vivian Bond, presenters included Tony Award-winning producer Vivek Toward, comedian Tig Notaro, actress Cynthia Nixon, and New York Times columnists Frank Bruni and Masha Gessen.
Notable “Lammy” winners included activist Cleve Jones for When We Rise: My Life in the Movement in Gay Memoir/Biography, later adapted into a well-received television miniseries by Dustin Lance Black. “I wrote this book because the LGBT movement saved my life,” said Jones as he accepted his award, “and I’m ready to keep fighting.”
Other honorees are detailed by Lambda Literary:
Jacqueline Woodson and Jeanette Winterson were also honored for their lifetime achievements. Tony Award-winning actress Cynthia Nixon introduced Woodson, a “writer who is part of the institution but stands outside it and critiques,” said Nixon. “She is the writer, the friend, the citizen these times demand.” Accepting the Visionary Award, Woodson noted, “The work we do as a queer community for the generations beyond us make me proud to be standing here and accept this award.”
Later, Baileys Women’s Prize-winning author A.M. Homes introduced Jeanette Winterson, who won the Trustee Award. “A lifetime achievement award is more than overdue for Jeanette,” said Homes. During her acceptance speech, Winterson praised the powers of writers and imagination. “Everything that happens starts with an idea,” said Winterson. “We should protect and expand the imagination: to imagine the world as different than it is.”
Other winners of the night included David France for How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS, a companion book to his award-winning documentary film, in LGBT Nonfiction.
Their closing statement:
“In a year of great political turmoil, the Lammys were a reminder that our LGBTQ writing community remains at the forefront of resistance to attacks on our communities,” said Tony Valenzuela, Lambda Literary Executive Director. “Congratulations to all the winners and honorees. You inspire us.”
The full list of award winners:
- Here Comes the Sun, Nicole Dennis-Benn, Liveright Publishing Corporation
- The Angel of History, Rabih Alameddine, Atlantic Monthly Press
- Marrow Island, Alexis M. Smith, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Black Dove: Mama, Mi’jo, and Me, Ana Castillo, The Feminist Press
- Mouth to Mouth, Abigail Child, EOAGH
- Small Beauty, jia qing wilson-yang, Metonymy Press
- How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS, David France, Knopf
- Life Beyond My Body: A Transgender Journey to Manhood in China, Lei Ming, Transgress Press
- play dead, francine j. harris, Alice James Books
- The Complete Works of Pat Parker, Julie R. Enszer, Sinister Wisdom/A Midsummer Night’s Press
- Thief in the Interior, Phillip B. Williams, Alice James Books
- Reacquainted with Life,KOKUMO, Topside Press
- Pathogen, Jessica L. Webb, Bold Strokes Books
- Speakers of the Dead: A Walt Whitman Mystery, J. Aaron Sanders, Plume
- The Wind is Spirit: The Life, Love and Legacy of Audre Lorde, Dr. Gloria Joseph, Villarosa Media
- When We Rise, Cleve Jones, Hachette Books
- The Scorpion’s Empress, Yoshiyuki Ly, Solstice Publishing
- Into the Blue, Pene Henson, Interlude Press
- Soul to Keep, Rebekah Weatherspoon, Bold Strokes Books
- The Remedy: Queer and Trans Voices on Health and Health Care, Zena Sharman, Arsenal Pulp Press
- Girl Mans Up, M.E. Girard, Harper Teen
- Barbecue/Bootycandy, Robert O’Hara, Theatre Communications Group
- Wuvable Oaf: Blood & Metal, Ed Luce, Wuvable Oaf: Blood & Metal, Fantagraphics Books
- The Devourers, Indra Das, Del Rey
- Sex Museums: The Politics and Performance of Display, Jennifer Tyburczy, University of Chicago Press
