The finalists for the 36th Lambda Literary Awards, which honor works of LGBTQ+ literature published in 2023, were announced on March 27, 2024. The winners were announced at Sony Hall in New York on June 11, 2024.

Special awards In this year there were seven special prizes, including two new awards: The Denneny Award for Editorial Excellence, named for history-making gay editor Michael Denneny, who died in 2023, and The Pat Holt Prize for Critical Arts Writing in honor of late San Francisco Chronicle book review editor Patricia Holt.

+Special awards recipientsCategoryWinnerRefJeanne Córdova Prize for Lesbian/Queer NonfictionStephanie Davies Jim Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists' PrizeK.M. Soehnlein, Zelda LockhartJudith A. Markowitz Emerging Writer AwardFederico Erebia, River 瑩瑩 DandelionJ. Michael Samuel Prize for Emerging Writers Over 50Paul FestaRandall Kenan Prize for Black LGBTQ FictionLiv LittleThe Denneny Award for Editorial ExcellenceRemi RecchiaThe Pat Holt Prize for Critical Arts WritingElizabeth Hoover

Nominees and winners + 36th Lambda Literary Awards winners and finalists Category Author Title Publisher Result Ref.Bisexual FictionLing Ling HuangNatural BeautyPenguin Random House / DuttonWinnerRuth MadievskyAll-Night Pharmacy: A NovelCatapultFinalistJennifer Savran KellyEndpapersAlgonquin BooksSarah JamesLast Night at the Hollywood CanteenSourcebooksHaley JakobsonOld EnoughPenguin Random House / DuttonBisexual NonfictionMyriam GurbaCreep: Accusations and ConfessionsAvid Reader PressWinnerVaneet MehtaBisexual Men Exist: A Handbook for Bisexual, Pansexual and M-Spec MenJessica Kingsley PublishersFinalistZachary ZaneBoyslut: A Memoir and ManifestoAbrams ImageEden BoudreauCrying WolfBook*hug PressKawika GuillermoNimrods: A fake-punk self-hurt anti-memoirDuke University PressBisexual PoetryDanielle Cadena DeulenDesire MuseumBOA EditionsWinnerMary Jo BangA Film in Which I Play EveryoneGraywolf PressFinalistSierra DeMulderEphemeraButton PoetryMargaret RayGood Grief, the GroundBOA EditionsPaul KillebrewImpersonal Rainbow and The Bisexual PurgeCanarium BooksGay FictionBryan WashingtonFamily MealPenguin Random House / Riverhead BooksWinnerPatrick E. HorriganAmerican ScholarLethe PressFinalistJustin TorresBlackoutsFarrar, Straus and GirouxRichard MirabellaBrother and Sister Enter the Forest: A NovelCatapultKhashayar J. KhabushaniI Will Greet the Sun AgainHogarth BooksGay Memoir/BiographyJason YamasTweakerworldUnnamed PressWinnerCharles BuschLeading LadyBenBella BooksFinalistGreg Marshall Leg: The Story of a Limb and the Boy Who Grew from ItAbrams PressJedidiah JenkinsMother, NatureConvergent BooksMartin DubermanReaching NinetyChicago Review PressGay PoetryCharif ShanahanTrace EvidenceTin HouseWinnerPaul StephensonHard DriveCarcanet PressFinalistRichard BlancoHomeland of My Body: New and Selected PoemsBeacon PressEmanuel XavierLove(ly) ChildRebel Satori PressGrant ChemidlinWhat We Lost in the SwampCentral Avenue PoetryGay RomanceCat SebastianWe Could Be So GoodAvon BooksWinnerE. H. LuptonDionysus in WisconsinWinnowing Fan PressFinalistM. A. Wardell Mistletoe and MishigasSelf-publishedJay HoganThe Art of HusbandrySouthern Lights Publishing / Self-publishedK.J. CharlesThe Secret Lives of Country GentlemenSourcebooksLesbian FictionCatherine LaceyBiography of XFarrar, Straus and GirouxWinnerJen BeaginBig SwissScribnerFinalistK-Ming ChangOrgan MeatsOne WorldC. E. McGillOur Hideous ProgenyHarperCollinsHelen Elaine LeePomegranateAtria