# 36th Lambda Literary Awards

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 passed away 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 recipients :
| Category | Winner |
| Jeanne Córdova Prize for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction | Stephanie Davies |
| Jim Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists' Prize | K.M. Soehnlein, Zelda Lockhart |
| Judith A. Markowitz Emerging Writer Award | Federico Erebia, River 瑩瑩 Dandelion |
| J. Michael Samuel Prize for Emerging Writers Over 50 | Paul Festa |
| Randall Kenan Prize for Black LGBTQ Fiction | Liv Little |
| The Denneny Award for Editorial Excellence | Remi Recchia |
| The Pat Holt Prize for Critical Arts Writing | Elizabeth Hoover |

## Nominees and winners

36th Lambda Literary Awards winners and finalists :
| Category | Author | Title | Publisher | Result |
| Bisexual Fiction | Ling Ling Huang | Natural Beauty | Penguin Random House / Dutton | Winner |
| Bisexual Fiction | Ruth Madievsky | All-Night Pharmacy: A Novel | Catapult | Finalist |
| Bisexual Fiction | Jennifer Savran Kelly | Endpapers | Algonquin Books | Finalist |
| Bisexual Fiction | Sarah James | Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen | Sourcebooks | Finalist |
| Bisexual Fiction | Haley Jakobson | Old Enough | Penguin Random House / Dutton | Finalist |
| Bisexual Nonfiction | Myriam Gurba | Creep: Accusations and Confessions | Avid Reader Press | Winner |
| Bisexual Nonfiction | Vaneet Mehta | Bisexual Men Exist: A Handbook for Bisexual, Pansexual and M-Spec Men | Jessica Kingsley Publishers | Finalist |
| Bisexual Nonfiction | Zachary Zane | Boyslut: A Memoir and Manifesto | Abrams Image | Finalist |
| Bisexual Nonfiction | Eden Boudreau | Crying Wolf | Book*hug Press | Finalist |
| Bisexual Nonfiction | Kawika Guillermo | Nimrods: A fake-punk self-hurt anti-memoir | Duke University Press | Finalist |
| Bisexual Poetry | Danielle Cadena Deulen | Desire Museum | BOA Editions | Winner |
| Bisexual Poetry | Mary Jo Bang | A Film in Which I Play Everyone | Graywolf Press | Finalist |
| Bisexual Poetry | Sierra DeMulder | Ephemera | Button Poetry | Finalist |
| Bisexual Poetry | Margaret Ray | Good Grief, the Ground | BOA Editions | Finalist |
| Bisexual Poetry | Paul Killebrew | Impersonal Rainbow and The Bisexual Purge | Canarium Books | Finalist |
| Gay Fiction | Bryan Washington | Family Meal | Penguin Random House / Riverhead Books | Winner |
| Gay Fiction | Patrick E. Horrigan | American Scholar | Lethe Press | Finalist |
| Gay Fiction | Justin Torres | Blackouts | Farrar, Straus and Giroux | Finalist |
| Gay Fiction | Richard Mirabella | Brother and Sister Enter the Forest: A Novel | Catapult | Finalist |
| Gay Fiction | Khashayar J. Khabushani | I Will Greet the Sun Again | Hogarth Books | Finalist |
| Gay Memoir/Biography | Jason Yamas | Tweakerworld | Unnamed Press | Winner |
| Gay Memoir/Biography | Charles Busch | Leading Lady | BenBella Books | Finalist |
| Gay Memoir/Biography | Greg Marshall | Leg: The Story of a Limb and the Boy Who Grew from It | Abrams Press | Finalist |
| Gay Memoir/Biography | Jedidiah Jenkins | Mother, Nature | Convergent Books | Finalist |
| Gay Memoir/Biography | Martin Duberman | Reaching Ninety | Chicago Review Press | Finalist |
| Gay Poetry | Charif Shanahan | Trace Evidence | Tin House | Winner |
| Gay Poetry | Paul Stephenson | Hard Drive | Carcanet Press | Finalist |
| Gay Poetry | Richard Blanco | Homeland of My Body: New and Selected Poems | Beacon Press | Finalist |
| Gay Poetry | Emanuel Xavier | Love(ly) Child | Rebel Satori Press | Finalist |
| Gay Poetry | Grant Chemidlin | What We Lost in the Swamp | Central Avenue Poetry | Finalist |
| Gay Romance | Cat Sebastian | We Could Be So Good | Avon Books | Winner |
| Gay Romance | E. H. Lupton | Dionysus in Wisconsin | Winnowing Fan Press | Finalist |
