Monday's awards ceremony boasted especially memorable acceptance speeches, from John Waters's comedy to Casey Plett's rallying cry for trans writers.
June 02 2015 9:50 PM EST
May 26 2023 1:46 PM EST
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Monday night, LGBT literature's stars, as diverse Janet Mock (above right), Alison Bechdel, and Michelangelo Signorile (above left), turned up in their finest at New York's Cooper Union to celebrate this year's best and brighest in fiction, nonfiction, and graphic novels at the Lambda Literary Awards.
Hosted by lesbian comedian Kate Clinton and featuring performances from both singer-songwriter Toshi Reagon and Lauren Patton of Broadway's Fun Home: The Musical, the 27th edition of the much-loved awards ceremony proved to be as exciting and uplifting event as ever, notable for the grace with which winners and nonwinners alike celebrate everyone's accomplishments.
Memorable moments included, according to the Lambda Literary Foundation, a steady stream of witty repartee from legendary filmmaker John Waters as he accepted the Trustee Award for Excellence in Literature and a rousing speech from Transgender Fiction winner Casey Plett, who triumphantly announced, "The transgender community is taking over!" -- a sentiment shared by many who appreciate the fairly recent inclusion of specific Transgender categories for the Lammy judges to consider.
Check out the full list of winners after the photos below, as presented on Lambda Literary's website, for pointers for your next great LGBT summer read.
Below, images from the event, courtesy of Lambda Literary:
Justin Vivian Bond and Alan Cumming
Charles Blow
Liz Smith
John Waters
Gloria Steinem
Rita Mae Brown
Danez Smith
Toshi Reagon
DR. BETTY BERZON EMERGING WRITER AWARD
Anne Balay and Daisy Hernandez
PIONEER AWARD
Rita Mae Brown
TRUSTEE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN LITERATURE
John Waters
LESBIAN FICTION
Yabo by Alexis De Veaux, RedBone Press
GAY FICTION
I Loved You More by Tom Spanbauer, Hawthorne Books
BISEXUAL FICTION
Give It to Me by Ana Castillo, The Feminist Press
TRANSGENDER FICTION
A Safe Girl To Love by Casey Plett, Topside Press
LGBT DEBUT FICTION
The Walk-In Closet by Abdi Nazemian, Curtis Brown Unlimited
LGBT NONFICTION
Hold Tight Gently: Michael Callen, Essex Hemphill, and the Battlefield of AIDS by Martin Duberman, The New Press
BISEXUAL NONFICTION
Fire Shut Up In My Bones by Charles M. Blow, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
TRANSGENDER NONFICTION
Man Alive: A True Story of Violence, Forgiveness and Becoming a Man by Thomas Page McBee, City Lights/Sister Spit
LESBIAN POETRY
Mysterious Acts by My People by Valerie Wetlaufer, Sibling Rivalry Press
GAY POETRY
[insert] boy by Danez Smith, YesYes Books
LESBIAN MYSTERY
The Old Deep and Dark by Ellen Hart, Minotaur Books
GAY MYSTERY
Blackmail, My Love: A Murder Mystery by Katie Gilmartin, Cleis Press
LESBIAN MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY
Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around: Forty Years of Movement Building with Barbara Smith by Alethia Jones and Virginia Eubanks, with Barbara Smith, SUNY Press
GAY MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY - 2 Winners
Gay memoir: The Prince of Los Cocuyos by Richard Blanco, HarperCollins/Ecco
Gay biography:Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh by John Lahr, W. W. Norton & Company
LESBIAN ROMANCE
The Farmer's Daughter by Robbi McCoy, Bella Books
GAY ROMANCE
Salvation: A Novel of the Civil War by Jeff Mann, Bear Bones Books
LESBIAN EROTICA
Lesbian Sex Bible by Diana Cage, Quiver Books
GAY EROTICA
The King by Tiffany Reisz, MIRA Books
LGBT ANTHOLOGY
Understanding and Teaching U.S. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History by Leila J. Rupp & Susan K. Freeman, University of Wisconsin Press
LGBT CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT
Five, Six, Seven, Nate! by Tim Federle, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
LGBT DRAMA
Bootycandy by Robert O'Hara, Samuel French
LGBT GRAPHIC NOVELS
Second Avenue Caper by Joyce Brabner; Art by Mark Zingarelli, Hill and Wang, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux
LGBT SF/F/HORROR
Bitter Waters by Chaz Brenchley, Lethe Press
LGBT STUDIES
The Delectable Negro: Human Consumption and Homoeroticism Within U.S. Slave Culture by Vincent Woodard, Edited by Justin A. Joyce and Dwight McBride, New York University Press
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