BooksLesbian Memoir/BiographyAmelia PossanzaLesbian Love Story: A Memoir in ArchivesCatapultWinnerLamya HHijab Butch BluesThe Dial PressFinalistVi Khi NaoSuicide: The Autoimmune Disorder of the Psyche11:11 PressSarah VirenTo Name the Bigger LieScribnerLynnée DeniseWhy Willie Mae Thornton MattersThe University of Texas PressLesbian PoetryKimberly AlidioTeeterNightboat BooksWinnerAlyse KnorrArdorGasher PressFinalistBrionne JanaeBecause You Were MineHaymarket BooksMaggie MillnerCoupletsFarrar, Straus and GirouxStephanie Adams-SantosDream of XibalbaOrison BooksLesbian RomanceGeorgia BeersDance with MeBold Strokes BooksWinnerMarianne RatcliffeA Lady to TreasureBellows PressFinalistKris BryantCatchBold Strokes BooksLisa PeersLove at 350°The Dial PressMelissa BraydenLucky in LaceBold Strokes BooksLGBTQ AnthologyTuck Woodstock and Niko Stratis2 Trans 2 Furious: An Extremely Serious Journal of Transgender Street Racing StudiesRapid Onset Gender Distro / Self-publishedWinnerAndrew R. Spieldenner and Jeffrey EscoffierA Pill for Promiscuity: Gay Sex in an Age of PharmaceuticalsRutgers University PressFinalistMadeline Dyer; with contributions by Cody Daigle-Orians, Kat Yuen, Akemi Dawn Bowman, Rosiee Thor, Madeline Dyer, Linsey Miller, K. Hart, S. E. Anderson, Emily Victoria, Anju Imura, RoAnna Sylver, Moniza Hossain, Lara Ameen, Jas Brown, and S. J. TaylorBeing Ace: An Anthology of Queer, Trans, Femme, and Disabled Stories of Asexual Love and ConnectionPage Street Publishing / Page Street YABogi Takács; with contributions by Cameron Van Sant, Celia Neri, D. A. Xiaolin Spires, Emma Alice Johnson, Hal Y. Zhang, Isha Karki, Jennifer Lee Rossman, Julian K. Jarboe, Julie Nováková, Kanika Agrawal, Laura Jane Swanson, Leigh Harlen, Lisa M. Bradley, Lydia Moon, Osahon Ize-Iyamu, Phoebe Barton, Polenth Blake, Premee Mohamed, Santiago Belluco, Stefani Cox, Tessa Fisher, Ursula Whitcher, and Vajra ChandrasekeraRosalind's Siblings: Fiction and Poetry Celebrating Scientists of Marginalized GendersAtthis ArtsBenjamin Schaefer Fairy Tale Review: The Rainbow IssueWayne State University PressLGBTQ Children'sNina LaCour; illustrated by Sonia AlbertThe Apartment House on Poppy HillChronicle BooksWinnerMeeg Pincus and Meridth Mckean GimbelDoor by DoorCrown Books for Young ReadersFinalistAndy PasschierGender Identity for KidsLittle, Brown Books for Young ReadersHarry WoodgateGrandad's PrideLittle Bee BooksA. J. Irving and Kip AlizadehThe Wishing FlowerKnopf Books for Young ReadersLGBTQ ComicsE. M. CarrollA Guest in The HouseFirst SecondWinnerMari CostaBelle of the BallFirst SecondFinalistLawrence LindellBlackwardDrawn & QuarterlyJillian Tamaki and Mariko TamakiRoamingDrawn & QuarterlyH. A.The Chromatic FantasySilver SprocketLGBTQ DramaJames IjamesFat HamTheatre Communications GroupWinnerAdam MeisnerFor Both Resting and BreedingScirocco Drama / J. Gordon Shillingford PublishingFinalistAndrew RincónI Wanna Fuck Like Romeo and JulietSamuel French, a Concord Theatricals CompanyMilo WippermannJoan of ArkansasUgly Duckling PresseHarrison David RiversThe bandaged placeSamuel French, a Concord Theatricals CompanyLGBTQ+ Romance and EroticaLaura QA Tight Squeeze: Smutty Trans and Queer StoriesMicrocosm PublishingWinnerT. J. AlexanderChef's ChoiceEmily Bestler Books / Atria BooksFinalistAndie BurkeFly with Me: A NovelSt. Martin's GriffinAshley Herring BlakeIris Kelly Doesn't DateBerkleyAlexandria BellefleurThe Fiancee FarceAvon BooksLGBTQ Middle GradeRobin GowDear MothmanAmulet