| Gay Romance | M. A. Wardell | Mistletoe and Mishigas | Self-published | Finalist |
| Gay Romance | Jay Hogan | The Art of Husbandry | Southern Lights Publishing / Self-published | Finalist |
| Gay Romance | K. J. Charles | The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen | Sourcebooks | Finalist |
| Lesbian Fiction | Catherine Lacey | Biography of X | Farrar, Straus and Giroux | Winner |
| Lesbian Fiction | Jen Beagin | Big Swiss | Scribner | Finalist |
| Lesbian Fiction | K-Ming Chang | Organ Meats | One World | Finalist |
| Lesbian Fiction | C. E. McGill | Our Hideous Progeny | HarperCollins | Finalist |
| Lesbian Fiction | Helen Elaine Lee | Pomegranate | Atria Books | Finalist |
| Lesbian Memoir/Biography | Amelia Possanza | Lesbian Love Story: A Memoir in Archives | Catapult | Winner |
| Lesbian Memoir/Biography | Lamya H | Hijab Butch Blues | The Dial Press | Finalist |
| Lesbian Memoir/Biography | Vi Khi Nao | Suicide: The Autoimmune Disorder of the Psyche | 11:11 Press | Finalist |
| Lesbian Memoir/Biography | Sarah Viren | To Name the Bigger Lie | Scribner | Finalist |
| Lesbian Memoir/Biography | Lynnée Denise | Why Willie Mae Thornton Matters | The University of Texas Press | Finalist |
| Lesbian Poetry | Kimberly Alidio | Teeter | Nightboat Books | Winner |
| Lesbian Poetry | Alyse Knorr | Ardor | Gasher Press | Finalist |
| Lesbian Poetry | Brionne Janae | Because You Were Mine | Haymarket Books | Finalist |
| Lesbian Poetry | Maggie Millner | Couplets | Farrar, Straus and Giroux | Finalist |
| Lesbian Poetry | Stephanie Adams-Santos | Dream of Xibalba | Orison Books | Finalist |
| Lesbian Romance | Georgia Beers | Dance with Me | Bold Strokes Books | Winner |
| Lesbian Romance | Marianne Ratcliffe | A Lady to Treasure | Bellows Press | Finalist |
| Lesbian Romance | Kris Bryant | Catch | Bold Strokes Books | Finalist |
| Lesbian Romance | Lisa Peers | Love at 350° | The Dial Press | Finalist |
| Lesbian Romance | Melissa Brayden | Lucky in Lace | Bold Strokes Books | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Anthology | Tuck Woodstock and Niko Stratis | 2 Trans 2 Furious: An Extremely Serious Journal of Transgender Street Racing Studies | Rapid Onset Gender Distro / Self-published | Winner |
| LGBTQ Anthology | Andrew R. Spieldenner and Jeffrey Escoffier | A Pill for Promiscuity: Gay Sex in an Age of Pharmaceuticals | Rutgers University Press | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Anthology | Madeline 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. Taylor | Being Ace: An Anthology of Queer, Trans, Femme, and Disabled Stories of Asexual Love and Connection | Page Street Publishing / Page Street YA | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Anthology | Bogi 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 Chandrasekera | Rosalind's Siblings: Fiction and Poetry Celebrating Scientists of Marginalized Genders | Atthis Arts | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Anthology | Benjamin Schaefer | Fairy Tale Review: The Rainbow Issue | Wayne State University Press | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Children's | Nina LaCour; illustrated by Sonia Albert | The Apartment House on Poppy Hill | Chronicle Books | Winner |
| LGBTQ Children's | Meeg Pincus and Meridth Mckean Gimbel | Door by Door | Crown Books for Young Readers | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Children's | Andy Passchier | Gender Identity for Kids | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Children's | Harry Woodgate | Grandad's Pride | Little Bee Books | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Children's | A. J. Irving and Kip Alizadeh | The Wishing Flower | Knopf Books for Young Readers | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Comics | E. M. Carroll | A Guest in The House | First Second | Winner |
