Date: Sat, 19 Mar 94 18:31:56 EST From: Ellen Greenblatt Subject: 1994 ALA Gay/Lesbian Book Award Winners (Apologies for any inconveniences caused by the massive cross postings) 1994 GAY/LESBIAN BOOK AWARD WINNERS The American Library Association Gay and Lesbian Book Awards Committee is pleased to announce the winners of the 1994 Gay/Lesbian Book Awards. The awards are given annually to two books of exceptional merit examining lesbian and/or gay experience and published during the prior calendar year. Established in 1971, the Gay and Lesbian Task Force Book Awards are the nation's oldest and long-lived. The two award winning books were selected by a group of thirteen academic, public, and special librarians from institutions throughout the United States. This year the ten finalists considered for the awards were selected from a list of 47 nominated titles, which in turn were drawn from a listing of over six hundred titles, fiction and non-fiction, that were identified as having gay or lesbian content. The 1994 Gay and Lesbian Book Award for Literature goes to Leslie Feinberg for STONE BUTCH BLUES (Firebrand Books), a poignant exploration of transgendered identity in the years surrounding the Stonewall Uprising. Chosen as the 1994 Nonfiction award winner, FAMILY VALUES: TWO MOMS AND THEIR SON by Phyllis Burke (Random House) chronicles the author's transformation from the closet to activistism though the catalyst of lesbian parenthood. Both books were selected from a list of ten finalists. Runners up of the awards, all worthy of recognition as some of the best books of 1993, include: LITERATURE: GROWING UP GAY: AN ANTHOLOGY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE edited by Bennet Singer (New Press) THE LAST GENERATION by Cherrie Moraga (South End Press) SCISSORS, PAPER, ROCK by Fenton Johnson (Pocket Books) SHE'S ALWAYS LIKED THE GIRLS BEST: LESBIAN PLAYS by Claudia Allen (Third Side Press) NON-FICTION: THE LESBIAN AND GAY PARENTING HANDBOOK: CREATING AND RAISING OUR FAMILIES by April Martin (HarperPerennial) LESBIAN CULTURE: AN ANTHOLOGY edited by Julia Penelope and Susan J. Wolfe (Crossing Press) LESBIANS, GAY MEN AND THE LAW by William B. Rubenstein (New Press) STONEWALL by Martin Duberman (Dutton) The book awards will be presented on June 27, 1994, during an awards ceremony at the American Library Association annual conference in Miami, Florida. With the selection of the 1994 award winners, the Gay and Lesbian Book Award Committee now turns its attention to reading titles for the 1995 awards. The committee welcomes and encourages nominations from the general public, excluding only those persons affiliated with book publishing firms. Nominations for English- language books published in 1994 can be submitted through December 31, 1994. Nominations must include a brief statement -- about one-half page in length -- as to why the title is being recommended. Nominations may be sent by to Ellen Greenblatt, Chair, American Library Association Gay and Lesbian Book Award Committee, Central Technical Services, Lockwood Library Building, State University of New York at Buffalo, Box 602200, Buffalo, NY 14260-2200. Nominations may also be sent by FAX to (716) 645-5955 or by email to either ULCREG@UBVM (BITNET) or ULCREG@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU (Internet).