37th Lambda Literary Awards

Last updated

37th Lambda Literary Awards
Awarded forWorks of LGBTQ+ literature
DateOctober 4, 2025 (2025-10-04)
Country United States
Presented by Lambda Literary Foundation
EligibilityLGBTQ+ storytelling, published in the US in 2024
Website www.lambdaliterary.org/awards
  36th  · Lambda Literary Awards ·  38th  

The finalists for the 37th Lambda Literary Awards , which honor works of LGBTQ+ literature published in 2024, were announced on July 30, 2025. [1] The virtual awards ceremony announcing the winners took place on October 4, 2025. [2] [3]

Nominees and winners

37th Lambda Literary Awards winners and finalists
CategoryAuthorTitlePublisherResultRef.
Bisexual Fiction Muriel Leung How To Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster W. W. Norton & Company Winner [4]
August ThompsonAnyone’s Ghost Penguin Press Finalist [1]
Rebecca K Reilly Greta & Valdin Avid Reader Press | Simon & Schuster
Casey McQuiston The Pairing: Special 1st Edition St. Martin’s Griffin
Kimberly King ParsonsWe Were the Universe Alfred A. Knopf
Bisexual Nonfiction Desiree Akhavan You’re Embarrassing Yourself Random House Winner [4]
Jon Macy Djuna: The Extraordinary Life of Djuna BarnesStreet Noise BooksFinalist [1]
Lilly Dancyger First Love: Essays on Friendship The Dial Press
Rebecca OrchantSimmering: A Kitchen MemoirUnbound Edition Press
Morgan Parker You Get What You Pay ForOne World
Bisexual Poetry Jeddie SophroniusInterrogation Records Gaudy Boy Winner [4]
Brittany RogersGood Dress Tin House Finalist [1]
Dorothy Chan Return of the Chinese Femme Deep Vellum
Nathan MaderThe Endless Animalfine. press
Niki HerdThe Stuff of Hollywood Copper Canyon Press
Gay Fiction Allen BrattonHenry Henry Unnamed Press Winner [4]
Jiaming TangCinema Love Dutton Finalist [1]
Thomas GrattanIn TonguesMCD
Pol Guasch; translated by Mara Faye LethemNapalm in the Heart FSG Originals
Alan Hollinghurst Our Evenings Random House
Gay Memoir/ Biography Brad Gooch RADIANT: The Life and Line of Keith Haring HarperCollins Winner [4]
Darius StewartBe Not Afraid of My Body: A Lyrical Memoir Belt Publishing Finalist [1]
Komail AijazuddinManboobs: A Memoir of Musicals, Visas, Hope, and Cake Harry N. Abrams
Michael NottThom Gunn Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Michael G. LeeWhen the Band Played On Chicago Review Press
Gay Poetry Saúl HernándezHow to Kill a Goat and Other Monsters University of Wisconsin Press Winner [4]
Joshua GarciaPentimento Black Lawrence Press Finalist [1]
Blas Falconer Rara Avis Four Way Books
Carl Phillips Scattered Snows, to the North Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Okwudili Nebeolisa Terminal Maladies Autumn House Press
Gay Romance Benjamin S. Grossberg The Spring Before Obergefell: A Novel University of Nebraska Press Winner [4]
Jem WendelIt Takes Three To TangoLarking About PressFinalist [1]
Logan Sage AdamsOur Own LightSelf-published
William LeetOutside the WireFlashpoint Publications
Philip EllisWe Could Be Heroes G.P. Putnam’s Sons | Penguin Random House
Lesbian Fiction Yael van der Wouden The Safekeep Avid Reader Press | Simon & Schuster Winner [4]
Venita Blackburn Dead in Long Beach, CaliforniaMCDFinalist [1]
Emma Copley Eisenberg Housemates Hogarth
Melissa MogollonOyeHogarth
Maggie Thrash Rainbow BlackHarperCollins
Lesbian Memoir/ Biography Sandra Gail LambertMy Withered Legs and Other Essays University of Georgia Press Winner [4]
Nikkya HargroveMama: A Queer Black Woman’s Story of a Family Lost and Found Algonquin Books | Little, Brown & Company Finalist [1]
Julie Delporte Portrait of a Body Drawn & Quarterly
