35th Lambda Literary Awards

35th Lambda Literary Awards
35th Lambda Literary Awards
Awarded for	Works of LGBTQ+ literature
Date	June 11, 2024
Location	New York City
Country	United States
Presented by	Lambda Literary Foundation
Eligibility	LGBTQ+ storytelling, published in the US in the preceding year
Website	lambdaliterary.org/awards

The finalists for the 35th Lambda Literary Awards, which honor works of LGBT literature published in 2022, were announced on March 15, 2023.^[2] The winners were announced in New York on June 9.^[3]

Special awards

Special awards recipients
Category	Winner	Ref.
J. Michael Samuel Prize for Emerging Writers Over 50	Christopher Tradowski	^[4]
Jeanne Córdova Prize for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction	Jaquira Diaz
Jim Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists' Prize	Aaron Hamburger, Ryka Aoki
Judith A. Markowitz Emerging Writer Award	Maya Salameh, Naseem Jamnia
Randall Kenan Prize for Black LGBTQ Fiction	Eboni J. Dunbar

Nominees and winners

35th Lambda Literary Awards winners and finalists^[4]^[5]
Category	Author	Title	Publisher	Result	Ref.
Bisexual Fiction	Gwendolyn Kiste	Reluctant Immortals	Simon & Schuster/Saga Press	Winner	^[6]
	A. J. Bermudez	Stories No One Hopes Are About Them	University of Iowa Press	Finalist	^[2]
	Akil Kumarasamy	Meet Us by the Roaring Sea	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
	Bushra Rehman	Roses, In the Mouth of a Lion	Flatiron Books
	Nishant Batsha	Mother Ocean Father Nation	Ecco/HarperCollins
Bisexual Nonfiction	Maria San Filippo	Appropriate Behavior	McGill–Queen's University Press	Winner	^[6]
	John Brady McDonald	Carrying It Forward: Essays from Kistahpinanihk	Wolsak and Wynn Publishers	Finalist	^[7]^[3]
	Liz Scheier	Never Simple: A Memoir	Henry Holt and Company / Macmillan Publishers
	Rachel Krantz	Open: An Uncensored Memoir of Love, Liberation, and Non-Monogamy	Harmony Books / Penguin Random House
	CJ Hauser	The Crane Wife	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Bisexual Poetry	Nicky Beer	Real Phonies and Genuine Fakes	Milkweed Editions	Winner
	Gabrielle Octavia Rucker	Dereliction	The Song Cave	Finalist
	James Fujinami Moore	indecent hours	Four Way Books
	Karyna McGlynn	50 Things Kate Bush Taught Me About the Multiverse	Sarabande Books
	Rebecca Hawkes	Meat Lovers	Auckland University Press
Comics	Sas Milledge	Mamo	BOOM! Studios	Winner
	Will Betke-Brunswick	A Pros and Cons List for Strong Feelings	Tin House	Finalist
	Gabriel Ebensperger, trans. by Kelley D. Salas	Gay Giant	Street Noise Books
	Melanie Gillman	Other Ever Afters	Random House Graphic
	Sarah Winifred Searle	The Greatest Thing	First Second Books
Gay Fiction	Danny Ramadan	The Foghorn Echoes	Canongate Books	Winner	^[6]
	Marcial Gala, trans. by Anna Kushner	Call Me Cassandra	Farrar, Straus and Giroux	Finalist	^[3]^[2]
	Arinze Ifeakandu	God’s Children Are Little Broken Things	A Public Space
	João Gilberto Noll, trans. by Edgar Garbelotto	Hugs and Cuddles	Two Lines Press
	Rasheed Newson	My Government Means To Kill Me	Flatiron Books
Gay Memoir/Biography	Edgar Gomez	High-Risk Homosexual	Soft Skull Press	Winner	^[6]
	Seán Hewitt	All Down Darkness Wide: A Memoir	Penguin Group	Finalist
	Jim Elledge	An Angel in Sodom	Chicago Review Press
	Ron Goldberg	Boy with the Bullhorn: A Memoir and History of ACT UP New York	Empire State Editions
	Jesse Leon	I’m Not Broken	Vintage Books
Gay Poetry	Padraig Regan	Some Integrity	Carcanet Press	Winner
	Saeed Jones	Alive at the End of the World	Coffee House Press	Finalist
	Aldo Amparán	Brother Sleep	Alice James Books
	Angelo Nikolopoulos	Pleasure	Four Way Books
	Chris Tse	Super Model Minority	Auckland University Press
Gay Romance	Kosoko Jackson	I’m So Not Over You	Berkley Romance	Winner
	Marie Sinclair	Forever After	Self-published	Finalist
	A. M. Johnson	Forever, Con Amor	Self-published
	Felice Stevens	Just One Night	Self-published
	Fearne Hill	Two Tribes	Self-published
Lesbian Fiction	K-Ming Chang	Gods of Want	One World	Winner	^[6]
	Mecca Jamilah Sullivan	Big Girl	W. W. Norton & Company	Finalist	^[2]^[3]
	Mónica Ojeda, trans. by Sarah Booker	Jawbone	Coffee House Press
	Leila Mottley	Nightcrawling	Alfred A. Knopf
	Julia Armfield	Our Wives Under the Sea	Flatiron Books
Lesbian Memoir/Biography	Kathryn Schulz	Lost & Found: Reflections on Grief, Gratitude, and Happiness	Random House	Winner	^[6]
	Raquel Gutiérrez	Brown Neon	Coffee House Press	Finalist	^[7]
	Putsata Reang	Ma and Me	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
	Chris Belcher	Pretty Baby: A Memoir	Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
	Neema Avashia	Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place	West Virginia University Press
Lesbian Poetry	Shelley Wong	As She Appears	YesYes Books	Winner
	Natalie Wee	Beast at Every Threshold	Arsenal Pulp Press	Finalist
	Courtney Faye Taylor	Concentrate	Graywolf Press
	Brynne Rebele-Henry	Prelude	University of Pittsburgh Press
	Rage Hezekiah	Yearn	Diode Editions
Lesbian Romance	Nan Campbell	The Rules of Forever	Bold Strokes Books	Winner
	Susie Dumond	Queerly Beloved	Dial Press	Finalist	^[7]
	Aurora Rey	Hard Pressed	Bold Strokes Books
	E. J. Noyes	If I Don’t Ask	Bella Books
	K. B. Draper	Southbound and Down	K.B. Draper, LLC
LGBTQ Anthology	Julie R. Enszer and Elena Gross	OutWrite: The Speeches That Shaped LGBTQ Literary Culture	Rutgers University Press	Winner
