Lambda Literary Awards: winners & nominees

Lambda Literary Awards 2026

• 🏆 Gaysians· LGBTQ Comics
• 🏆Kat Dunn· Lesbian Fiction
• ✦Deep House: The Gayest Love Story Ever Told — Jeremy Atherton Lin· Gay Memoir or Biography
• ✦ The New Lesbian Pulp· LGBT Anthology
• ✦The New Lesbian Pulp· LGBT Anthology
• ✦ Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line· LGBT Non-fiction
• ✦Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line· LGBT Non-fiction
• ✦Abolitionist Intimacies: Queer and Trans Migrants against the Deportation State — Eithne Luibhéid· LGBT Studies
• ✦A Sharp Endless Need — Marisa Crane· Lesbian Fiction
• ✦milktooth — Jaime Burnet· Lesbian Fiction
• ✦ Dylin Hardcastle· Lesbian Fiction
• ✦Girls! Girls! Girls! — Shoshana von Blanckensee· Lesbian Fiction
• ✦The Transition — Logan-Ashley Kisner· Young Adult Literature

Lambda Literary Awards 2025

• 🏆The Safekeep — Yael van der Wouden· Lesbian Fiction
• ✦ Transmasculine Poetics: Filling the Gap in Literature & the Silences Around Us· LGBT Anthology
• ✦Transmasculine Poetics: Filling the Gap in Literature & the Silences Around Us· LGBT Anthology
• ✦Long Live Queer Nightlife: How the Closing of Gay Bars Sparked a Revolution — Amin Ghaziani· LGBT Non-fiction
• ✦Bury Your Gays — Chuck Tingle· LGBT Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror
• ✦ Jill Johnston in Motion: Dance, Writing, and Lesbian Life· LGBT Studies
• ✦The Fox Spirit, the Stone Maiden, and Other Transgender Histories from Late Imperial China — Matthew Sommer· LGBT Studies
• ✦Jill Johnston in Motion: Dance, Writing, and Lesbian Life· LGBT Studies
• ✦ Emma Copley Eisenberg· Lesbian Fiction
• ✦ Venita Blackburn· Lesbian Fiction
• ✦ Melissa Mogollon· Lesbian Fiction
• ✦ Maggie Thrash· Lesbian Fiction
• ✦American Teenager: How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era — Nico Lang· Transgender Non-fiction
• ✦ Trans Femme Futures: Abolitionist Ethics for Transfeminist Worlds· Transgender Non-fiction

All 15 2025 entries →

Lambda Literary Awards 2024

• 🏆 A Tight Squeeze: Smutty Trans and Queer Stories· Erotica
• 🏆Biography of X — Catherine Lacey· Lesbian Fiction
• 🏆 Lesbian Love Story: A Memoir in Archives· Lesbian Memoir or Biography
• 🏆 Vajra Chandrasekera· Overall
• ✦2 Trans 2 Furious: An extremely serious journal of Transgender Street Racing Studies — Niko Stratis· LGBT Anthology
• ✦Being Ace: An Anthology of Queer, Trans, Femme, and Disabled Stories of Asexual Love and Connection — Akemi Dawn Bowman· LGBT Anthology
• ✦2 Trans 2 Furious: An extremely serious journal of Transgender Street Racing Studies — Tuck Woodstock· LGBT Anthology
• ✦Being Ace: An Anthology of Queer, Trans, Femme, and Disabled Stories of Asexual Love and Connection — Cody Daigle-Orians· LGBT Anthology
• ✦Being Ace: An Anthology of Queer, Trans, Femme, and Disabled Stories of Asexual Love and Connection — Rosiee Thor· LGBT Anthology
• ✦A Pill for Promiscuity: Gay Sex in an Age of Pharmaceuticals — Jeffrey Escoffier· LGBT Anthology
• ✦Sexuality and the Rise of China: The Post-1990s Gay Generation in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China — Travis S K Kong· LGBT Studies
• ✦Transitory — Subhaga Crystal Bacon· LGBTQ Mystery
• ✦Transitory — Jean M. Redmann· LGBTQ Mystery
• ✦ K-Ming Chang· Lesbian Fiction

All 29 2024 entries →

Lambda Literary Awards 2023

• 🏆Appropriate Behavior — Maria San Filippo· Bisexual Non-fiction
• 🏆Real Phonies and Genuine Fakes — Nicky Beer· Bisexual Poetry
• 🏆 Nicky Beer· Bisexual Poetry
• 🏆The Foghorn Echoes — Ahmad Danny Ramadan· Gay Fiction
• 🏆 High-Risk Homosexual· Gay Memoir or Biography
• 🏆I'm So Not Over You· Gay Romance
• 🏆Gods of Want — K-Ming Chang· Lesbian Fiction
• 🏆 K-Ming Chang· Lesbian Fiction
• 🏆 Lost & Found: A Memoir· Lesbian Memoir or Biography
• 🏆 As She Appears· Lesbian Poetry
• 🏆 The Rules of Forever· Lesbian Romance
• ✦Stories No One Hopes Are about Them — A. J. Bermudez· Bisexual Fiction
• ✦Mother Ocean Father Nation — Nishant Batsha· Bisexual Fiction
• ✦Roses, In the Mouth of a Lion: A Novel — Bushra Rehman· Bisexual Fiction

