” by t’ai freedom ford
  • Gay Poetry: “SLINGSHOT” by Cyrée Jarelle Johnson
  • Bisexual Poetry: “Pet Sounds” by Stephanie Young
  • Transgender Poetry: “HULL” by Xandria Phillips
  • Lesbian Mystery: “Galileo” by Ann McMan
  • Gay Mystery: “Carved in Bone: A Henry Rios Novel” by Michael Nava
  • Lesbian Memoir/Biography: “We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir” by Samra Habib
  • Gay Memoir/Biography: “How We Fight for Our Lives” by Saeed Jones
  • Lesbian Romance: “Aurora’s Angel: A Dark Fantasy Romance” by Emily Noon
  • Gay Romance: “Joseph Chapman: My Molly Life” by James Lovejoy
  • LGBTQ Anthology (tie): “Love WITH Accountability: Digging up the Roots of Child Sexual Abuse” by Aishah Shahidah Simmons and “A Rainbow Thread: An Anthology of Queer Jewish Texts from the First Century to 1969” by Noam Sienna
  • LGBTQ Children’s/Middle Grade: “Hazel’s Theory of Evolution” by Lisa Jenn Bigelow
  • LGBTQ Young Adults: “The Grief Keeper” by Alexandra Villasante
  • LGBTQ Comics: “Cannonball” by Kelsey Wroten
  • LGBTQ Drama: “A Strange Loop” by Michael R. Jackson
  • LGBTQ Erotica: “Whore Foods” by LA Warman
  • LGBTQ Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror: “The Deep” by Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes
  • LGBTQ Studies: “All Our Trials: Prisons, Policing, and the Feminist Fight to End Violence” by Emily L. Thuma

    • Best LGBTQ books in 2020

    Below are the finalists and winners of the 2020 Lambda Literary Awards, totaling more than 160 books across 25 categories. Some categories comprise as few as three finalists while the majority of categories include eight finalists.

    Lesbian Fiction

    1. "Cantoras" by Carolina De Robertis (pre-order, ships June 2)

    2. "A Generous Spirit: Selected Work" by Beth Brant

    3. "Mostly Dead Things" by Kristen Arnett

    4. "On Swift Horses" by Shannon Pufahl

    5. "Patsy" by Nicole Dennis-Benn (winner)

    6. "A People’s History of Heaven" by Mathangi Subramanian

    7. "Red at the Bone" by Jacqueline Woodson

    8. "Stay and Fight" by Madeline Ffitch (pre-order, ships August 18)

    Gay Fiction

    1. "Animalia" by Jean-Baptiste Del Amo, translated by Frank Wynne (pre-order, ships August 18)

    2. "The Archive of Alternate Endings" by Lindsey Drager

    3. "In West Mills" by De’Shawn Charles Winslow (pre-order, June 16)

    4. "Like This Afternoon Forever" by Jaime Manrique

    5. "Lord" by João Gilberto Noll, translated by Edgar Garbelotto

    6. "Lot" by Bryan Washington (winner)

    7. "Murmur" by Will Eaves

    8. "On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous" by Ocean Vuong

    Bisexual Fiction

    1. “Big Familia” by Tomas Moniz

    2. “Deposing Nathan” by Zack Smedley

    3. “Exquisite Mariposa” by Fiona Alison Duncan (winner)

    4. “Jude” by Garrett Leigh

    5. “Just Pervs” by Jess Taylor

    6. “The Man Who Saw Everything” by Deborah Levy

    7. “The Not Wives” by Carley Moore

    8. “The Remainder” by Alia Trabucco Zerán, translated by Sophie Hughes

    Transgender Fiction

    1. “The Beatrix Gates” by Rachel Pollack

    2. “Honey Walls” by Bones McKay

    3. “Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian)” by Hazel Jane Plante (winner)

    4. “Poet, Prophet, Fox: The Tale of Sinnach the Seer” by M.Z. McDonnell

    5. “The Trans Space Octopus Congregation” by Bogi Takács

    Bisexual Nonfiction

    1. “IMPERVIOUS: Confessions of a Semi-Retired Deviant” by Janet W. Hardy

    2. “Socialist Realism” by Trisha Low (winner)

    3. “A World Without Martha: A Memoir of Sisters, Disability, and Difference” by Victoria Freeman

    Transgender Nonfiction

    1.“Females” by Andrea Long Chu

    2.“Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States” by Samantha Allen

    3. “Theorizing Transgender Identity for Clinical Practice: A New Model for Understanding Gender” by S.J. Langer

    4. “Time Is the Thing A Body Moves Through” by T Fleischmann

    5. “We Both Laughed in Pleasure: The Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan” by Ellis Martin and Zach Ozma (winner)

    LGBTQ Nonfiction

    1. “Bloodflowers: Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Photography, and the 1980s” by W. Ian Bourland

