LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

This morning the finalists for the 2009 Lambda Literary Awards were announced. I was truly shocked to learn that Straight Lies made the cut in the Gay Mystery category, but -- while I thank the judges for this recognition -- I'm not writing an acceptance speech just yet. (Of course, I've stolen a Lammy before, and I can do it again...)

The complete list of finalists, all of whom deserve a round of applause:

LGBT Anthologies

Gay American Autobiography: Writings from Whitman to Sedaris, edited by David Bergman (University of Wisconsin Press)
Moral Panics, Sex Panics: Fear and the Fight Over Sexual Rights, edited by Gilbert Herdt (NYU Press)
My Diva: 65 Gay Men on the Women Who Inspire Them, edited by Michael Montlack (University of Wisconsin Press)
Portland Queer: Tales of the Rose City, edited by Ariel Gore (Lit Star Press)
Smash the Church, Smash the State! The Early Years of Gay Liberation, edited by Tommi Avicolli Mecca (City Lights)


LGBT Children's/Young Adult

Ash, by Malinda Lo (Little, Brown)
How Beautiful the Ordinary, edited by Michael Cart (HarperCollins)
In Mike We Trust, by P.E. Ryan (HarperCollins)
Sprout, by Dale Peck (Bloomsbury USA)
The Vast Fields of Ordinary, by Nick Burd (Penguin Books)


LGBT Drama

The Beebo Brinker Chronicles, by Kate Moira Ryan & Linda S. Chapman (Dramatists Play Service)
The Collected Plays Of Mart Crowley, by Mart Crowley (Alyson Books)
Revenge of the Women's Studies Professor, by Bonnie L. Morris (Indiana University Press)


LGBT Nonfiction

The Golden Age of Gay Fiction, edited by Drewey Wayne Gunn (MLR Press)
The Greeks and Greek Love, by James Davidson (Random House)
I Am Your Sister: Collected and Unpublished Writings of Audre Lorde, edited by Rudolph P. Byrd, Johnnetta Betsch Cole & Beverly Guy-Sheftall (Oxford University Press)
Ties That Bind: Familial Homophobia and Its Consequences, by Sarah Schulman (The New Press)
Unfriendly Fire:How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America, by Nathaniel Frank (St. Martin's Press)


LGBT SF/Fantasy/Horror

Centuries Ago and Very Fast, by Rebecca Ore (Aqueduct Press)
Fist of the Spider Woman, by Amber Dawn (Arsenal Pulp Press)
In the Closet, Under the Bed, by Lee Thomas (Dark Scribe Press)
Palimpsest, by Catherynne M. Valenta (Bantam/Spectra Books)
Pumpkin Teeth, by Tom Cardamone (Lethe Press)


LGBT Studies

Metropolitan Lovers: The Homosexuality of Cities, by Julie Abraham (University of Minnesota Press)
Moving Politics: Emotion and ACT UP's Fight Against AIDS, by Deborah B. Gould (University of Chicago Press)
The Queer Child, or Growing Sideways in the Twentieth Century, by Kathryn Bond Stockton (Duke University Press)
The Resurrection of the Body: Pier Paolo Pasolini from Saint Paul to Sade, by Armando Maggi (University of Chicago Press)
The Straight State: Sexuality and Citizenship in Twentieth Century America, by Margot Canaday (Princeton University Press)


Bisexual Fiction

Arusha, by J.E. Knowles (Spinsters Ink)
Holy Communion, by Mykola Dementiuk (Synergy Press)
The Janeid, by Bobbie Geary (The Graeae Press)
Love You Two, by Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli (Random House Australia)
Torn, by Amber Lehman (Closet Case Press)


Bisexual Nonfiction

Byron in Love: A Short Daring Life, by Edna O'Brien (W. W. Norton)
Cheever: A Life, by Blake Bailey (Alfred A. Knopf)
Leaving India: My Family's Journey From Five Villages to Five Continents,
by Minal Hajratwala (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Map, by Audrey Beth Stein (Lulu.com)
Vincente Minnelli: Hollywood's Dark Dreamer, by Emanuel Levy (St. Martin's Press)


Transgender

Bharat Jiva, by Kari Edwards (Litmus Press)
Lynnee Breedlove's One Freak Show, by Lynn Breedlove (Manic D Press)
The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You, by S Bear Bergman (Arsenal Pulp Press)
Transmigration, by Joy Ladin (Sheep Meadow Press)
Troglodyte Rose, by Adam Lowe (Cadaverine Publications)


Lesbian Debut Fiction

The Creamsickle, by Rhiannon Argo (Spinsters Ink)
The Bigness of the World, by Lori Ostlund (University of Georgia Press)
Land Beyond Maps, by Maida Tilchen (Savvy Press)
More of This World or Maybe Another, by Barb Johnson (HarperCollins)
Verge, by Z Egloff (Bywater Books)


Gay Debut Fiction

Blue Boy, by Rakesh Satyal (Kensington Books)
God Says No, by James Hannaham (McSweeneys)
Pop Salvation, by Lance Reynald (HarperCollins)
Shaming the Devil: Collected Short Stories, by G. Winston James (Top Pen Press)
Sugarless, by James Magruder (University of Wisconsin Press)


