# Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Debut Fiction

The Lambda Literary Award for Debut Fiction is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation to a debut work of fiction on LGBT themes. Formerly presented in two separate categories for gay male and lesbian debut fiction, beginning the 25th Lambda Literary Awards in 2013 a single award, inclusive of both male and female writers, was presented. The award was, however, discontinued after the 28th Lambda Literary Awards in 2016.
The award was presented based on themes in the work, not the sexuality or gender of the writer; heterosexual writers were eligible for the award, and writers could be nominated in the "cross-gender" category based on the work.

## Winners and nominees

Lambda Literary Award for Debut Fiction winners and finalists :
| Year | Category | Author | Title | Result | Ref. |
| 1989 | Gay Debut Fiction | Alan Hollinghurst | The Swimming-Pool Library | Winner | |
| 1989 | Gay Debut Fiction | Joe Keenan | Blue Heaven | Finalist | |
| 1989 | Gay Debut Fiction | Stan Levanthal | Mountain Climbing In Sheridan Square | Finalist | |
| 1989 | Gay Debut Fiction | C.F. Borgman | River Road | Finalist | |
| 1989 | Gay Debut Fiction | Russell A. Brown | Sherlock Holmes and the Mysterious Friend of O. Wilde | Finalist | |
| 1990 | Gay Debut Fiction | John Weir | The Irreversible Decline of Eddie Socket | Winner | |
| 1990 | Gay Debut Fiction | Randall Kenan | A Visitation of Spirits | Finalist | |
| 1990 | Gay Debut Fiction | Mickey C. Fleming | About Courage | Finalist | |
| 1990 | Gay Debut Fiction | David B. Feinberg | Eighty-Sixed | Finalist | |
| 1990 | Gay Debut Fiction | M.S. Hunter | The Buccaneer | Finalist | |
| 1990 | Gay Debut Fiction | Roz Perry | Rose Penski | Finalist | |
| 1991 | Gay Debut Fiction | Lev Raphael | Dancing On Tisha B’av | Winner | |
| 1991 | Gay Debut Fiction | Bo Huston | Horse and Other Stories | Finalist | |
| 1991 | Gay Debut Fiction | Matthew Stadler | Landscape: Memory | Finalist | |
| 1991 | Gay Debut Fiction | Allen Barnett | The Body and Its Dangers | Finalist | |
| 1991 | Gay Debut Fiction | Patrick Moore | This Every Night | Finalist | |
| 1991 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Cherry Muhanji | Her | Winner | |
| 1991 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Patricia R. Schwartz | The Names of the Moons of Mars | Winner | |
| 1991 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Nisa Donnelly | Bar Stories: A Novel After All | Finalist | |
| 1991 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Ruthann Robson | Eye of a Hurricane | Finalist | |
| 1991 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Vickie Sears | Simple Songs | Finalist | |
| 1991 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Renee Hansen | Take Me to the Underground | Finalist | |
| 1991 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Karen Marie Christa Minns | Virago | Finalist | |
| 1991 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Paula Martinac and Carla Tomaso | Voyages Out | Finalist | |
| 1991 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Julie Blackwomon and Nona Caspers | Voyages Out 2 | Finalist | |
| 1992-2006 | No award presented | No award presented | No award presented | No award presented | No award presented |
| 2005 | Gay Debut Fiction | Blair Mastbaum | Clay’s Way | Winner | |
| 2005 | Gay Debut Fiction | Damian McNicholl | A Son Called Gabriel | Finalist | |
| 2005 | Gay Debut Fiction | Aaron Krach | Half-Life | Finalist | |
| 2005 | Gay Debut Fiction | Mar Acito | How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship, and Musical Theater | Finalist | |
| 2005 | Gay Debut Fiction | Brian Leung | World Famous Love Acts | Finalist | |
| 2005 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Judith Frank | Crybaby Butch | Winner | |
| 2005 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Mary Vermillion | Death by Discount | Finalist | |
| 2005 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Kristie Helms | Dish It Up, Baby! | Finalist | |
| 2005 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Laurinda D. Brown | Fire & Brimstone | Finalist | |
| 2005 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Bridget Bufford | Minus One: A Twelve-Step Journey | Finalist | |
| 2006 | Gay Debut Fiction | Vestal McIntyre | You Are Not the One | Winner | |
| 2006 | Gay Debut Fiction | Sulyman X | Bilal’s Bread | Finalist | |
