Date: Mon, 13 Mar 1995 11:14:56 -0500 Reply-To: deacon.maccubbin@HIS.COM [ Send all responses to deacon.maccubbin@HIS.COM only. Any responses to the list or list-owners will be returned to you. ] 7TH ANNUAL LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FINALISTS ANNOUNCED Lammy Finalists Show Gay Men and Lesbians Joining Forces Washington, DC; March 1, 1995--Is it possible to speak of gay men and lesbian women as a community? If this year's crop of Lambda Literary Award finalists is any indication, the answer is yes. Four out of the five books selected in the Gay and Lesbian Non-fiction Anthology category this year included writing by both men and women. Similarly, two of the Fiction Anthology nominees contained writings by both gay men and lesbians, while at least three out of the five Photography/Visual arts nominees took broad glances at the entire community. (We're not quite sure how to describe the genders represented in Masked Culture, which depicts Greenwich Village's annual Halloween parade.) The nominees for the non-fiction anthology include SISTER AND BROTHER edited by Joan Nestle and John Preston (HarperSanFrancisco), ONE TEACHER IN TEN edited by Kevin Jennings (Alyson), OUT OF THE CLASS CLOSET edited by Julia Penelope (Crossing), LONG ROAD TO FREEDOM edited by Mark Thompson (St. Martin's), and THE QUEER READER edited by Patrick Higgins (New Press). Fiction Anthology finalists are CHLOE PLUS OLIVIA edited by Lillian Faderman (Viking), MEN ON MEN 5 edited by David Bergman (Plume), HIGH RISK 2 edited by Ira Silverberg and Amy Scholder (Plume), THE VERY INSIDE edited by Sharon Lim-Hing (Sister Vision), and LAVENDER MANSIONS edited by Irene Zahava (Westview Press). The nominees in Photography/Visual Arts are FAMILY by Nancy Andrews (HarperSanFrancisco), OUT IN AMERICA by Out Magazine (Viking Studio), MASKED CULTURE by Jack Kugelmass (Columbia University Press), LONG ROAD TO FREEDOM edited by Mark Thompson (St. Martin's), and THE ART OF THE MALE NUDE by Jim French (State of Man). The increasing number of gay and lesbian books directed toward teenagers is seen in this year's Children's/Young Adult category, where four of the five finalists were aimed at the young adult market. Debut fiction made a strong showing in both Gay Men's and Lesbian fiction categories, including HOUSE RULES by Heather Lewis (Doubleday/Nan Talese), CHELSEA GIRLS by Eileen Myles (Black Sparrow), STIR FRY by Emma Donoghue (HarperCollins), CULTURAL REVOLUTION by Norman Wong (Persea Books), AMERICAN STUDIES by Mark Merlis (Houghton Mifflin), and SACRED LIPS OF THE BRONX by Doug Sadownick (St. Martin's). Joining these newcomers on the fiction list were THE DYKE AND THE DYBBUK by Ellen Galford, an American writer now living in Scotland, GIFTS OF THE BODY by Rebecca Brown, a British writer now living in the Pacific Northwest, the FOLDING STAR by the English writer Alan Hollinghurst, whose SWIMMING POOL LIBRARY won a Lammy at the first annual banquet in 1988, and NIGHTSWIMMER by Joseph Olshan, whose novel CLARA'S HEART became a major motion picture starring Whoopi Goldberg. The list of nominees also provides a sad reminder of the devastation AIDS is visiting upon the gay community. Nominees John Boswell (SAME SEX UNIONSI), Paul Monette (LAST WATCH OF THE NIGHT, WEST OF YESTERDAY, EAST OF SUMMER), Assotto Saint (WISHING FOR WINGS), John Preston (SISTER AND BROTHER, MY LIFE AS A PORNOGRAPHER), and David Feinberg (QUEER AND LOATHING) have all died in the past year. A large number of this year's finalists were recognized in more than one category. Paul Monette was nominated three times, while Ellen Galford, Dorothy Allison, Sapphire, Lillian Faderman, Mabel Maney, Mark Thompson and the Canadian writers' collective Kiss and Tell were all nominated twice. "The sold-out attendance at last year's banquet was a solid measure of the depth of interest in gay and lesbian publishing," said Deacon Maccubbin, publisher of the "Lambda Book Report," which sponsors the award. "This year's outpouring of books reflects the undiminished strength of the gay and lesbian book boom." The Lambda Literary Award categories continue to be adjusted, reflecting changes within the gay and lesbian publishing world. This year saw the debut of a photography/visual arts category, while anthologies, long a mainstay in bringing new gay and lesbian work to the public, were recognized with fiction and nonfiction categories. Mainstream houses, small presses, and gay and lesbian presses almost equally contributed finalists, with about a dozen books falling in each category. In addition, gay and lesbian books in English, printed in other countries and distributed in the United States, were eligible for the first time this year. Two Canadian published books -- THE VERY INSIDE, ed. by Sharon Lim-Hing (Sister Vision) and HER TONGUE ON MY THEORY, KISS AND TELL (Press Gang) -- were finalists. Penguin USA remained a strong force in gay and lesbian publishing, having a total of 11 nominees, followed by St. Martin's Press with 8 nominees and HarperCollins with seven. Alyson Publications led the gay and lesbian presses with three finalists. The Lambda Literary Awards have a three tier selection process. A list of nominees is assembled from nominating ballots sent in by readers: this year, nearly 400,000 ballots were distributed nationwide, with an unknown number of ballots also distributed electronically through Internet newsgroups and listservs. The more than 500 books nominated were narrowed down to five finalists in each category by a finalist committee that included gay and lesbian booksellers and publishing professionals, members of the lesbian and gay press, and the staff of the "Lambda Book Report." Ninety-eight judges, representing a broad cross-section of the entire lesbian and gay literary community, will select a single book in each category from among the finalists. Award recipients will be announced at a formal gala reception and banquet at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, on Friday, June 2, 1995 during the American Booksellers Association Convention. Tickets to the 7th Annual Lambda Literary Awards will be $60. A limited number of scholarship tickets will be available at $35 for those on limited incomes. For further information about the awards program or banquet tickets, please contact Lambda BOOK REPORT, 1625 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, 20009-1013 or phone the LAMMYS LINE at (202) 462-7924. Inquiries may also be sent by e-mail to lambdabookreport@his.com