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Established | 2004 |
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Website | www |
Golden Crown Literary Society (GCLS) is an American nonprofit organization established in 2004 for those with an interest in Sapphic literature. Since 2005, GCLS has at its annual conference presented Golden Crown Literary Awards (Goldies) to authors and editors in various categories of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and anthologies/collections, as well as for cover design and audiobook narration.
The Golden Crown Literary Society was established in 2004 as a response to lesbian presses and authors being ignored by other awarding agencies. By its third annual conference in 2007 in Atlanta, participants had grown from 30 to nearly 300. [1]
The five women who founded GCLS were on its original advisory board: Carrie Carr, Cathy LeNoir Bryerose, Lori L. Lake, Radclyffe, and Kathy L. Smith. In 2006, Bryerose became the first executive director, followed by Smith (2007 to 2008), Patty Schramm (2009 to 2013), Liz Gibson (2013 to 2016), Mary Phillips (2016 to 2021) and Ann Roberts (2021). [2]
In September 2021, Amanda Radley assumed the new role of managing director, serving until October 2022. Currently, GCLS has no executive or managing director and is led by a four-person executive committee composed of the organization's president, vice-president, treasurer and secretary. [3]
Since 2005, GCLS has held an annual conference at which Goldies are presented in categories of Sapphic literature. In 2014, a writing academy was opened for new and upcoming authors, including one-on-one mentoring and in-class instruction. In 2017, the GCLS board added a director of inclusion to emphasize diversity. In 2021, a free, virtual series was launched via Zoom to cover LGBTQ topics, complementing regional events organized by GCLS that offered in-person panels, book sales and author signings.
The annual conference is GCLS's main in-person event for those with an interest in Sapphic literature and LGBTQ issues. Programming includes presentations by panelists and individuals, workshops and other classes, author readings and signings, and structured and informal opportunities for attendees to engage with each other.
In addition to conference programming, keynote and special speakers discuss topics of interest to LGBTQ and other attendees. Past speakers include:
The Trailblazer Award has been given at the annual conference since 2005 to a lesbian writer for contributions to lesbian literature. The Lee Lynch Classic Award was added in 2012 to recognize books with influential historical value. [4] Past winners include:
Called "a night to remember" by The Advocate, trailblazers Lee Lynch and Dorothy Allison and Lee Lynch Classic winner Rita Mae Brown shared a stage for the first time at the 2015 Goldies ceremony. Also that night, Geonn Cannon became the first male writer to win two Goldies and Jacob Anderson-Minshall the first openly transgender author to win. He shared the award with Diane Anderson-Minshall for Queerly Beloved: A Love Story Across Genders. [12]
The 2019 Goldies ceremony included the world premiere of the feature-length documentary In Her Words: 20th Century Lesbian Fiction. Co-directed by Lisa Marie Evans and Trailblazer Marianne K. Martin, the film explores and preserves the documents that dominated lesbian-themed literature in the 20th century. [13]
The Goldies have expanded from four judged categories in 2005 to 11 in 2013 [14] to 16 in 2024, along with two popular choice awards.
In recent years, Goldie entries have been submitted by large publishers (e.g., Farrar Straus Giroux, Hatchette Book Group, Macmillian Publishers, St. Martin's Press and Tantor Media), mid-size publishers (e.g., Bold Strokes Books and Skyhorse Publishing), small press publishers (e.g., Aesculus Books, Bedazzled Ink, Bella Books, Blue Feather Books, Brisk Press, Bywater Books, Copper Canyon Press, Desert Palm Press, Flashpoint Publications, Launch Point Press, Midnight Ink, Sapphfic Publishing, Sapphire Books, Spinsters Ink, Regal Crest and Ylva Publishing), university press houses and self-publishing enterprises. [15]
Named after “the queen of lesbian pulp fiction,” [16] the Ann Bannon [17] Popular Choice Award was established in 2007. Currently, Ann Bannon awards recognize three books rated by judges as being of highest quality, and then by popular vote as favorites among the books determined by judges to be finalists.