All 81 2023 entries →

Lambda Literary Awards 2022

• 🏆We Want What We Want — Alix Ohlin· Bisexual Fiction
• 🏆 Aisha Sabatini Sloan· Bisexual Literature
• 🏆Borealis — Aisha Sabatini Sloan· Bisexual Non-fiction
• 🏆 Gumbo Ya Ya· Bisexual Poetry
• 🏆Calvin — Vanessa Ford· Children's Literature
• 🏆Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating — Adiba Jaigirdar· Children's and Young Adult Literature
• 🏆Mrs. Harrison — R. Eric Thomas· Drama
• 🏆Punch Me Up to the Gods: A Memoir — Brian Broome· Gay Memoir or Biography
• 🏆Punks: New & Selected Poems — John Keene· Gay Poetry
• 🏆Excellent Sons: A Love Story in Three Acts — Larry Benjamin· Gay Romance
• 🏆Skye Falling — Mia McKenzie· Lesbian Fiction
• 🏆 The One You Want to Marry (And Other Identities I've Had): A Memoir· Lesbian Memoir or Biography
• 🏆The Headmistress — Milena McKay· Lesbian Romance
• 🏆 The Headmistress· Lesbian Romance

All 145 2022 entries →

Lambda Literary Awards 2021

• 🏆 Wow, No Thank You.: Essays· Bisexual Non-fiction
• 🏆Salt Body Shimmer — Aricka Foreman· Bisexual Poetry
• 🏆 The Book of Mountains and Seas· Drama
• 🏆 The Nerves· Erotica
• 🏆 Neotenica· Gay Fiction
• 🏆Guillotine — Eduardo C. Corral· Gay Poetry
• 🏆 The Ghost and Charlie Muir· Gay Romance
• 🏆Love after the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction — Joshua Whitehead· LGBT Anthology
• 🏆 Joshua Whitehead· LGBT Anthology
• 🏆 The Lonely Letters· LGBT Non-fiction
• 🏆Becoming Human: Matter and Meaning in an Antiblack World — Zakiyyah Iman Jackson· LGBT Studies
• 🏆Apsara Engine — Bishakh Som· LGBTQ Comics
• 🏆 I Hope You're Listening· LGBTQ Mystery
• 🏆Tropical Fever — Julián Delgado Lopera· Lesbian Fiction

All 143 2021 entries →

Lambda Literary Awards 2020

• 🏆Exquisite Mariposa — Fiona Alison Duncan· Bisexual Fiction
• 🏆Socialist Realism — Trisha Low· Bisexual Non-fiction
• 🏆 Pet Sounds· Bisexual Poetry
• 🏆The Grief Keeper — Alexandra Villasante· Children's and Young Adult Literature
• 🏆Hazel's Theory of Evolution — Lisa Jenn Bigelow· Children's and Young Adult Literature
• 🏆 A Strange Loop· Drama
• 🏆 Michael R. Jackson· Drama
• 🏆Whore Foods — LA Warman· Erotica
• 🏆Lot: Stories — Bryan Washington· Gay Fiction
• 🏆Lot — Bryan Washington· Gay Fiction
• 🏆Carved in Bone: A Henry Rios Novel — Michael Nava· Gay Mystery
• 🏆SLINGSHOT — Cyrée Jarelle Johnson· Gay Poetry
• 🏆 Joseph Chapman: My Molly Life· Gay Romance
• 🏆A Rainbow Thread: An Anthology of Queer Jewish Texts from the First Century to 1969 — Noam Sienna· LGBT Anthology

All 210 2020 entries →

Lambda Literary Awards 2019

• 🏆Out of Step: A Memoir· Bisexual Non-fiction
• 🏆We Play a Game — Duy Doan· Bisexual Poetry
• 🏆Hurricane Child — Kacen Callender· Children's and Young Adult Literature
• 🏆Draw the Circle — Mashuq Mushtaq Deen· Drama
• 🏆Miles & Honesty in SCFSX! — Blue Delliquanti· Erotica
• 🏆Jonny Appleseed — Joshua Whitehead· Gay Fiction
• 🏆Late Fees: A Pinx Video Mystery — Marshall Thornton· Gay Mystery
• 🏆Indecency — Justin Philip Reed· Gay Poetry
• 🏆 Crashing Upwards· Gay Romance
• 🏆As You Like It: The Gerald Kraak Anthology Volume II — The Other Foundation· LGBT Anthology
• 🏆 The Lie and How We Told It· LGBT Graphic Novel
• 🏆Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry — Imani Perry· LGBT Non-fiction
• 🏆Toxic Silence: Race, Black Gender Identity, and Addressing the Violence Against Black Transgender Women in Houston — William T. Hoston· LGBT Studies
• 🏆The Tiger Flu — Larissa Lai· Lesbian Fiction

