New York, NY - The winners of the 24th Annual Lambda Literary Awards were announced last night in a sold-out gala ceremony hosted by comedienne Kate Clinton at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. Author of the groundbreaking Tales of the City books, Armistead Maupin, and seminal influence on second-wave feminism Kate Millett, were the Pioneer Award honorees. Taking place the same week of Book Expo America - the book publishing industry's largest annual gathering of booksellers, publishers, and others in the industry - the Lambda ceremony brought together over 400 attendees, sponsors, and celebrities to celebrate excellence in LGBT literature. Legendary entertainer Lypsinka gave a special performance at the ceremony, and the VIP After-Party at hotspot Slate was a night to remember with Lady Bunny as DJ.
As "mastress" of ceremonies, Clinton treated the audience to her brand of topical, political comedy that The New York Times has called, "Quick-witted, clear-spoken... a bizarrely logical, seemingly free-associating style of delivery..." Welcoming the members of the audience from out of town, she joked, "If you're here to buy a Big Gulp or smoke a cigarette in a park...you'll have to go to New Jersey." Later, describing Michele Bachmann as "the SkyMall of useless ideas," Clinton set her target on the conservative right and their attack on women's reproductive rights, to hearty laughs and whoops of support from the audience. Also in attendance were presenters such as Olympia Dukakis, Charles Busch, Frank Bruni, Ally Sheedy, and Ross Bleckner.
Awards were presented in twenty-four categories. Among the winners were Farzana Doctor for her novel, Six Metres of Pavment, Justin Vivian Bond for his memoir, Tango: My Childhood Backwards and in High Heels, and Rahul Mehta for his debut collection of short fiction, Quarantine. In his acceptance speech, Mehta reflected on his first experience encountering Tales of the City, as a scared and closeted college freshman in North Carolina, citing Maupin's books as part of a pivotal moment of self-acceptance in his life.
Academy Award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis presented the Foundation's Pioneer Award to Maupin, calling Anna Madigral, the Tales of the City character she portrayed in the television adaptation, the most meaningful role of her career. "What happened for me when I did Anna Madrigal was that I understood the most important thing was to survive myself-and that's what Anna Madrigal did." Accepting his honor, Maupin remarked how moved he'd been by Mehta's earlier anecdote, and pointed to the similar experience he'd had when he first discovered the work of Christopher Isherwood as young man. "I thought: Who wrote this? Where did this come from?"
The other Pioneer Award was given to iconic feminist Millett and was presented by Dr. Eleanor Pam, a pioneer in the women's movement and a founding member of NOW, the National Organization of Women, as well as an expert on women and violence. "I am so moved to have been chosen to present the Lambda Pioneer award to Kate Millett," Dr. Pam began her introduction, "someone I have known for more than 55 years, and a true pioneer in life as well as in literature." In her speech, Millett charmed the audience with her insistence that she was "a farmer, really," and shared her hope that the Millett Center for the Arts, the arts colony for women she's established in LaGrange, NY, will be her legacy.
Stacey D'Erasmo, author of the novels Tea, A Seahorse Year, and The Sky Below and Brian Leung, author of the short story collection, World Famous Love Acts and the novels Lost Men and Take Me Home received the Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Prizes.
Once again The Lammys raised the bar for glamour with its dazzling roster of presenters from the worlds of film, television, theatre, politics, religion, sex, and of course literature. Gracing the stage were: award-winning actor, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, director, and drag legend Charles Busch; movie star and author Ally Sheedy; Ross Bleckner, globally acclaimed artist and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador; Frank Bruni, the first openly gay Op-Ed columnist of The New York Times, the former chief restaurant critic of The New York Times, and New York Times best-selling author; Ted Allen, Emmy Award winning host of Chopped on Food Network and star of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy; Wally Lamb critically acclaimed, best-selling author; Judith Regan, legendary publisher, journalist, TV and radio talk show host; Susie Bright, legendary sex-positive feminist author and speaker; Anthony Rapp, singer, stage and film actor, and star of the original Broadway production of Rent; Lucy Sexton, performance artist and magazine editor; Michael Nava, award-winning novelist, and judicial attorney for California Supreme Court Justice, Carlos R. Moreno; Jacqueline Woodson, award-winning author of children's books; bklyn boihood's Ryann Holmes, Genesis Tramaine and Morgan M. Willis; Paul Schindler, editor-in-chief at Gay City News; Jee Leong Koh, poet and publisher; Brent Taylor, youth blogger and activist; J. Bob Alotta, executive director of Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice; Janet Mock, writer, trans advocate and People.com editor; Rodney Evans, film director and writer;Sinclair Sexsmith, lesbian erotica author and editor; Liz Scheier, veteran book editor; Teresa DeCrescenzo, LLF Board Treasurer and founder of Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services; Amy King, poet and activist; and Emanuel Xavier, poet, novelist and activist.