| LGBTQ Comics | Mari Costa | Belle of the Ball | First Second | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Comics | Lawrence Lindell | Blackward | Drawn & Quarterly | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Comics | Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki | Roaming | Drawn & Quarterly | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Comics | H. A. | The Chromatic Fantasy | Silver Sprocket | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Drama | James Ijames | Fat Ham | Theatre Communications Group | Winner |
| LGBTQ Drama | Adam Meisner | For Both Resting and Breeding | Scirocco Drama / J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Drama | Andrew Rincón | I Wanna Fuck Like Romeo and Juliet | Samuel French, a Concord Theatricals Company | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Drama | Milo Wippermann | Joan of Arkansas | Ugly Duckling Presse | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Drama | Harrison David Rivers | The bandaged place | Samuel French, a Concord Theatricals Company | Finalist |
| LGBTQ+ Romance and Erotica | Laura Q | A Tight Squeeze: Smutty Trans and Queer Stories | Microcosm Publishing | Winner |
| LGBTQ+ Romance and Erotica | T. J. Alexander | Chef's Choice | Emily Bestler Books / Atria Books | Finalist |
| LGBTQ+ Romance and Erotica | Andie Burke | Fly with Me: A Novel | St. Martin's Griffin | Finalist |
| LGBTQ+ Romance and Erotica | Ashley Herring Blake | Iris Kelly Doesn't Date | Berkley | Finalist |
| LGBTQ+ Romance and Erotica | Alexandria Bellefleur | The Fiancee Farce | Avon Books | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Middle Grade | Robin Gow | Dear Mothman | Amulet Books | Winner |
| LGBTQ Middle Grade | Leah Johnson | Ellie Engle Saves Herself | Disney Hyperion | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Middle Grade | Karen Wilfrid | Just Lizzie | HarperCollins / Clarion Books | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Middle Grade | Michael Leali | Matteo | HarperCollins | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Middle Grade | Alden Van Otterloo | The Beautiful Something Else | Scholastic Press | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Mystery | Cari Hunter | A Calculated Risk | Bold Strokes Books | Winner |
| LGBTQ Mystery | Rebecca McKanna | Don't Forget the Girl | Sourcebooks Landmark | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Mystery | Polly Stewart | The Good Ones | HarperCollins | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Mystery | J. M. Redmann | Transitory | Bold Strokes Books | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Mystery | Joshua Moehling | Where the Dead Sleep | Poisoned Pen Press | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Nonfiction | Matt Baume | Hi Honey, I'm Homo | BenBella Books | Winner |
| LGBTQ Nonfiction | Daniel Black | Black on Black: On Our Resilience and Brilliance in America | Harlequin Trade Publishing / Hanover Square Press | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Nonfiction | Elyssa Maxx Goodman | Glitter and Concrete: A Cultural History of Drag in New York City | Harlequin Trade Publishing / Hanover Square Press | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Nonfiction | Julie Marie Wade | Otherwise | Autumn House Press | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Nonfiction | John Sovec, LMFT | Out: A Parent's Guide to Supporting Your LGBTQIA+ Kid Through Coming Out and Beyond | Jessica Kingsley Publishers | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Poetry | Quinn Carver Johnson | The Perfect Bastard | Northwestern University Press | Winner |