All 201 2019 entries →

Lambda Literary Awards 2018

• 🏆The Gift — Scott Edelman· Bisexual Fiction
• 🏆The Gift — Barbara Browning· Bisexual Fiction
• 🏆His Seed — Steve Berman· Erotica
• 🏆After the Blue Hour — John Rechy· Gay Fiction
• 🏆Jonny Appleseed — Joshua Whitehead· Gay Fiction
• 🏆Night Drop — Marshall Thornton· Gay Mystery
• 🏆While Standing in Line for Death — CAConrad· Gay Poetry
• 🏆 Love and Other Hot Beverages· Gay Romance
• 🏆¡Cuéntamelo! Oral Histories by LGBT Latino Immigrants — Julián Delgado Lopera· LGBT Anthology
• 🏆How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective — Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor· LGBT Non-fiction
• 🏆Punishing Disease: HIV and the Criminalization of Sickness — Trevor Hoppe· LGBT Studies
• 🏆Her Body and Other Parties — Carmen Maria Machado· Lesbian Fiction
• 🏆The Fact of a Body — Alex Marzano-Lesnevich· Lesbian Memoir or Biography
• 🏆 Huntress· Lesbian Mystery

All 191 2018 entries →

Lambda Literary Awards 2017

• 🏆Black Dove: Mamá, Mi'jo, and Me — Ana Castillo· Bisexual Non-fiction
• 🏆Barbecue/Bootycandy — Robert O'Hara· Drama
• 🏆Soul to Keep — Rebekah Weatherspoon· Erotica
• 🏆 The Angel of History· Gay Fiction
• 🏆When We Rise — Cleve Jones· Gay Memoir or Biography
• 🏆 Speakers of the Dead: A Walt Whitman Mystery· Gay Mystery
• 🏆 Thief in the Interior· Gay Poetry
• 🏆 Into the Blue· Gay Romance
• 🏆Wuvable Oaf: Blood & Metal — Ed Luce· LGBT Graphic Novel
• 🏆 Sex Museums: The Politics and Performance of Display· LGBT Studies
• 🏆Nicole Dennis-Benn· Lesbian Fiction
• 🏆The Wind Is Spirit: The Life, Love and Legacy of Audre Lorde — Gloria Joseph· Lesbian Memoir or Biography
• 🏆Complete Works of Pat Parker — Julie R. Enszer· Lesbian Poetry
• 🏆play dead — francine j. harris· Lesbian Poetry

All 176 2017 entries →

Lambda Literary Awards 2016

• 🏆 The Life and Death of Sophie Stark· Bisexual Literature
• 🏆 Irrepressible: The Jazz Age Life of Henrietta Bingham· Bisexual Literature
• 🏆 A Love Like Blood· Debut Fiction
• 🏆 Bright Half Life· Drama
• 🏆Érotiques Suprèmes — Miodrag Kojadinović· Gay Erotica
• 🏆James Merrill: Life and Art — Langdon Hammer· Gay Memoir or Biography
• 🏆Boystown 7: Bloodlines — Marshall Thornton· Gay Mystery
• 🏆Crevasse — Nicholas Wong· Gay Poetry
• 🏆Reconnaissance — Carl Phillips· Gay Poetry
• 🏆 When Skies Have Fallen· Gay Romance
• 🏆Beyond: The Queer Sci-Fi & Fantasy Comic Anthology — Sfé R. Monster· LGBT Anthology
• 🏆 Glitter and Grit: Queer Performance from the Heels on Wheels Femme Galaxy· LGBT Anthology
• 🏆Beyond: The Queer Sci-Fi & Fantasy Comic Anthology — Taneka Stotts· LGBT Anthology
• 🏆“No One Helped”: Kitty Genovese, New York City, and the Myth of Urban Apathy — Marcia Gallo· LGBT Non-fiction

All 193 2016 entries →

Lambda Literary Awards 2015

• 🏆 Blackmail, My Love: A Murder Mystery· Gay Mystery
• 🏆 Salvation: A Novel of the Civil War· Gay Romance
• 🏆 Understanding and Teaching US Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History· LGBT Anthology
• 🏆 Delectable Negro: Human Consumption and Homoeroticism within US Slave Culture· LGBT Studies
• 🏆 Mysterious Acts by My People· Lesbian Poetry
• 🏆 The Farmer’s Daughter· Lesbian Romance
• 🏆 Ana Castillo· Overall
• 🏆 Hieu Minh Nguyen· Overall
• 🏆The Delectable Negro — Vincent Woodard· Overall
• 🏆 Randy Falco· Trustees Award
• ✦ Extraordinary Adventures of Mullah Nasruddin· Bisexual Fiction
• ✦ Finder of Lost Objects· Bisexual Fiction
• ✦Give It to Me — Ana Castillo· Bisexual Fiction
• ✦Best Bi Short Stories: Bisexual Fiction — Sheela Lambert· Bisexual Fiction

All 214 2015 entries →