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The Lambda Literary Foundation launches its move to L.A.
by hosting its annual awards event—the Lammys—in
West Hollywood this month.
 by Christopher Cappiello
Historically, New York has been seen as ground zero for
the publishing industry. Home to most of the major publishing
houses and many of the top literary agents, the Big Apple
has also been the longtime home-base for the Lambda Literary
Foundation, a nonprofit organization working to promote LGBT
literature — until now, that is. This month, as Lambda’s
executive director, Charles Flowers, relocates to Los Angeles,
the organization comes with him.
“Last August we had our one-week writers retreat [in
L.A.], and my boyfriend came out with me, and we just had
a great time,” Flowers says from New York, during a
break from packing boxes. “This fall we thought, ‘Let’s
do this.’ So I asked the board if I could relocate
[Lambda] in December, and they said yes. Half my board is
in California anyway, so it didn’t bother them.”
It just so happens that the organization’s annual Lambda
Literary Awards were scheduled for L.A. this year, coinciding
with the American Booksellers Association’s annual
Book Expo America, which rotates among several cities. Set
for May 29 at the Pacific Design Center, this year’s
Lammys “will sort of be our coming out party,” Flowers
says.
With awards in 21 categories, the Lammys cover LGBT fiction,
nonfiction, biography, drama, poetry, erotica and children’s
books. While publishers could “nominate” any
book published in 2007, teams of four judges whittled down
each category to five finalists.
In addition to the meaningful honor of being recognized
by one’s own community, the Lammys can have practical
value. “Librarians, booksellers and even general readers
all look at the list and say, ‘What should I be reading?’” Flowers
says. “And this is where we point people.”
If you’ve been looking for a good read lately, allow
us to point you to the finalists in a number of major categories.
MEN’S FICTION
To fully appreciate the quality of the finalists in
this category, it’s interesting to note who didn’t
make
the cut this year: Edmund White, Armistead Maupin
and Colm Toíbín are among them.
Call Me By Your Name, André Aciman (Farrar Straus
Giroux)
First Person Plural, Andrew W.M. Beierle (Kensington)
Dark Reflections, Samuel R. Delany (Carroll & Graf)
Fellow Travelers, Thomas Mallon (Pantheon)
The Faith Healer of Olive Avenue, Manuel Munoz (Algonquin)
WOMEN’S FICTION
Serving as a kind of posthumous recognition of the influence
of Carroll & Graf, three of the five nominees in this
powerhouse category came from that now-dissolved imprint.
(Astonishingly, all three were edited by Don Weise.)
Biting the Apple, Lucy Jane Bledsoe (Carroll & Graf)
The IHOP Papers, Ali Liebegott (Carroll & Graf)
Greetings from Jamaica, Mari San Giovanni (Bywater Books)
The Child, Sarah Schulman (Carroll & Graf)
The Kind of Girl I Am, Julia Watts (Spinsters Ink)
The Mandrake Broom, Jess Wells (Firebrand Books)
BISEXUAL
The bi category includes Brent Hartinger’s teen novel
about a bisexual cheerleader and her closeted classmate,
as well as Jeff Hobbs’ widely acclaimed debut novel
about a gang of recent Ivy League grads losing their way
in New York.
Look Both Ways, Jennifer Baumgardner (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux)
Becoming Visible, Beth Firestein, Ed., (Columbia University
Press)
Split Screen, Brent Hartinger (Harper Collins Children’s
Books)
The Tourists, Jeff Hobbs (Simon & Schuster)
Stray, Sheri Joseph (MacAdam/Cage)
TRANSGENDER
Among the nominees here are Cris Beam’s enlightening
and entertaining account of her time teaching at an LGBT
alternative high school in L.A. and the collaboration by
feminist writer Hilda Raz and her female-to-male transgender
son (also nominated in men’s memoir/biography).
Transparent, Cris Beam (Harcourt)
Male Bodies, Women’s Souls, LeeRay M. Costa, PhD, (Haworth)
The Marrow’s Telling, Eli Clare (Homofactus Press)
What Becomes You, Aaron Raz Link & Hilda Raz
(University of Nebraska Press)
Nobody Passes, Mattilda, aka Matt Bernstein Sycamore (Seal
Press)
WOMEN’S MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY
From a Ukranian-Canadian lesbian’s ruminations on the
intersection of
food and identity to Amy Hoffman’s provocative examination
of the post-Stonewall, pre-AIDS period at Boston’s
Gay Community News, the women’s stories span a wide
range.
Comfort Food for Breakups, Marusya Bocurkiuw (Arsenal Pulp
Press)
And Now We Are Going to Have a Party, Nicola Griffith (Payseur & Schmidt)
An Army of Ex-Lovers, Amy Hoffman (University of Massachusetts
Press)
Two Lives: Gertrude & Alice, Janet Malcolm (Yale University
Press)
Waiting for the Call, Jacqueline Taylor (University of Michigan
Press)
MEN’S MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY
In another absurdly diverse and strong category, we have
everything from Martin Duberman’s thorough and engrossing
portrait of a colorful, iconoclastic arts advocate to Kevin
Sessum’s moving and entertaining account of his years
before becoming an editor for Interview, Vanity Fair or
Allure. (Raz and Link also score their second nomination
for What Becomes You.)
Forgiving Troy, Thom Bierdz (Hudson House)
Dog Years, Mark Doty (HarperCollins)
The Worlds of Lincoln Kirstein, Martin Duberman (Knopf)
The History of My Shoes and the Evolution of Darwin’s
Theory, Kenny Fries (Perseus Books)
What Becomes You, Aaron Raz Link & Hilda Raz (University
of Nebraska Press)
Mississippi Sissy, Kevin Sessums (St. Martin's Press)
The Details
Lambda Literary Awards
Thursday, May 29
SilverScreen Theatre
Pacific Design Center
8687 Melrose Ave.
WeHo
6 p.m. Gala Reception
7:30 p.m. Awards Ceremony
9:30 p.m. Dessert Reception
Tickets: $150
For tickets and the list of finalists in all categories,
visit www.lambdaliterary.org.
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