Established in 2015 to honor "one of the most visible and accessible lesbian artists in the world," [18] the Tee Corinne [19] Award for Outstanding Cover Design recognizes one book chosen as the favorite after two rounds of popular voting. Voters are encouraged to consider not only the cover but also typography, layout of printed words and how visual elements are arranged.
Recent winners demonstrate the international reach of the Goldies. In 2023, all four winners of the Ann Bannon and Tee Corrine awards were from outside the United States – Emily Banting [20] and Suzanne Moss [21] from England, Jae from Germany and E.J. Noyes [22] from New Zealand. Other international winners in 2023 included Jo Havens [23] and Lianyu Tan [24] (Australia), Arlene Pare (Canada), Rachel Sommers [25] (England), J.J. Hale [26] (Ireland) and G. Benson [27] (Spain).
A five-year restricted grant of $500,000 from the Aronson-Besthoff Fund of the Greater New Orleans Foundation rendered Goldie winners eligible for prize money. In 2023, Ann Bannon winners received $3,000 for first place (gold), $2,000 for second place (silver) and $1,000 for third place (bronze). In 2024, Ann Bannon prizes will be $15,000, $10,000 and $5,000. [28]
In 2023, prizes of $1,000 went to top-scoring books in 12 genre-specific novel categories, three non-novel categories and the Debut Novel competition. [47]
Volunteer judges evaluated books on a 1-to10-point quantitative scale, rating each on criteria set out in a comprehensive evaluation form. Criteria for novels, for example, included opening, premise, plot, characters, writing, setting, and reader impact. Judges' scores were tallied, and finalists, winners and top-scoring books determined.
Judged category winners in 2023 are listed below, with monetary prize winners shown in bold:
Judged Award Category | Title | Recipient | Publisher |
Audiobook Narrator | A Whisper of Solace | Abby Craden | Tantor Media |
Dead Letters from Paradise | Christine Williams | Susie Bright, Audible Studios | |
Dead Woman's Revenge | Rebecca Lowman | OrangeSky Audio | |
Contemporary Romance: Short Novels | Perfect Rivalry | Radclyffe | Bold Strokes Books |
Trial and Error | Carsen Taite | Bold Strokes Books | |
Truly Wanted | J.J. Hale | Bold Strokes Books | |
Contemporary Romance: Mid-Length Novels | A Long Way to Fall | Elle Spencer | Bold Strokes Books |
Christmas Mouse | Rachel Spangler | Brisk Press | |
I Dare You to Love Me | Lori G. Matthews | Bella Books | |
She'll Steal Your Heart | Rachel Lacey | Self-Published | |
The Last Lavender Sister | Melissa Brayden | Bold Strokes Books | |
With a Twist | Georgia Beers | Bold Strokes Books | |
Contemporary Romance: Long Novels | Chemistry | Rachael Sommers | Ylva Publishing |
Over the Moon with You | Jaime Clevenger | Bella Books | |
Plain English | Rachel Spangler | Bywater Books | |
Purposefully Accidental | G Benson | Self-published | |
Something's Different | Quinn Ivins | Ylva Publishing | |
Debut Novels | Honey in the Marrow | Emily Waters | Ylva Publishing |
Love and Duty | Catherine Young | Bold Strokes Books | |
Observations on the Danger of Female Curiosity | Suzanne Moss | Aesculus Books | |
The Barrens | Kurt Johnson & Ellie Johnson | Arcade - Skyhorse | |
Truly Wanted | J.J. Hale | Bold Strokes Books | |
Erotic Novels | Escorted | Renee Roman | Bold Strokes Books |
Fiction Anthologies / Collections | Defiant Hearts | Lee Lynch | Bold Strokes Books |
General Fiction | Dead Letters from Paradise | Ann McMan | Bywater Books |
The Barrens | Kurt Johnson & Ellie Johnson | Arcade - Skyhorse | |
General Non-Fiction | Half In: A Coming-of-Age Memoir of Forbidden Love | Felice Cohen | Dividends Press |
Historical Fiction | Observations on the Danger of Female Curiosity | Suzanne Moss | Aesculus books |
Once in Berlin | Jo Havens | Self-Published | |