    2. “The Bodies of Others: Drag Dances and Their Afterlives” by Selby Wynn Schwartz

    3. “Dying to Be Normal: Gay Martyrs and the Transformation of American Sexual Politics” by Brett Krutzsch

    4. “Honeypot: Black Southern Women Who Love Women” by E. Patrick

    Johnson

    5. “In the Dream House” by Carmen Maria Machado (winner)

    6. “When Brooklyn Was Queer: A History” by Hugh Ryan

    7. “Why Karen Carpenter Matters” by Karen Tongson

    8. “A Year Without a Name” by Cyrus Grace Dunham

    Lesbian Poetry

    1. “& more black” by t’ai freedom ford (winner)

    2. “Odes to Lithium” by Shira Erlichman

    3. “(the other house)” by Rocío Carlos

    4. “Pressure Cooker Love Bomb” by Sharanpal Ruprai

    5. “Soft Science” by Franny Choi

    6. “Time” by Etel Adnan, translated by Sarah Riggs

    7. “tsunami vs. the fukushima 50” by Lee Ann Roripaugh

    8. “Without Protection” by Gala Mukomolova

    Gay Poetry

    1. “Doomstead Days” by Brian Teare

    2. “The Experiment of the Tropics” by Lawrence Lacambra Ypil

    3. “Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers” by Jake Skeets

    4. “Losing Miami” by Gabriel Ojeda-Sagué

    5. “NDN Coping Mechanisms: Notes from the Field” by Billy-Ray Belcourt

    6. “The Revisionist & The Astropastorals” by Douglas Crase

    7. “SLINGSHOT” by Cyrée Jarelle Johnson (winner)

    8. “The Tradition” by Jericho Brown

    Bisexual Poetry

    1. “Build Yourself a Boat” by Camonghne Felix

    2. “HoodWitch” by Faylita Hicks

    3. “Moira of Edges, Moira the Tart” by Moina Pam Dick

    4. “Pet Sounds” by Stephanie Young (winner)

    5. “Revenge of the Asian Woman” by Dorothy Chan

    6. “ROMANS/SNOWMARE” by Cam Scott

    7. “A Sand Book” by Ariana Reines

    8. “water/tongue” by mai c. doan

    Transgender Poetry

    1. “Dispatch” by Cameron Awkward-Rich

    2. “EXTRATRANSMISSION” Andrea Abi-Karam

    3. “HULL” by Xandria Phillips (winner)

    4. "Our Weather Our Sea" by Samuel Ace

    5. "The Year of Blue Water" by Yanyi

    Lesbian Mystery

    1. “The Blood Runs Cold” by Catherine Maiorisi

    2. “Galileo” by Ann McMan (winner)

    3. “The Hound of Justice” by Claire O’Dell

    4. “The Mirror of Muraro” by Amelia Ellis

    5. “Twisted at the Root: A Jane Lawless Mystery” by Ellen Hart

    Gay Mystery

    1. “Carved in Bone: A Henry Rios Novel” by Michael Nava (winner)

    2. “ChoirMaster: A Mister Puss Mystery” by Michael Craft

    3. “Death Takes a Bow” by David S. Pederson

    4. “The Fourth Courier” by Timothy Jay Smith

    5. “The Nowhere” by Chris Gill

    6. “The Quaker” by Liam McIlvanney

    7. “Rewind” by Marshall Thornton

    8. “Royal Street Reveillon” by Greg Herren

    Lesbian Memoir/Biography

    1. “Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls” by T Kira Madden

    2. “Motherland: A Memoir of Love, Loathing, and Longing” by Elissa Altman

    3. “Ordinary Girls” by Jaquira Díaz

    4. “The Rib Joint: A Memoir In Essays” by Julia Koets

    5. “Sontag: Her Life and Work” by Benjamin Moser

    6. “Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Social Upheaval” by Saidiya Hartman

    7. “We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir” by Samra Habib (winner)

    8. “A Wild and Precious Life” by Edie Windsor with Joshua Lyon

    Gay Memoir/Biography

    1. “The Amphitheater of the Dead” by Guy Hocquenghem, translated by Max Fox

    2. “DISASTERAMA! Adventures in the Queer Underground 1977-1997” by Alvin Orloff

    3. “How We Fight for Our Lives” by Saeed Jones (winner)

    4. “I.M.” by Isaac Mizrahi

    5. “In the Shadow of the Bridge” by Joseph Caldwell

    6.“An Indefinite Sentence: A Personal History of Outlawed Love and Sex” by Siddharth Dube

    7. “Jimmy Neurosis” by James Oseland

    8. “The Light Years” by Chris Rush

    Lesbian Romance

    1. “Aurora’s Angel: A Dark Fantasy Romance” by Emily Noon (winner)

