Congratulations Lambda Literary Winners!
The results are in! In case you missed it, the 29th annual Lambda Literary Awards ceremony took place last night at New York University's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. Each year the awards ceremony celebrates LGBT books and their authors. This year, Mx. Justin Vivian Bond hosted the festivities. As Lambda's press release notes, "The ceremony brought together attendees, sponsors, and celebrities to celebrate excellence in LGBT literature and twenty-nine years of the groundbreaking literary awards." Let's start there:
“Authors putting words in order artfully and with thought is a revolutionary thing in the climate we are living in,” Bond opened the ceremony. “I want to congratulate everyone who’s nominated tonight. We’re here to celebrate you for the gift you have given us with your artistry.”
One of the Middle East’s most celebrated voices, Rabih Alameddine won in the Gay Fiction category for his novel The Angel of History (Grove Press). Set over the course of a night, Alameddine’s book follows a Yemeni-born poet as he revisits the events of his life, from his upbringing to his life as a gay Arab man in San Francisco at the height of the AIDS epidemic. In Lesbian Fiction, Nicole Dennis-Benn won for her debut Here Comes the Sun (Liveright), a novel with a cast of unforgettable Jamaican women who battle for independence while a maelstrom of change threatens their village.
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.”
Now for the poetry winners!
Bisexual Poetry
Mouth to Mouth, Abigail Child, EOAGH
Lesbian Poetry (TIE)
play dead, francine j. harris, Alice James Books
The Complete Works of Pat Parker, edited by Julie R. Enszer, Sinister Wisdom/A Midsummer Night’s Press
Gay Poetry
Thief in the Interior, Phillip B. Williams, Alice James Books
Transgender Poetry
Reacquainted with Life, KOKUMO, Topside Press
Looks like our reading list just got a little longer! Read on at Lambda.