Julie Marie Wade The Mary YearsTRP: The University Press of SHSU
Erica N. CardwellWrong is Not My Name The Feminist Press
Lesbian Poetry Omotara JamesSong of My Softening Alice James Books Winner [4]
Saretta MorganAlt-Nature Coffee House Press Finalist [1]
Tanya OlsonBorn BackwardsYesYes Books
KossDancing Backwards Towards PluperfectDiode Editions
Dawn Lundy Martin Instructions for the Lovers Nightboat Books
Rae GouirandThe Velvet Book Cornerstone Press
Lesbian Romance Alison CochrunHere We Go Again Atria Books Winner [4]
JaeBachelorette Number TwelveYlva PublishingFinalist [1]
Carrie ByrdLoser of the YearYlva Publishing
Liza WemakorLoving SafoaNeon Hemlock
Lori G. MatthewsOutlaw Hearts Bella Books
LGBTQ Anthology Rae Theodore and Nat BurnsSwagger: A Celebration of the Butch ExperienceFlashpoint PublicationsWinner [4]
Marwan Kaabour The Queer Arab GlossarySaqi BooksFinalist [1]
Remi RecchiaTransmasculine Poetics: Filling the Gap in Literature & the Silences Around UsSundress Publications
Edited by Rob Costello; stories by: Kalynn Bayron, David Bowles, Shae Carys, H.E. Edgmon, Michael Thomas Ford, Val Howlett, Brittany Johnson, Naomi Kanakia, Claire Kann, Jonathan Lenore Kastin, Sarah Maxfield, Sam J. Miller, Alexandra Villasante, and Merc Fenn WolfmoorWe Mostly Come Out At Night: 15 Queer Tales of Monsters, Angels & Other CreaturesRunning Press Teens
Dustin BrookshireWhen I Was Straight: A Tribute to Maureen SeatonHarbor Anthologies | Harbor Editions
LGBTQ Children's Phil Bildner; illustrated by Daniel J. O’BrienGlenn Burke, Game Changer: The Man Who Invented the High FiveFarrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young ReadersWinner [4]
Seamus KirstHarper Becomes a Big SisterAmerican Psychological Association Magination PressFinalist [1]
Sarah Hoffman and Ian HoffmanJacob’s Missing BookAmerican Psychological Association Magination Press
Molly Beth Griffin; Illustrated by Anait SemirdzhyanJust UsCharlesbridge
Lee Wind; illustrated by Jieting ChenLove of the Half-Eaten PeachReycraft
LGBTQ Comics Lonnie GarciaPutty Pygmalion Silver Sprocket Winner [4]
Magdalene Visaggio; illustrated by Paulina GanucheauGirlmodeHarperCollinsFinalist [1]
Tenacity PlysSN_33P’sCoolZine.pdffifth wheel press
Sarah LeavittSomething, Not Nothing: A Story of Grief and Love Arsenal Pulp Press
Viktor T. Kerney and William O. TylerWe Belong: An All-Black| All-Queer Sci-Fi| Fantasy Comics AnthologyStacked Deck Press
LGBTQ Drama Makram Ayache The Green Line (خطّ التماس) Playwrights Canada Press Winner [4]
Jesus I. VallesBathhouse.pptx Yale University Press Finalist [1]
Nick Green Casey and DianaScirocco Drama (J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing)
Karen Hartman Goldie, Max & Milk Samuel French, A Concord Theatricals imprint
Sarah MantellIn the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot Playwrights Horizons
LGBTQ+ Romance and Erotica Fearne HillOysterSelf-publishedWinner [4]
Colin DerehamBradford, Bru and Brendan TooSelf-publishedFinalist [1]
Anne ShadeLeather, Lace and Locs Bold Strokes Books
Jena DoyleMidsummerSelf-published
Isla OlsenMr. Blue SkySelf-published
LGBTQ Middle Grade Elisa Stone LeahyMallory in Full Color Quill Tree Books | HarperCollinsWinner [4]
Taylor TracyMurray Out of WaterQuill Tree Books | HarperCollinsFinalist [1]
Maggie HornNoah Frye Gets CrushedHarperCollins
Marieke Nijkamp Splinter & Ash Greenwillow Books | HarperCollins
Justine Pucella WinansWishbone Bloomsbury
LGBTQ Mystery Katrina CarrascoRough TradeMCDWinner [4]
Katie SiegelCharlotte Illes is Not a Teacher Kensington Finalist [1]
Alyssa Cole One of Us Knows William Morrow
