Transgender Fiction: Wanting in Arabicby Trish Salah Whatever you think about the answers to these questions, the Lambda Literary Awards play a vital role in queer literature: plumping up reading lists everywhere.Ī partial list of the winners of the 2014 Lambda Literary Awards is as follows: The Lambdas also face the same criticism that all literary awards do - how do you determine whether or not a book is “literary” or has value? What makes a work fall in one category rather than another? If everything is subjective what is even the point? (The Millions suggests “ promotion, encouragement, and pleasure.”) And some unique ones - are there better ways to celebrate queer literary culture? The career categories recognize only binary genders. For instance, authors of any sexual orientation can win any prize that doesn’t specify otherwise (not those that celebrate a queer author’s career, for instance), which some have criticized. There remains ongoing debate around the awards. As recently as 2004, a transphobic book made the list of finalists in the transgender category until protests got it removed.” “In the past, the awards have been criticized for transphobia, biphobia, representing only a fraction of queer creative output, and not representing queer creative output at all.Ģ011 was the first year there were both fiction and non-fiction categories for trans works, and 2010 was the first year there were both categories for bisexual works.

The Lambda Literary Awards started in 1988 to recognize the best queer literature annually as judged on literary merit and content relevant to queer lives, and are run by the Lambda Literary Foundation. Georges, won, and finalists included Artifice by Alex Woolfson and Winona Nelson, Duck! Second Chances by Tana Ford and The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story by Vivek J. This year is the first that comics have had a category to themselves, though they’ve won in other categories previously. Forrest, Imogen Binnie and others, were announced last night at the Great Hall at Cooper Union in New York. Georges, Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, Katherine V. The winners of the 26th annual Lambda Literary Awards, including Alison Bechdel, Susan Choi, Nicole J. The Autostraddle Encyclopedia of Lesbian Cinema.LGBTQ Television Guide: What To Watch Now.