| LGBTQ Poetry | Robin Gow | Lanternfly August | Driftwood Press | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Poetry | Destiny Hemphill | Motherworld: A devotional for the alter-life | Action Books | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Poetry | Sam Sax | Pig | Scribner | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Poetry | Alina Pleskova | Toska | Deep Vellum | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Speculative Fiction | Marisa Crane | I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself | Catapult | Winner |
| LGBTQ Speculative Fiction | Aubrey Wood | Bang Bang Bodhisattva | Solaris | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Speculative Fiction | Emma Mieko Candon | The Archive Undying | Tordotcom Publishing | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Speculative Fiction | Vajra Chandrasekera | The Saint of Bright Door | Tordotcom Publishing | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Speculative Fiction | Chana Porter | The Thick and the Lean | Saga Press | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Studies | Erin L. Durban | The Sexual Politics of Empire: Postcolonial Homophobia in Haiti | University of Illinois Press | Winner |
| LGBTQ Studies | Jennifer Dominique Jones | Ambivalent Affinities: A Political History of Blackness and Homosexuality after World War II | University of North Carolina Press | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Studies | Christoph Hanssmann | Care without Pathology: How Trans Health Activists Are Changing Medicine | University of Minnesota Press | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Studies | Margot Canaday | Queer Career: Sexuality and Work in Modern America | Princeton University Press | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Studies | Travis S. K. Kong | Sexuality and the Rise of China: The Post-1990s Gay Generation in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China | Duke University Press | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Young Adult | Abdi Nazemian | Only This Beautiful Moment | HarperCollins / Balzer + Bray | Winner |
| LGBTQ Young Adult | Maxine Rae | Cold Girls | Flux | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Young Adult | Keith F. Miller Jr. | Pritty | HarperCollins / HarperTeen | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Young Adult | Brittany N. Williams | That Self-Same Metal (The Forge & Fracture Saga, Book 1) | Amulet Books | Finalist |
| LGBTQ Young Adult | Gabe Cole Novoa | The Wicked Bargain | Random House Books for Young Readers | Finalist |
| Transgender Fiction | Soula Emmanuel | Wild Geese | Feminist Press | Winner |
| Transgender Fiction | Nicola Dinan | Bellies | Hanover Square Press | Finalist |
| Transgender Fiction | Emily Zhou | Girlfriends | LittlePuss Press | Finalist |
| Transgender Fiction | Valérie Bah; translated by Kama La Mackerel | The Rage Letters | Metonymy Press | Finalist |
| Transgender Fiction | Sylvia Aguilar Zéleny | Trash | Deep Vellum | Finalist |
| Transgender Nonfiction | Miss Major Griffin-Gracy and Toshio Meronek | Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary | Verso Books | Winner |
| Transgender Nonfiction | McKenzie Wark | Love and Money, Sex and Death | Verso Books | Finalist |
| Transgender Nonfiction | Casey Plett | On Community | Biblioasis | Finalist |
| Transgender Nonfiction | Stacy Jane Grover | Tar Hollow Trans: Essays | University Press of Kentucky | Finalist |
| Transgender Nonfiction | Mx. Sly | Transland: Consent, Kink, and Pleasure | Arsenal Pulp Press | Finalist |
| Transgender Poetry | Michal 'MJ' Jones | Hood Vacations | Black Lawrence Press | Winner |
| Transgender Poetry | Victoriano Cárdenas | Portraits as Animal: Poems | Bloomsday Literary | Finalist |
| Transgender Poetry | K. Iver | Short Film Starring My Beloved's Red Bronco | Milkweed Editions | Finalist |
| Transgender Poetry | Jennifer Conlon | Taking to Water | Autumn House Press | Finalist |
| Transgender Poetry | Subhaga Crystal Bacon | Transitory | BOA Editions | Finalist |