Lev A. C. Rosen Rough Pages Tor Publishing Group
Akira Otani; translated by Sam BettThe Night of Baba Yaga Soho Crime
LGBTQ Nonfiction Michael WatersThe Other OlympiansFarrar, Straus and GirouxWinner [4]
Rebecca L. DavisFierce DesiresW. W. Norton & CompanyFinalist [1]
Diane Ehrensaft and Michelle JurkiewiczGender Explained: A New Understanding of Identity in a Gender Creative WorldThe Experiment
Amin GhazianiLong Live Queer Nightlife: How the Closing of Gay Bars Sparked a Revolution Princeton University Press
Gemma Rolls-BentleyQueer Art: From Canvas to Club, and the Spaces BetweenFrances Lincoln
LGBTQ Poetry Eduardo Martínez-LeyvaCowboy ParkUniversity of Wisconsin PressWinner [4]
Jes BattisI Hate PartiesNightwood EditionsFinalist [1]
Zoe Whittall No Credit RiverBook*hug Press
Emilia PhillipsNonbinary Bird of Paradise University of Akron Press
Cass DonishYour Dazzling DeathAlfred A. Knopf
LGBTQ Speculative Fiction August ClarkeMetal From Heaven Erewhon Books Winner [4]
Chuck Tingle Bury Your GaysTor Publishing GroupFinalist [1]
C.G. MalburiMarklessLevine Querido
Sascha StronachThe Sunforge Saga Press | Simon and Schuster
Caro De Robertis The Palace of ErosPrimero Sueno Press | Simon and Schuster
LGBTQ Studies Susan Stryker; edited by McKenzie Wark When Monsters Speak: A Susan Stryker ReaderDuke University PressWinner [4]
Mat FournierDysphoric Modernism: Undoing Gender in French Literature Columbia University Press Finalist [1]
Clare CroftJill Johnston in Motion: Dance, Writing, and Lesbian Life Duke University Press
Mary ZaborskisQueer Childhoods: Institutional Futures of Indigeneity, Race, and Disability New York University Press
Matthew H. SommerThe Fox Spirit, the Stone Maiden, and Other Transgender Histories from Late Imperial ChinaColumbia University Press
LGBTQ Young Adult K. Ancrum IcarusHarperCollinsWinner [4]
Logan-Ashley KisnerOld WoundsDelacorte Press | Random House Children’s BooksFinalist [1]
Kamilah ColeSo Let Them BurnLittle, Brown Books for Young Readers
H. A. ClarkeThe Feast MakersErewhon Books
Chatham GreenfieldTime and Time AgainBloomsbury
Transgender Fiction Nino BullingFirebugsDrawn & QuarterlyWinner [4]
RJ McDanielAll Things Seen and Unseen: A Novel ECW Press Finalist [1]
Alvina ChamberlandLove the World or Get Killed Trying Noemi Press
June MartinLove/AggressiontRaum Books
Harman BurnsYellow Barks SpiderRadiant Press
Transgender Nonfiction KB Brookins PrettyAlfred A. KnopfWinner [4]
Nico LangAmerican Teenager: How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent EraHarry N. AbramsFinalist [1]
Vera BlossomHow to Fuck Like a GirlDOPAMINE Books
CeCé Telfer Make it Count Grand Central Publishing
Nat Raha and Mijke van der DriftTrans Femme Futures: Abolitionist Ethics for Transfeminist Worlds Pluto Press
Transgender Poetry Zefyr LisowskiGirl WorkNoemi PressWinner [4]
Jaya Jacobo; translated by Christian Jil BenitezArasahas: Poems from the TropicsPAWA PressFinalist [1]
Oliver Baez Bendorf Consider the RoosterNightboat Books
Joshua Jennifer Espinoza I Don’t Want to Be UnderstoodAlice James Books
Spencer WilliamsTRANZ Four Way Books

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Lewis, L. D. (July 30, 2025). "Announcing the Finalists for the 37th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  2. "Current Finalists". Lambda Literary. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  3. "Canadian authors Zoe Whittall, Sarah Leavitt and Jes Battis shortlisted for 2SLGBTQ+ writing awards". CBC. August 1, 2025. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 "2025 Lambda Literary Award Winners" . Retrieved October 27, 2025.