The 38th Lambda Literary Awards honor works of LGBTQ+ literature published in 2025. Finalists were announced on March 18, 2026, and winners were announced on June 12, 2026.
Nominees
+Award winners and finalistsCategoryAuthorTitlePublisherResultBisexual FictionSympathy for Wild GirlsFeminist PressWinnerHouse of BethSimon & SchusterFinalistBeyond All Reasonable Doubt, Jesus Is Alive!: StoriesAstra HouseZando/Tin House And I'll Take Out Your Eyes Algonquin BooksBisexual NonfictionReading the WavesRiverheadWinnerLook Ma, No HandsMcClelland & StewartFinalistFarrar, Straus & GirouxunMothered, unTonguedUniversity of Georgia Press Black Lawrence Press Bisexual PoetryBrick BooksWinner, edited by Sara WagnerMoon as Salted LemonDriftwoodFinalistHoverOmnidawn PublishingantibodyMcClelland & StewartBlue OpeningZando/Tin HouseGay FictionNova Scotia HouseNightboat BooksWinnerFarrar, Straus, and GirouxFinalistWaiting for Something ElseHeliotrope BooksMothers and SonsLittle, Brown HarperCollinsGay Memoir/ BiographyTAKE MY NAME BUT SAY IT SLOW: ESSAYSW. W. NortonWinnerW. W. NortonFinalistAlligator TearsCrownDeep House: The Gayest Love Story Ever Told Little, Brown, and Company On the Boardwalk InkandescentGay PoetryIt Was Never Supposed To BeVariant LiteratureWinnerBachelorFlowerSong PressFinalistboy maybe: poems Beacon PressSeabeast Four Way BooksKitchen HymnsCopper Canyon PressGay RomanceSt. Martin's Griffin WinnerHe's to Die ForMinotaur BooksFinalistDisco Witches of Fire IslandAlcove PressGood BoySelf-publishedDreamsprinner PressLesbian FictionHungerstoneZando WinnerGirls Girls Girls G.P. Putnam's Sons FinalistmilktoothVagrant PressDial PressDuttonLesbian Memoir/ BiographyBlack Panther Woman: The Political and Spiritual Life of Ericka HugginsNew York University PressWinnerAlfred A. KnopfFinalistDorothy, a publishing project Gertrude SteinScribnerHarperOneLesbian PoetryPleasureis AmiracleNightboatWinnerGlove MoneyNightboat BooksFinalistGraywolf Presssavings timeMCD, translated by Samantha PiousCactus Flowers: Selected PoemsHeadmistress PressLesbian RomanceLadies in HatingSt. Martin's Griffin WinnerBed and BreakupDial PressFinalistHouse of RayneKensington Publishing CorporationHot Tea & Bird CallsSelf-publishedSelf-publishedLGBTQ Anthology and Ryan Linkof (eds.)Queer Lens: A History of PhotographyJ. Paul Getty MuseumWinner and Octavia SaenzFeminist PressFinalist (ed.)Edge of the World: An Anthology of Queer Travel WritingBlair and Megan PrazCome Out and Play: The Queer Sports ProjectStacked Deck Press and Megan J. Elias (eds.)Queers at the Table: An Illustrated Guide to Queer Food (with Recipes)Arsenal Pulp PressLGBTQ Children'sJIM! Six True Stories about One Great Artist: James MarshallDial Books for Young ReadersWinnerMagic CatFinalist with Cynthia Alonso (ill.) Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers O.K. Is GayAbrams Books for Young Readers with Ebony Glenn (ill.)Devin's GiftPhilomelTales from Beyond the RainbowPenguin Young ReadersLGBTQ ComicsGaysiansAlgonquin BooksWinnerLove, MishaFirst Second FinalistSpentMariner BooksKayla E.Precious RubbishFantagraphicsSoften the BlowFieldmouse Press LGBTQ DramaAin't No Mo' Theatre Communications Group Winner, translated by MoMo HoltAnother Kind of Silence City Theatre Company FinalistMercutio Loves Romeo Loves Juliet LovesOriginal WorksPrince Faggot Playwrights Canada PressHeartlines: A Love StoryTalonbooksLGBTQ Romance and EroticaVintage Books WinnerFanboy in the FallsMaple MountainsFinalistIt Had to Be HimForeverSingle Player Alcove Press Strip Me DownSelf under FWDIO Studios LGBTQ Middle GradeGlitch Girl!Penguin Young ReadersWinnerIt's All or Nothing, Vale Random House Books for Young Readers FinalistHarperCollins – Quill Tree Books Random House Graphic Pasta GirlsHarperCollins – Quill Tree BooksLGBTQ MysteryTitan BooksWinnerEvery Sweet Thing Is BitterCrooked Lane BooksFinalistKensington Publishing CorporationMirage CityMinotaur BooksGirl FallingFlatiron BooksLGBTQ NonfictionGuest Privileges: Queer Lives and Finding Home in the Middle EastDzanc Books WinnerCatapultFinalistBaldwin: A Love StoryFarrar, Straus and GirouxQueer Enlightenments: A Hidden History of Lovers, Lawbreakers, and HomemakersGrove Atlantic Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line Legacy LitLGBTQ PoetryYeet!OmnidawnWinnerUnfurl: Survivals, Sorrows, and DreamingDuke University Press FinalistNon-Propheticehouse poetryWayward Creatures Host Publications University of New Mexico Press LGBTQ Speculative FictionBeingsBloomsbury PublishingWinnerVolatile MemoryTordotcomFinalistCry, VoidbringerLeft UnreadTwo Truths and a LiePantheon BooksBlood on Her TongueSourcebooks, Poisoned Pen PressLGBTQ StudiesQueer Lasting: Ecologies of Care for a Dying World New York University Press WinnerSodomy's Solicitations: A Right to Queerness Temple University PressFinalist, with LaWhore VagistanLessons in Drag: A Queer Manual for Academics, Artists, and AuntiesBrandeis University Press Abolitionist Intimacies: Queer and Trans Migrants against the Deportation State Duke University Press Intersex: A Manifesto Against Medicalization Columbia University Press LGBTQ Young AdultCome Home to My HeartUnion Square & Co.WinnerLethe PressFinalist Delacorte Press He's So Possessed with MeLittle, Brown Books for Young ReadersCamila Núñez's Year of DisastersPage Street PublishingTransgender FictionCounterpoint Press WinnerMake Sure You Die ScreamingFlatiron Books FinalistSelf-publishedWoodworking Crooked Media Reads Terry DactylCoffee House Press Transgender NonfictionCleavage: Men, Women, and the Space Between UsCeladonWinnerUncanny Valley GirlsHarper PerennialFinalistGendertrash From Hell: The First Print Collection of the Zine That Changed EverythingLittlePuss Press with Electric LiteratureBoth/AndHarperOneTourmalineMarsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson Tiny Reparations PressTransgender PoetryAlgarabía – The Song of Cenex, Natural Son of the Isle AlarabíyyaGraywolfWinnerGoldenReprise: Poems and PhotographsHaymarket BooksFinalistLocal WomanNightboat BooksDeath of the First Idea: PoemsAlfred A. KnopfArsenal Pulp
References