Lesbian Erotica

Flesh and Bone, by Ronica Black (Bold Strokes Books)
Lesbian Cowboys, edited by Sacchi Green & Rakelle Valencia (Cleis Press)
Punishment with Kisses, by Diane Anderson-Minshall (Bold Strokes Books)
Where the Girls Are, by D.L. King (Cleis Press)
Women of the Bite, by Cecelia Tan (Alyson Books)


Gay Erotica

Rough Trade: Dangerous Gay Erotica, edited by Todd Gregory (Bold Strokes Books)
Impossible Princess, by Kevin Killian (City Lights)
I Like It Like That: True Tales of Gay Desire,
edited by Richard Labonté & Lawrence Schimel (Arsenal Pulp Press)
The Low Road, by James Lear (Cleis Press)
Eight Inches, by Sean Wolfe (Kensington Books)


Lesbian Fiction

Dismantled, by Jennifer McMahon (HarperCollins)
A Field Guide to Deception, by Jill Malone (Bywater Books)
Forgetting the Alamo, Or, Blood Memory, by Emma Pérez (University of Texas Press)
Risk, by Elena Dykewomon (Bywater Books)
This One's Going to Last Forever, by Nairne Holtz (Insomniac Press)


Gay Fiction

Lake Overturn, by Vestal McIntyre (HarperCollins)
The River In Winter, by Matt Dean (Queens English Productions)
Said and Done, by James Morrison (Black Lawrence Press)
Salvation Army, by Abdellah Taia (Semiotext(e))
Silverlake, by Peter Gadol (Tyrus Books)


Lesbian Memoir/Biography

Called Back: My Reply to Cancer, My Return to Life, by Mary Cappello (Alyson Books)
Mean Little deaf Queer, by Terry Galloway (Beacon Press)
My Red Blood: A Memoir of Growing Up Communist, Coming Onto the Greenwich Village Folk Scene, and Coming Out in the Feminist Movement, by Alix Dobkin (Alyson Books)
Likewise: The High School Comic Chronicles of Ariel Schrag, by Ariel Schrag (Simon & Schuster/Touchstone Fireside)
The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith, by Joan Schenkar (St. Martin's Press)


Gay Memoir/Biography

Ardent Spirits: Leaving Home, Coming Back, by Reynolds Price (Scribner Books)
City Boy: My Life in New York During the 1960's and 70's, by Edmund White (Bloomsbury USA)
Deflowered: My Life in Pansy Division, by Jon Ginoli (Cleis Press)
Once You Go Back, by Douglas A. Martin (Seven Stories Press)
The Pure Lover: A Memoir of Grief, by David Plante (Beacon Press)


Lesbian Mystery

Command of Silence, by Paulette Callen (Spinsters Ink)
Death of a Dying Man, by J.M. Redmann (Bold Strokes Books)
From Hell to Breakfast, by Joan Opyr (Blue Feather Books)
The Mirror and the Mask, by Ellen Hart (St. Martin's/Minotaur)
Toasted, by Josie Gordon (Bella Books)


Gay Mystery

All Lost Things, by Josh Aterovis (P.D. Publishing)
The Killer of Orchids, by Ralph Ashworth (State Street Press)
Murder in the Garden District, by Greg Herren (Alyson Books)
Straight Lies, by Rob Byrnes (Kensington Books)
What We Remember, by Michael Thomas Ford (Kensington Books)


Lesbian Poetry

Bird Eating Bird, by Kristin Naca (HarperCollins)
Gospel: Poems, by Samiya Bashir (Red Bone Press)
Names, by Marilyn Hacker (W.W. Norton)
Stars of the Night Commute, by Ana Bozicevic (Tarpaulin Sky Press)
Zero at the Bone, by Stacie Cassarino (New Issues Poetry & Prose)


Gay Poetry

Breakfast with Thom Gunn, by Randall Mann (University of Chicago Press)
The Brother Swimming Beneath Me, by Brent Goodman (Black Lawrence Press)
The First Risk, by Charles Jensen (Lethe Press)
Sweet Core Orchard, by Benjamin S. Grossberg (University of Tampa Press)
What the Right Hand Knows, by Tom Healy (Four Way Books)


Lesbian Romance

It Should Be a Crime, by Carsen Taite (Bold Strokes Books)
No Rules of Engagement, by Tracey Richardson (Bella Books)
The Sublime and Spirited Voyage of Original Sin, by Colette Moody (Bold Strokes Books)
Stepping Stone, by Karin Kallmaker (Bella Books)
Worth Every Step, by KG MacGregor (Bella Books)


Gay Romance

Drama Queers!, by Frank Anthony Polito (Kensington Books)
A Keen Edge, by H. Leigh Aubrey (iUniverse)
The Rest of Our Lives, by Dan Stone (Lethe Press)
Time After Time, by J.P. Bowie (MLR Press)
Transgressions, by Erastes (Running Press)




Now go read a book!