28th Annual Lambda Nominees

Lambda-MedalThe nominees for the 28th Annual Lambda Literary Awards (“Lammys”) have been announced. The awards celebrate achievement in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) writing. Winners will be revealed on June 6.

The categories with nominees of genre interest (at least, the ones I recognized) are reported below. The full list is here.

LGBT SF/F/Horror

  • The Boys on the Mountain, John Inman, DSP Publications
  • The Caphenon (Chronicles of Alsea – Book #1), Fletcher DeLancey, Ylva Publishing
  • Down, Ally Blue, Riptide Publishing
  • The Glittering World, Robert Levy, Gallery Books
  • The Gracekeepers, Kirsty Logan, Crown Publishers
  • Minotaur, J.A. Rock, Riptide Publishing
  • Sacrati, Kate Sherwood, Riptide Publishing
  • Wonder City Stories, Jude McLaughlin, Createspace

LGBT Anthology

  • Beyond: The Queer Sci-Fi & Fantasy Comic Anthology, Sfé R. Monster (Editor) & Taneka Stotts (Assistant Editor), Beyond Press
  • Glitter and Grit: Queer Performance from the Heels on Wheels Femme Galaxy, Edited by Damien Luxe, Heather M. Ács, Sabina Ibarrola, Publication Studio
  • Memories of the Revolution, Holly Hughes, Carmelita Tropicana, and Jill Dolan, Editors, University of Michigan Press
  • Out of the Closet, Into the Archives: Researching Sexual Histories, Amy L. Stone and Jaime Cantrell, SUNY Press
  • A Pride of Poppies: Modern GLBTQI fiction of the Great War, Julie Bozza (editor), Manifold Press
  • Soy Lesbiana y Que! Out Latina Lesbians, Nívea Castro with Geny Cabral, Sinister Wisdom
  • Speak My Language, and Other Stories: An Anthology of Gay Fiction, Edited by Torsten Højer, Little, Brown Book Group/Robinson
  • Videogames for Humans: Twine Authors in Conversation, Merritt Kopas, Instar Books

Transgender Fiction

  • Defiant, Michael Scott Monje, Jr., Autonomous Press
  • Lost Boi, Sassafras Lowry, Arsenal Pulp Press
  • Tiny Pieces of Skull, or a Lesson in Manners, Roz Kaveny, Team Anjelica Publishing

(Roz Kaveny is well-known in fandom; the book is not sf/f.)

[Thanks to Andrew Porter for the story.]

8 thoughts on “28th Annual Lambda Nominees

  1. Sacrati (warning: NSFW) is on my Hugo shortlist, probably to be knocked off (maybe by Harrison Squared). I have Beyond and am looking forward to it (still in the TBR e-stack).

    The Glittering World is on my list to read the sample of, but I haven’t yet. Anyone read it? Any good?

    Anyone read The Gracekeepers? “For readers of The Night Circus and Station Eleven.” I remember it coming out, but all I know is the blurb; any good?

  2. @LunarG: Which one, The Glittering World or The Gracekeepers? (I’m thinking you mean the latter, but I’m not sure.) Thanks!

  3. I’ve been disappointed, over the years I’ve been paying attention, with the unevenness of the Lammy shortlist with regard to lesbian fiction in the SF/F/H category. The specifically lesbian categories (like contemporary romance, etc.) are reasonably reliable, and I haven’t had any quibbles over the eventual SF/F/H winners, but whoever is doing the shortlist picks for SF/F/H seems badly out of step with the overall field, at least when reading the output of lesbian presses. I hesitate about voicing an opinion, because it could easily be seen to be biased. But I confess it’s a little embarrassing to know that people will look at certain picks and assume that they’re the best on offer. To get a sense of what I’m talking about, here’s a review (someone else’s) of one of last year’s shortlist in the category.

  4. I have spoken well of The Gracekeepers here; I quite liked it. I have did a tiny, like two sentence review somewhere … ah, here it is: “Rating: 3.75/5 stars. A circus sails from island to island on a world nearly drowned by risen oceans. A well-written and interesting book.”

    (For most rating systems I go to the closest round, so I’d have given it 4 stars on Goodreads or Amazon or what have you.)

  5. @KYRA! Thanks – to both @LunarG for summoning you 😉 and you for weighing in.

    @Heather Rose Jones: That review’s by a self-described queer author 😉 but – BUT – I feel strongly you, the reviewer, and anyone else, author or not, should feel entitled to share their opinion! Especially in comments where you’re so active. 😉 So, I at least appreciate it.

    And FWIW, I remember hearing grumblings about their short lists years ago from folks who felt the Lammy’s didn’t know the SF/F/H field well, and over-focused on indie presses, so some amazing mainstream-published works were overlooked in favor of sometimes mediocre or downright poor stuff. I’m probably mangling years-old conversations. I don’t follow the Lammy’s closely, so I don’t know if that is still (or was) accurate. I’m just happy to see something I read and enjoyed, which (though I’m not sure why it’s bolded in the list)! 😉

  6. @Mike Glyer: Some of the Graphic Novels are SFF! Would you mind listing them? Sorry for the days-late request.

    O Human Star is awesome; I read it religiously. It’s really great!

    Curveball is also SFF, it seems. The Lammy’s site says, “Jeremy Sorese sweeps us into a Jetsons-style future in order to explore the very human experiences of heartbreak and friendship.” I’m unfamiliar with this work, but the art doesn’t look to my taste.

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