	Michael Walsh (Ed.)	Queer Nature: A Poetry Anthology	Autumn House Press	Finalist	^[7]
	Elias Jahshan	This Arab is Queer: An Anthology by LGBTQ+ Arab Writers	Saqi Books
	Laura Erickson-Schroth	Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource by and for Transgender Communities (2nd ed.)	Oxford University Press
	Isabela Oliveira and Jed Sabin	Xenocultivars: Stories of Queer Growth	Speculatively Queer
LGBTQ Children's	Wallace West	Mighty Red Riding Hood	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers	Winner	^[6]
	Carole Boston Weatherford and Rob Sanders, illus. by Byron McCray	A Song for the Unsung: Bayard Rustin	Henry Holt Books for Young Readers	Finalist
	Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, and Joe Wilson, illus. by Daniel Sousa	Kapaemahu	Kokila
	Nina LaCour	Mama and Mommy and Me in the Middle	Candlewick Press
	Robb Pearlman, illus. by Dani Jones	The Sublime Ms. Stacks	Bloomsbury Publishing
LGBTQ Drama	Ho Ka Kei (Jeff Ho)	Iphigenia and the Furies (On Taurian Land) & Antigone: 方	Playwrights Canada Press	Winner
	kai fig taddei	Duecentomila	Playwrights Canada Press	Finalist
	Sikivu Hutchinson	Rock ‘n’ Roll Heretic	Self-published
	Tom Ford (writer) and Alex Syiek (music and lyrics)	The Show on the Roof	Boise Contemporary Theater
	Hansol Jung	Wolf Play	Samuel French, a Concord Theatricals Company
LGBTQ+ Romance and Erotica	Alison Cochrun	Kiss Her Once For Me	Atria Books	Winner
	Ruby Barrett	The Romance Recipe	Carina Adores	Finalist	^[7]
	Meryl Wilsner	Mistakes Were Made	St. Martin's Griffin
	Edie Cay	A Lady’s Finder	Self-published
	Joseph Brennan	Loose Lips: A Gay Sea Odyssey	Hard Crossing Press
LGBTQ Middle Grade	Maulik Pancholy	Nikhil Out Loud	HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray	Winner	^[6]
	David Levithan	Answers In the Pages	Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers	Finalist
	Kyle Lukoff	Different Kinds of Fruit	Dial Books for Young Readers
	Maggie Horne	Hazel Hill Is Gonna Win This One	HarperCollins/Clarion Books
	Michael Leali	The Civil War of Amos Abernathy	HarperCollins
LGBTQ Mystery	Hayley Scrivenor	Dirt Creek: A Novel	Flatiron Books	Winner
	David C Dawson	A Death in Berlin	Park Creek Publishing	Finalist
	Joshua Moehling	And There He Kept Her	Poisoned Pen Press
	Ann McMan	Dead Letters from Paradise	Bywater Books
	Lev A.C. Rosen	Lavender House	Forge Books
LGBTQ Nonfiction	Hafizah Augustus Geter	The Black Period: On Personhood, Race, and Origin	Random House	Winner	^[6]
	Sabrina Imbler	How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures	Little, Brown and Company	Finalist	^[7]
	Joseph Osmundson	Virology: Essays for the Living, the Dead, and the Small Things in Between	W.W. Norton & Company
	Ricky Tucker	And the Category Is...: Inside New York’s Vogue, House, and Ballroom Community	Beacon Press
	Hugh Ryan	The Women’s House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison	Bold Type Books, Hachette Book Group
LGBTQ Speculative Fiction	Lianyu Tan	The Wicked and the Willing: An F/F Gothic Horror Vampire Novel	Shattered Scepter Press	Winner
	Sunyi Dean	Book Eaters	Tor Books	Finalist	^[2]
	Nghi Vo	Into the Riverlands	Tor.com
	Khan Wong	The Circus Infinite	Angry Robot
	Rob Hart	The Paradox Hotel	Ballantine Books
LGBTQ Studies	Darieck Scott	Keeping It Unreal: Black Queer Fantasy and Superhero Comics	New York University Press	Winner
	Mairead Sullivan	Lesbian Death: Desire and Danger between Feminist and Queer	University of Minnesota Press	Finalist	^[7]
	Marlon B. Ross	Sissy Insurgencies: A Racial Anatomy of Unfit Manliness	Duke University Press
	Vivian L. Huang	Surface Relations: Queer Forms of Asian American Inscrutability	Duke University Press
	Jafari S. Allen	There’s a Disco Ball Between Us: A Theory of Black Gay Life	Duke University Press
LGBTQ Young Adult	Sonora Reyes	The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School	Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins	Winner	^[6]
	Vincent Tirado	Burn Down, Rise Up	Sourcebooks	Finalist	^[2]
	Angeline Jackson with Susan McClelland	Funny Gyal: My Fight Against Homophobia in Jamaica	Dundurn Press
	Anna-Marie McLemore	Lakelore	Feiwel & Friends
	Jen Ferguson	The Summer of Bitter and Sweet	Heartdrum/HarperCollins
Transgender Fiction	Cat Fitzpatrick	The Call-Out	Seven Stories Press	Winner	^[6]
	James Hannaham	Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta	Little, Brown and Company	Finalist	^[3]
	Izzy Wasserstein	All the Hometowns You Can’t Stay Away From	Neon Hemlock
	Morgan Thomas	Manywhere	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
	Maya Deane	Wrath Goddess Sing	William Morrow and Company
Transgender Nonfiction	Emma Grove	The Third Person	Drawn & Quarterly	Winner	^[6]
	Kit Heyam	Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender	Basic Books	Finalist	^[2]^[7]
	Cecilia Gentili	Faltas: Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn’t My Rapist	LittlePuss Press
	Jeremiah Moss	Feral City: On Finding Liberation in Lockdown New York	W. W. Norton & Company
	Cameron Awkward-Rich	The Terrible We: Thinking with Trans Maladjustment	Duke University Press
Transgender Poetry	Kamden Ishmael Hilliard	MissSettl	Nightboat Books	Winner
	Golden	A Dead Name That Learned How to Live	Game Over Books	Finalist
	Kay Gabriel	A Queen in Bucks County	Nightboat Books
	Paul Tran	All the Flowers Kneeling	Penguin Books
	Prathna Lor	Emanations	Wolsak and Wynn Publishers