| 2006 | Gay Debut Fiction | Richard McCann | Mother of Sorrows | Finalist | |
| 2006 | Gay Debut Fiction | Mack Friedman | Setting the Lawn on Fire | Finalist | |
| 2006 | Gay Debut Fiction | Barry McCrea | The First Verse | Finalist | |
| 2006 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Ali Leibegott | The Beautifully Worthless | Winner | |
| 2006 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Fiona Zedde | Bliss | Finalist | |
| 2006 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Katia Noyes | Crashing America | Finalist | |
| 2006 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Ronica Black | In Too Deep | Finalist | |
| 2006 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Michelle Embree | Manstealing for Fat Girls | Finalist | |
| 2007 | Gay Debut Fiction | Robert Westfield | Suspension | Winner | |
| 2007 | Gay Debut Fiction | Timothy Williams | 5 Minutes & 42 Seconds | Finalist | |
| 2007 | Gay Debut Fiction | Martin Hyatt | A Scarecrow’s Bible | Finalist | |
| 2007 | Gay Debut Fiction | Patrick Ryan | Send Me | Finalist | |
| 2007 | Gay Debut Fiction | Alex MacLennan | The Zookeeper | Finalist | |
| 2007 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Ellis Avery | The Teahouse Fire | Winner | |
| 2007 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Kirsten Dinnall Hoyte | Black Marks | Finalist | |
| 2007 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Ana-Maurine Lara | Erzulie’s Skirt | Finalist | |
| 2007 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Peggy Munson | Origami Striptease | Finalist | |
| 2007 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Leslie Larson | Slipstream | Finalist | |
| 2008 | Gay Debut Fiction | Christopher Kelly | A Push and a Shove | Winner | |
| 2008 | Gay Debut Fiction | James St. James | Freak Show | Finalist | |
| 2008 | Gay Debut Fiction | Kemble Scott | SoMa | Finalist | |
| 2008 | Gay Debut Fiction | James Canon | Tales from the Town of Widows | Finalist | |
| 2008 | Gay Debut Fiction | Michael Quadland | That Was Then | Finalist | |
| 2008 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Aoibheann Sweeney | Among Other Things, I’ve Taken Up Smoking | Winner | |
| 2008 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Lu Vickers | Breathing Underwater | Finalist | |
| 2008 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Myriam Gurba | Dahlia Season | Finalist | |
| 2008 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Holly Farris | Lockjaw | Finalist | |
| 2008 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Corrina Wycoff | O Street | Finalist | |
| 2009 | Gay Debut Fiction | Shawn Stewart Ruff | Finlater | Winner | |
| 2009 | Gay Debut Fiction | Evan Fallenberg | Light Fell | Finalist | |
| 2009 | Gay Debut Fiction | Daniel Allen Cox | Shuck | Finalist | |
| 2009 | Gay Debut Fiction | Drew Ferguson | The Screwed-Up Life of Charlie The Second | Finalist | |
| 2009 | Gay Debut Fiction | Mike Hoolboom | The Steve Machine | Finalist | |
| 2009 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Magdalena Zurawski | The Bruise | Winner | |
| 2009 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Meri Weiss | Closer to Fine | Finalist | |
| 2009 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Chavisa Woods | Love Does Not Make Me Gentle or Kind | Finalist | |
| 2009 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Linda Villarosa | Passing for Black | Finalist | |
| 2009 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Jill Malone | Red Audrey & the Roping | Finalist | |
| 2010 | Gay Debut Fiction | Rakesh Satyal | Blue Boy | Winner | |
| 2010 | Gay Debut Fiction | James Hannaham | God Says No | Finalist | |
| 2010 | Gay Debut Fiction | Lance Reynald | Pop Salvation | Finalist | |
| 2010 | Gay Debut Fiction | G. Winston James | Shaming the Devil: Collected Short Stories | Finalist | |
| 2010 | Gay Debut Fiction | James Magruder | Sugarless | Finalist | |
| 2010 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Rhiannon Argo | The Creamsickle | Winner | |
| 2010 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Maida Tilchen | Land Beyond Maps | Finalist | |
| 2010 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Barb Johnson | More of This World or Maybe Another | Finalist | |
| 2010 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Lori Ostlund | The Bigness of the World | Finalist | |
| 2010 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Z Egloff | Verge | Finalist | |