BooksWinnerLeah JohnsonEllie Engle Saves HerselfDisney HyperionFinalistKaren WilfridJust LizzieHarperCollins / Clarion BooksMichael LealiMatteoHarperCollinsAlden Van OtterlooThe Beautiful Something ElseScholastic PressLGBTQ MysteryCari HunterA Calculated RiskBold Strokes BooksWinnerRebecca McKannaDon't Forget the GirlSourcebooks LandmarkFinalistPolly StewartThe Good OnesHarperCollinsJ. M. RedmannTransitoryBold Strokes BooksJoshua MoehlingWhere the Dead SleepPoisoned Pen PressLGBTQ NonfictionMatt BaumeHi Honey, I'm HomoBenBella BooksWinnerDaniel BlackBlack on Black: On Our Resilience and Brilliance in AmericaHarlequin Trade Publishing / Hanover Square PressFinalistElyssa Maxx GoodmanGlitter and Concrete: A Cultural History of Drag in New York City Harlequin Trade Publishing / Hanover Square PressJulie Marie WadeOtherwiseAutumn House PressJohn Sovec, LMFTOut: A Parent's Guide to Supporting Your LGBTQIA+ Kid Through Coming Out and BeyondJessica Kingsley PublishersLGBTQ PoetryQuinn Carver JohnsonThe Perfect BastardNorthwestern University PressWinnerRobin GowLanternfly AugustDriftwood PressFinalistDestiny HemphillMotherworld: A devotional for the alter-lifeAction BooksSam SaxPigScribnerAlina PleskovaToskaDeep VellumLGBTQ Speculative FictionMarisa CraneI Keep My Exoskeletons to MyselfCatapultWinnerAubrey WoodBang Bang BodhisattvaSolarisFinalistEmma Mieko CandonThe Archive UndyingTordotcom PublishingVajra ChandrasekeraThe Saint of Bright DoorsTordotcom PublishingChana PorterThe Thick and the LeanSaga PressLGBTQ StudiesErin L. DurbanThe Sexual Politics of Empire: Postcolonial Homophobia in HaitiUniversity of Illinois PressWinnerJennifer Dominique JonesAmbivalent Affinities: A Political History of Blackness and Homosexuality after World War IIUniversity of North Carolina PressFinalistChristoph HanssmannCare without Pathology: How Trans Health Activists Are Changing MedicineUniversity of Minnesota PressMargot Canaday Queer Career: Sexuality and Work in Modern AmericaPrinceton University PressTravis S. K. KongSexuality and the Rise of China: The Post-1990s Gay Generation in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland ChinaDuke University PressLGBTQ Young AdultAbdi NazemianOnly This Beautiful MomentHarperCollins / Balzer + BrayWinnerMaxine RaeCold GirlsFluxFinalistKeith F. Miller Jr.PrittyHarperCollins / HarperTeenBrittany N. WilliamsThat Self-Same Metal (The Forge & Fracture Saga, Book 1)Amulet BooksGabe Cole NovoaThe Wicked BargainRandom House Books for Young ReadersTransgender FictionSoula EmmanuelWild GeeseFeminist PressWinnerNicola DinanBelliesHanover Square PressFinalistEmily ZhouGirlfriendsLittlePuss PressValérie Bah; translated by Kama La MackerelThe Rage LettersMetonymy PressSylvia Aguilar ZélenyTrashDeep VellumTransgender NonfictionMiss Major Griffin-Gracy and Toshio MeronekMiss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans RevolutionaryVerso BooksWinnerMcKenzie WarkLove and Money, Sex and DeathVerso BooksFinalistCasey PlettOn CommunityBiblioasisStacy Jane GroverTar Hollow Trans: EssaysUniversity Press of KentuckyMx. SlyTransland: Consent, Kink, and PleasureArsenal Pulp PressTransgender PoetryMichal 'MJ' JonesHood VacationsBlack Lawrence PressWinnerVictoriano CárdenasPortraits as Animal: PoemsBloomsday LiteraryFinalistK. IverShort Film Starring My Beloved's Red BroncoMilkweed EditionsJennifer ConlonTaking to Water Autumn House PressSubhaga Crystal BaconTransitoryBOA Editions

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