References

^ "Submission Guidelines". Lambda Literary Foundation. Archived from the original on March 24, 2024. Retrieved August 18, 2025.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "2023 Lambda Award Shortlist Finalists Announced". BOOK RIOT. March 15, 2023. Archived from the original on April 28, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Schaub, Michael (March 15, 2023). "Lambda Literary Award Finalists Are Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on March 16, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "2023 Winners". Lambda Literary. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
^ "Current Finalists". Lambda Literary. Archived from the original on June 13, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Schaub, Michael (June 12, 2023). "2023 Lambda Literary Award Winners Are Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Upadhyaya, Kayla Kumari (March 15, 2023). "Congratulations to the 2023 Lambda Literary Award Finalists!". Autostraddle. Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2023.

[1] "Submission Guidelines". Lambda Literary Foundation. Archived from the original on March 24, 2024. Retrieved August 18, 2025.

[:0-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "2023 Lambda Award Shortlist Finalists Announced". BOOK RIOT. March 15, 2023. Archived from the original on April 28, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2023.

[:2-3] Schaub, Michael (March 15, 2023). "Lambda Literary Award Finalists Are Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on March 16, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2023.

[:4-4] "2023 Winners". Lambda Literary. Retrieved June 10, 2023.

[5] "Current Finalists". Lambda Literary. Archived from the original on June 13, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2023.

[:3-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Schaub, Michael (June 12, 2023). "2023 Lambda Literary Award Winners Are Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

[:1-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Upadhyaya, Kayla Kumari (March 15, 2023). "Congratulations to the 2023 Lambda Literary Award Finalists!". Autostraddle. Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2023.

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