The finalists are announced for the 18th Annual Lambda Literary Awards, which celebrate achievements in LGBT literature for books published in 2005. Complete list here. Some of the nominees should be familiar to Rod 2.0 readers, and, there are a few others that we'd like to mention that were quite enjoyable.
Anthology: Freedom in the Village: 25 Years of Black, Gay Men’s Writing, ed. E. Lynn Harris and Bullets and Butterflies: Queer Spoken Word Poetry, ed. Emanuel Xavier. The Harris anthology was one of the best collections of black gay men's writing since Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men.
Belles Lettres: When I Knew, edited by Robert Trachtenberg and Tab Hunter Confidential by Tab Hunter. Oprah adapted a GLAAD-nominated segment around Trachtenberg's book.
Biography: The Fabulous Sylvester by Joshua Gamson. This was a great read, especially in the context of Luther Vandross' death.
Gay Men’s Debut Fiction: Bilal's Bread by Sulayman X is a wonderful coming-of-age novel about a Kurdish teenage boy who has emigrated to this country.
Gay Men's Fiction: Just received a review copy of The Sluts by Dennis Cooper. It's an absolutely riveting novel about extreme queer s&m internet culture that is written in a clinical, Joan Didion-esque manner.
Gay Men's Mystery: The Actor’s Guide to Greed by Rick Copp is the only title that we've read. This is the third title in Copp's gay pop culture/gay mystery series. His writing is ROFL.
Lesbian Debut Fiction: Bliss by Fiona Zedde. We've been told that it's a well-written, Caribbean flavored novel about a bisexual woman's journey toward self-discovery. Same title but not to be confused with the novel by Danyel Smith.
LGBT Studies: Why I Hate Abercrombie and Fitch by Dwight A. McBride is a brilliant study of the intersection of race sexuality and identity in advertising, pop culture and gay culture.
Nonfiction: Beyond the Down Low by Keith Boykin. One of the breakthrough black gay literary achievements of 2005. It's interesting to witness Keith's theories in action—Terry McMillan and Jonathan Plummer or the controversy surrounding Brokeback Mountain. Keith also reviews the Lamda Lit nominees.
Romance: Walt Loves the Bearcat by Randy Boyd. Look for our upcoming review and interview with the author.
Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror: Fledgling by the late Octavia Butler.
Congratulations to all the nominees. Hopefully we'll get a chance to read more of them before the May ceremony when the winners are announced. (Thanks Bernie!)
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Posted by: TheRevKev | 07 March 2006 at 08:29
thanks. i have heard of very few of these books, just keith boykin and e lynn harris. it looks like i need to order a few.
was the sylvster book any good?
Posted by: Greg | 07 March 2006 at 10:35