Ceremony Sponsors:
Benefactor Level: Harper Perennial, CLAGS (The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies) and Ketel One Vodka; Mentor Level: American Institute of Bisexuality; Friends Level: Bywater Books, Arsenal Pulp Press, Seal Press, Beacon Press, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, The Feminist Press, Torquere Press, Northwest Press, Cleis Press; Gift Bag Level: Scholastic, Sarabande, Northwest Press
24th Annual Lambda Literary Award Winners
Lesbian Fiction
Six Metres of Pavement, by Farzana Doctor, Dundrun Press
Gay Fiction
The Empty Family, by Colm TĂ"ibĂn, Scribner
Lesbian Debut Fiction
Zipper Mouth, by Laurie Weeks, The Feminist Press
Gay Debut Fiction
Quarantine: Stories, by Rahul Mehta, Harper Perennial
Lesbian Memoir/Biography
When We Were Outlaws: A Memoir of Love & Revolution, Jeanne CĂ"rdova, Spinsters Ink
Gay Memoir/Biography
The Jack Bank: A Memoir of a South African Childhood, by Glen Retief, St. Martin's Press
Lesbian Mystery
Dying to Live, by Kim Baldwin & Xenia Alexiou, Bold Strokes Books
Gay Mystery
Red White Black and Blue, by Richard Stevenson, MLR Press
LGBT Anthology
Gay Latino Studies: A Critical Reader, ed. by Michael Hames-GarcĂa and Ernesto Javier MartĂnez, Duke University Press
LGBT Children's/Young Adult
Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy, by Bil Wright, Simon & Schuster
LGBT Drama
A Menopausal Gentleman: The Solo Performances of Peggy Shaw, by Peggy Shaw, University of Michigan Press
LGBT Nonfiction
A Queer History of the United States, by Michael Bronski, Beacon Press
LGBT SF/Fantasy/Horror
The German, by Lee Thomas, Lethe Press
LGBT Studies
Sister Arts: The Erotics of Lesbian Landscapes, by Lisa L. Moore, University of Minnesota Press
Bisexual Fiction
The Correspondence Artist, by Barbara Browning, Two Dollar Radio
Bisexual Nonfiction
The Horizontal Poet, by Jan Steckel, Zeitgest Press
Transgender Fiction
Take Me There: Trans and Genderqueer Erotica, ed. by Tristan Taormino, Cleis Press
Transgender Nonfiction
Tango: My Childhood Backwards and in High Heels, by Justin Vivian Bond, The Feminist Press
Lesbian Erotica
Story of L, by Debra Hyde, Ravenous Romance
Gay Erotica
All Together, by Dirk Vanden, iloveyoudivine Alerotica
Lesbian Poetry
Love Cake, by Leah Lakshmi Piepza-Samarasinha, TSAR Publications
Gay Poetry
A Fast Life: The Collected Poems of Tim Dlugos, ed. by David Trinidad, Nightboat Books
Lesbian Romance
Taken by Surprise, by Kenna White, Bella Books
Gay Romance
Every Time I Think of You, by Jim Provenzano, CreateSpace/Myrmidude Press
24th Annual Lambda Literary Awards Host Committee
David McConnell - Co-Chair
Don Weise - Co-Chair
S. Chris Shirley - Co-Chair
Charles Rice-Gonzalez -Director
Jamie Brickhouse - Publicity Chair
Brad Boles
James Brooks
Mario Lopez-Cordero
David Gale
James Hannaham
Wayne Hoffman
Michele Karlsberg
Dean Klinger
Jay Moore
Dan Manjovi
Bill Miller
Heather O'Neill
Pauline Park
Lori Perkins
Jay Plum
Melanie La Rosa
Patrick Ryan
Liz Scheier
Bob Smith
Jerl Surratt
Linda Villarosa
Warren Wilson
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The Lambda Literary Foundation nurtures, celebrates, and preserves LGBT literature through programs that honor excellence, promote visibility and encourage development of emerging writers. LLF's programs include: the Lambda Literary Awards, the Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBT Voices, LGBT Writers in Schools, and our web magazine, The Lambda Literary Review, at www.LambdaLiterary.org . For more information call (323) 366-2104 or e-mail admin@lambdaliterary.org .