    2. “Create a Life to Love” by Erin Zak

    3. “Once Ghosted, Twice Shy” by Alyssa Cole

    4. “Pretending in Paradise” by M. Ullrich

    5. “The Roommate Arrangement” by Jae

    6. “The Secret Chord” by Virginia Hale

    7. “Tennessee Whiskey” by Donna K. Ford

    8. “Top of Her Game” by M. Ullrich

    Gay Romance

    1. “Best Man” by Chris Delyani

    2.“Blue Umbrella Sky” by Rick R. Reed

    3. “Code Name: Liberty” by Marshall Thornton

    4. “Digging Deep” by Jay Hogan

    5.“Escaping Camp Roosevelt” by Bryan T. Clark

    6. “Joseph Chapman: My Molly Life” by James Lovejoy (winner)

    7. “Kiss Me Again” by Garrett Leigh

    8. “My Baby Chased Away the Blues” by R.A. Thorn

    LGBTQ Anthology

    1. “The BreakBeat Poets Volume 3: Halal if You Hear Me” by Fatimah Asghar and Safia Elhillo

    2. “Foglifter Volume 4 Issue 2” by Luiza Flynn-Goodlett (sold out)

    3. “The Heart of the Matter: The Gerald Kraak Anthology Volume III” by The Other Foundation

    4. “Hustling Verse: An Anthology of Sex Workers’ Poetry” by Amber Dawn and Justin Ducharme

    5. “LGBTQ Fiction and Poetry from Appalachia” by Jeff Mann and Julia Watts

    6. “Love WITH Accountability: Digging up the Roots of Child Sexual Abuse” by Aishah Shahidah Simmons (winner, tie)

    7. “Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity” by Micah Rajunov and Scott Duane

    8. “A Rainbow Thread: An Anthology of Queer Jewish Texts from the First Century to 1969” by Noam Sienna (winner, tie)

    LGBTQ Children’s/Young Adult

    1. “All the Things We Do in the Dark” by Saundra Mitchell

    2. “The Grief Keeper” by Alexandra Villasante (winner, Young Adults)

    3. “Hazel’s Theory of Evolution” by Lisa Jenn Bigelow (winner, Children's/Middle Grade)

    4. “Hurricane Season” by Nicole Melleby

    5. “The Meaning of Birds” by Jaye Robin Brown

    6. “Pet” by Akwaeke Emezi

    7. “Pride Colors” by Robin Stevenson

    8. “Wilder Girls” by Rory Power

    LGBTQ Comics

    1. “Are You Listening?” by Tillie Walden

    2.“Cannonball” by Kelsey Wroten (winner)

    3. “Death Threat” by Vivek Shraya, illustrated by Ness Lee

    4. “Is This How You See Me?” by Jaime Hernandez

    5. “Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me” by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Rosemary Valero O’Connell

    LGBTQ Drama

    1. “The Amateurs” by Jordan Harrison

    2. “Dr. Ride’s American Beach House” by Liza Birkenmeier

    3. “A Strange Loop” by Michael R. Jackson (winner)

    LGBTQ Erotica

    1. “Lord of the Senses” by Vikram Kolmannskog

    2. “Lot’s Wife: An Erotic Novella” by Rosalind Chase

    3. “The Shape of the Earth” by Gary Garth McCann

    4. “Texas Crude” by Thomas Kearnes

    5. “Whore Foods” by LA Warman (winner)

    LGBTQ Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror

    1. “Black Leopard, Red Wolf” by Marlon James

    2. “The Deep” by Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and

    Jonathan Snipes (winner)

    3. “False Bingo” by Jac Jemc

    4. “The Priory of the Orange Tree” by Samantha Shannon

    5. “The Rampant” by Julie C. Day

    6. “A Spectral Hue” by Craig Laurance Gidney

    7. “Stories to Sing in the Dark” by Matthew Bright

    8. “Wake, Siren” by Nina MacLaughlin

    LGBTQ Studies

    1. “All Our Trials: Prisons, Policing, and the Feminist Fight to End Violence” by Emily L. Thuma (winner)

    2. “Archiving an Epidemic: Art, AIDS, and the Queer Chicanx Avant-Garde”

    by Robb Hernández

    3. “Beside You in Time: Sense Methods and Queer Sociabilities in the American Nineteenth Century” by Elizabeth Freeman

    4. “Queer Times, Black Futures” by Kara Keeling

    5. “Queering Black Atlantic Religions: Transcorporeality in Candomblé, Santería and Vodou” by Roberto Strongman

    6. “Reading Sideways: The Queer Politics of Art in Modern American Fiction” by Dana Seitler

    7. “Scorpio Rising: A Queer Film Classic” by R.L. Cagle

    8. “Trans Exploits: Trans of Color Cultures and Technologies in Movement” by Jian Neo Chen

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