Prizes and Literary Awards

Readers, go straight to the top to and decide for yourselves if these award-winners are the best.  Authors, learn for which awards to nominate your book!

The Lambda Awards.

These awards honor fiction and nonfiction in all genres that feature Gay-, Lesbian-, Bisexual-, and Transgender- (GLBT) themes.  Here at Obsidian Bookshelf, of course, I'll concentrate on the gay-male subset of the Lambdas.

I also need to speak up as a long-standing fan of fantasy fiction and say that I deeply lament the decision of the Lambda Literary Foundation to roll science-fiction, fantasy, and horror into the same category!  The three genres are not the same. Considering how careful the Lambda Literary Foundation is about having separate prizes for men's and women's fiction, you've got to wonder why they make male AND female writers in all three genres compete for the same prize!

The Lambda Awards are presented in 21 categories (which you can see on the Lambda website), and the winners are usually announced in May.  Here are the 2008 winners and nominees in the following categories. 

LGBT SCI-FI/FANTASY/HORROR
Winner:  The Dust of Wonderland by Lee Thomas (Alyson Books)
Nominees:

• Wicked Gentlemen, Ginn Hale (Blind Eye Books)
• A Companion to Wolves, Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear (Tor Books)
• Spaceman Blues: A Love Song, Brian Francis Slattery (Tor Books)
• The Dust of Wonderland, Lee Thomas (Alyson Books)
• Ha'penny, Jo Walton (Tor Books)

GAY DEBUT FICTION
Winner:  A Push and a Shove by Christopher Kelly (Alyson Books)
Nominees:

• Tales from the Town of Widows, James Canon (Harpercollins)
• A Push and a Shove, Christopher Kelly (Alyson Books)
• That Was Then, Michael Quadland (Red Hen Press)
• SoMa, Kemble Scott (Kensington)
• Freak Show, James St. James (Dutton Children's/Penguin)

MEN's FICTION
Winner:  Call Me by Your Name by Andre Aciman (Farrar Straus Giroux)
Nominees:

• Call Me By Your Name, Andre 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)

MEN's ROMANCE
Winner:  Changing Tides by Michael Thomas Ford (Kensington)
Nominees:

• Changing Tides, Michael Thomas Ford (Kensington)
• A Secret Edge, Robin Reardon (Kensington)
• Right Side of the Wrong Bed, Frederick Smith (Kensington)
• Broadway Nights, Seth Rudetsky (Alyson Books)
• A Few Hints and Clews, Robert Taylor (Haworth)

MEN's MYSTERY
Winner :Murder in the Rue Chartres by Greg Herren (Alyson Books)
Nominees: 

• Double Abduction, Chris Beakey (J. Boylston/ ibooks, Inc.)
• Stain of the Berry, Anthony Bidulka (Insomniac Press)
• Pierce, Roberto Ferrari (Haworth)
• Murder in the Rue Chartres, Greg Herren (Alyson Books)
• Mahu Surfer, Neil Plakcy (Alyson Books)
• Drag Queen in the Court of Death, Caro Soles (Haworth)

Gaylactic Spectrum Awards.

According to their website of the Gaylactic Spectrum Awards Foundation (at http://www.spectrumawards.org), the awards "were created in 1998 ... to honor works in science fiction, fantasy and horror which include positive explorations of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered characters, themes, or issues." Nominations are open for everyone to submit his or her own, or others', work.  The 2007 winner for best novel is Vellum: The Book of All Hours by Hal Duncan.

Check back here for more details on prizes in the future.

authors, writers, self-publishing, books, bookshelves, gay, gay men, lesbian, lesbians, romance novels, romance, slash, fiction, fantasy fiction, mystery fiction, science fiction, contemporary fiction, romance novel publisher, book clubs, book club, paranormal romance, speculative fiction, writing, coffee, cooking, stationery, furniture, fine arts, authors, writers, self-publishing, books, bookshelves, gay, gay men, lesbian, lesbians, romance novels, romance, slash, fiction, fantasy fiction, mystery fiction, science fiction, contemporary fiction, romance novel publisher, book clubs, book club, paranormal romance, speculative fiction, writing, coffee, cooking, stationery, furniture, fine arts, authors, writers, self-publishing, books, bookshelves, gay, gay men, lesbian, lesbians, romance novels, romance, slash, fiction, fantasy fiction, mystery fiction, science fiction, contemporary fiction, romance novel publisher, book clubs, book club, paranormal romance, speculative fiction, writing, coffee, cooking, stationery, furniture, fine arts, authors, writers, self-publishing, books, bookshelves, gay, gay men, lesbian, lesbians, romance novels, romance, slash, fiction, fantasy fiction, mystery fiction, science fiction, contemporary fiction, romance novel publisher, book clubs, book club, paranormal romance, speculative fiction, writing, coffee, cooking, stationery, furniture, fine arts, authors, writers, self-publishing, books, bookshelves, gay, gay men, lesbian, lesbians, romance novels, romance, slash, fiction, fantasy fiction, mystery fiction, science fiction, contemporary fiction, romance novel publisher, book clubs, book club, paranormal romance, speculative fiction, writing, coffee, cooking, stationery, furniture, fine arts