|
|
 |
|
The event was hosted by stand up comedian (and former Lammy winner) Bob Smith and slam poet/performance artist Alix Olson. Past recipients of Lammy awards include Dorothy Allison, Edmund White, Jewelle Gomez, Matthew Stadler, Michael Thomas Ford, and Gerry Gomez Pearlberg. The big winner of the evening was ^Out of the Ordinary, edited by Noelle Howey and Ellen Samuels, which picked up two awards, for the Non-Fiction Anthology and Children's/Young Adult categories. The book was written by children of gay and lesbian parents, and typified the new talent emerging in GLBT writing, a strong theme of this year's awards. "What impressed me the most about this year's winners is that a lot of them are first-time nominees or first-time writers," said Greg Herren, editor of the ^Lambda Book Report. "K. M. Soehnlein's ^The World of Normal Boys was a debut novel and won for Gay Fiction. Michelle Tea, who won for Lesbian Fiction, was a first-time nominee, as were others including Harmony Hammond (Lesbian Studies), Jean Marcy (Lesbian Mystery), David Ebershoff (Transgender), Douglas Murray (Gay Biography/Autobiography) and Keri Pickett (Visual Arts). Both of the winners in the Small Press category, Lauren Sanders and Erasmo Guerra, were also debuts. This bodes extremely well for the future of GLBT publishing." Not all the winners were first-timers however. John Morgan Wilson repeated in Gay Men's Mystery (having won previously in 1999). David Sedaris (Humor) and Jim Grimsley (Horror/Science Fiction/Fantasy) had previously been finalists, as had the "Men on Men" anthology series, which on its fourth try picked up the trophy for Fiction Anthology for editors David Bergman and Karl Woelz.
Three special awards were also presented, with the Editor's Choice Award
going to Victoria A. Brownworth for her editing work on ^Coming Out of
Cancer. "The book was truly a phenomenal piece, a classic to stand for
the ages," Herren said. "Not only was the writing amazing, but it also
brought attention to the lesbian cancer epidemic, a tragedy primarily
being ignored by the GLBT and mainstream media."
The Pioneer Award went to David Rosen and Retha Powers of insightoutbooks.com. "It was essentially a no-brainer," said Paul Willis, Executive Director of the Lambda Literary Foundation. "David and Retha's commitment to GLBT books and publishing goes back to their days with the Quality Paperback Book Club, when they created the Triangle Classics. Now with the insightoutbooks.com book club, their commitment to keep classic voices alive and helping to promote new authors and new works by established authors deserves to be recognized." The Publisher's Service Award went to Bill Cohen, owner of the Haworth Press. "Almost unnoticed, Haworth Press has become a major force in gay and lesbian publishing," said ^Lambda Book Report Publisher Jim Marks. Haworth publishes three periodicals devoted to AIDS issues, seven periodicals devoted to gay and lesbian issues, and two periodicals (^Harrington Gay Men's Fiction Quarterly & Harrington Lesbian Fiction Quarterly) devoted to gay and lesbian literature. In addition, the Press has three lines devoted to gay and lesbian books, the scholarly Harrington Park Press, and two trade lines, Southern Tier and Alice Street Editions. "It is long past time that Bill Cohen's work was recognized." The Lammys were sponsored by a broad array of companies and organizations that support gay/lesbian literature. "Our sponsors help ensure that our Foundation can continue to support GLBT literature," said Jim Marks. "Without their financial assistance, our work would not be nearly as effective."
The Lambda Literary Foundation is a non-profit organization supporting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender literature. LLF publishes the Lambda Book Report, a monthly book review journal, and ^The James White Review, a gay men's literary quarterly. Winners Lesbian Fiction Valencia by Michelle Tea, Seal Press
Gay FictionThe World of Normal Boys by K. M. Soehnlein, Kensington Lesbian Studies Lesbian Art in America by Harmony Hammond, Rizzoli Gay Studies The Isherwood Century by James J. Berg and Chris Freeman, University of Wisconsin Lesbian Poetry Mercy Mercy Me by Elena Georgiou, Painted Leaf Gay Poetry Pastoral by Carl Phillips, Graywolf
Gay Men's Mystery
Lesbian Biography/Autobiography
Gay Biography/Autobiography Fiction Anthology Men on Men 2000 eds David Bergman and Karl Woelz, Plume Non-fiction Athology Out of the Ordinary eds Noelle Howey and Ellen Samuels, St Martins Humor Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, Little Brown Visual Arts Faeries by Keri Pickett, Aperture Spirituality/Religion (tie) Gay Spirituality by Toby Johnson, Alyson Itıs Never About What It's About by Krandall Kraus and Paul Borja, Alyson Horror/Science Fiction/Fantasy Kirith Kirin by Jim Grimsley, Meisha Merlin Drama Hedwig and the Angry Inch by John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask, Overlook Press Children/Young Adult Out of the Ordinary eds Noelle Howey and Ellen Samuels, St. Martins Transgender The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff, Viking Small Press (tie) Kamikaze Lust by Lauren Sanders, Akashic Between Dances by Erasmo Guerra, Painted Leaf Editor's Choice Award Coming Out of Cancer ed Victoria A. Brownworth, Seal Press Pioneer Award David Rosen and Retha Powers, Insightoutbooks.com Publishers Service Award Bill Cohen, Haworth Press |
The Lambda Literary Award winners (the "Lammys") for
works published in 2000 were announced at a gala banquet in the ballroom
of the Mart Plaza Hotel in Chicago May 31. Several hundred of the biggest and brightest names in gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender (GLBT) publishing were in attendance.
Lesbian Mystery
© 1997-2002 BEI