| 2011 | Gay Debut Fiction | David Pratt | Bob the Book | Winner | |
| 2011 | Gay Debut Fiction | Rob Stephenson | Passes Through | Finalist | |
| 2011 | Gay Debut Fiction | Tom Mendicino | Probation | Finalist | |
| 2011 | Gay Debut Fiction | Tom Schabarum | The Palisades | Finalist | |
| 2011 | Gay Debut Fiction | Chris Corkum | XOXO Hayden | Finalist | |
| 2011 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Amber Dawn | Sub Rosa | Winner | |
| 2011 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Katharine Beutner | Alcestis | Finalist | |
| 2011 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Georgeann Packard | Fall Asleep Forgetting | Finalist | |
| 2011 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Lois Walden | One More Stop | Finalist | |
| 2011 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Michael Sledge | The More I Owe You | Finalist | |
| 2012 | Gay Debut Fiction | Rahul Mehta | Quarantine: Stories | Winner | |
| 2012 | Gay Debut Fiction | Justin Chin | 98 Wounds | Finalist | |
| 2012 | Gay Debut Fiction | Michael Graves | Dirty One | Finalist | |
| 2012 | Gay Debut Fiction | Katherine Scott Nelson | Have You Seen Me | Finalist | |
| 2012 | Gay Debut Fiction | Garth Greenwell | Mitko | Finalist | |
| 2012 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Laurie Weeks | Zipper Mouth | Winner | |
| 2012 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Sarah Toshiko Hasu | Megume and the Trees | Finalist | |
| 2012 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Lara Fergus | My Sister Chaos | Finalist | |
| 2012 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Christine Stark | Nickels: A Tale of Dissociation | Finalist | |
| 2012 | Lesbian Debut Fiction | Sally Bellerose | The Girls Club | Finalist | |
| 2013 | Debut Fiction | Mia McKenzie | The Summer We Got Free | Winner | |
| 2013 | Debut Fiction | William Sterling Walker | Desire: Tales of New Orleans | Finalist | |
| 2013 | Debut Fiction | Lydia Perovic | Incidental Music | Finalist | |
| 2013 | Debut Fiction | E.J. Levy | Love, In Theory: Ten Stories | Finalist | |
| 2013 | Debut Fiction | Kristen Ringman | Makara: A novel | Finalist | |
| 2013 | Debut Fiction | Lysley Tenorio | Monstress | Finalist | |
| 2013 | Debut Fiction | Alex Leslie | People Who Disappear | Finalist | |
| 2013 | Debut Fiction | Jeanne Thornton | The Dream of Doctor Bantam | Finalist | |
| 2013 | Debut Fiction | Carter Sickels | The Evening Hour | Finalist | |
| 2013 | Debut Fiction | Lania Knight | Three Cubic Feet | Finalist | |
| 2014 | Debut Fiction | Nik Nicholson | Descendants of Hagar | Winner | |
| 2014 | Debut Fiction | Abigail Tarttelin | Golden Boy | Finalist | |
| 2014 | Debut Fiction | Derek Palacio | How to Shake the Other Man | Finalist | |
| 2014 | Debut Fiction | Jane Hoppen | In Between | Finalist | |
| 2014 | Debut Fiction | Charles L. Ross | Inside | Finalist | |
| 2014 | Debut Fiction | Andrea Routley | Jane and the Whales | Finalist | |
| 2014 | Debut Fiction | Laura Krughoff | My Brother’s Name: A Novel | Finalist | |
| 2014 | Debut Fiction | Ronald Palmer | Prick Queasy | Finalist | |
| 2014 | Debut Fiction | Amy Grace Loyd | The Affairs of Others: A Novel | Finalist | |
| 2014 | Debut Fiction | Guy Mark Foster | The Rest of Us: Stories | Finalist | |
| 2015 | Debut Fiction | Abdi Nazemian | The Walk-In Closet | Winner | |
| 2015 | Debut Fiction | Elizabeth Earley | A Map of Everything | Finalist | |
| 2015 | Debut Fiction | Vinton Rafe McCabe | Death in Venice, California | Finalist | |
| 2015 | Debut Fiction | Megan Milks | Kill Marguerite and Other Stories | Finalist | |
| 2015 | Debut Fiction | Dia Felix | Nochita | Finalist | |
| 2015 | Debut Fiction | Dan Lopez | Part the Hawser, Limn the Sea | Finalist | |
| 2015 | Debut Fiction | Bob Sennett | The Music Teacher | Finalist | |
| 2015 | Debut Fiction | Alden Jones | Unaccompanied Minors | Finalist | |
| 2016 | Debut Fiction | Victor Yates | A Love Like Blood | Winner | |
| 2016 | Debut Fiction | Mark S. Luckie | Do U. | Finalist | |
| 2016 | Debut Fiction | Paul Brownsey | His Steadfast Love and Other Stories | Finalist | |
| 2016 | Debut Fiction | Ioannis Pappos | Hotel Living | Finalist | |
| 2016 | Debut Fiction | Meliza Bañales | Life is Wonderful, People are Terrific | Finalist | |
| 2016 | Debut Fiction | James Driggers | Lovesick | Finalist | |
| 2016 | Debut Fiction | Libby Ware | Lum: A Novel | Finalist | |
| 2016 | Debut Fiction | Austin Bunn | The Brink | Finalist | |