Mystery / Thriller / Crime Novels | Delafield | Katherine V. Forrest | Spinsters Ink |
Hunting Gold | Ann Aptaker | Bywater Books | |
Last Chance Chicago | Diana DiGangi | Bywater Books | |
New Adult Fiction | Catching Feelings | Ana Hartnett Reichardt | Bold Strokes Books |
Paranormal / Occult / Horror Novels | The Mermaid Hypothesis | Siri Caldwell | Brussels Sprout Press |
The Wicked and the Willing | Lianyu Tan | Shattered Scepter Press | |
Poetry Poems / Collections | Time Out of Time | Arleen Paré | Caitlin Press & Dagger Editions |
Romantic Blend Novels | Despite Chaos | Stacy Lynn Miller | Bella Books |
Enigma | Suzie Clarke | Bold Strokes Books | |
Secret Agent | Michelle Larkin | Bold Strokes Books | |
Science Fiction / Fantasy Novels | Endurance | Elaine Burnes | Mindancer Press/Bedazzled Ink |
The Mage and the Monster | Barbara Ann Wright | Bold Strokes Books | |
Young Adult Fiction | Can I Trust Her? | Frances Lucas | Bella Books |
Radclyffe is an American author of lesbian romance, paranormal romance, erotica, and mystery. She has authored multiple short stories, written fan fiction, and edited numerous anthologies. Radclyffe is a member of the Saints and Sinners Literary Hall of Fame and has won numerous literary awards, including the RWA/GDRWA Booksellers' Best award, the RWA/Orange County Book Buyers Best award, the RWA/New England Bean Pot award, the RWA/VCRW Laurel Wreath award, the RWA/FTHRW Lories award, the RWA/HODRW Aspen Gold award, the RWA Prism award, the Golden Crown Literary Award, and the Lambda Literary Award. She is a 2003/04 recipient of the Alice B Readers Award for her body of work as well as a member of the Golden Crown Literary Society, Pink Ink, and the Romance Writers of America. In 2014, the Lambda Literary Foundation awarded Barot with the Dr. James Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist award acknowledging her as an established author with a strong following and the promise of future high-quality work. In 2015 she was a featured author in the award-winning documentary film about the romance writing and reading community, Love Between the Covers, from Blueberry Hill Productions. In 2019 she was named a Trailblazer in Romance by the Romance Writers of America, for her works of LGBTQ+ fiction. In 2021, she was named one of The Advocate's Women of the Year.
Ann Weldy, better known by her pen name Ann Bannon, is an American author who, from 1957 to 1962, wrote six lesbian pulp fiction novels known as The Beebo Brinker Chronicles. The books' enduring popularity and impact on lesbian identity has earned her the title "Queen of Lesbian Pulp Fiction". Bannon was a young housewife trying to address her own issues of sexuality when she was inspired to write her first novel. Her subsequent books featured four characters who reappeared throughout the series, including her eponymous heroine, Beebo Brinker, who came to embody the archetype of a butch lesbian. The majority of her characters mirrored people she knew, but their stories reflected a life she did not feel she was able to live. Despite her traditional upbringing and role in married life, her novels defied conventions for romance stories and depictions of lesbians by addressing complex homosexual relationships.
Katherine V. Forrest is a Canadian-born American writer, best known for her novels about lesbian police detective Kate Delafield. Her books have won and been finalists for Lambda Literary Award twelve times, as well as other awards. She has been referred to by some "a founding mother of lesbian fiction writing."
Naiad Press (1973–2003) was an American publishing company, one of the first dedicated to lesbian literature. At its closing it was the oldest and largest lesbian/feminist publisher in the world.
Ellen Hart is the award-winning mystery author of the Jane Lawless and Sophie Greenway series. Born in Maine, she was a professional chef for 14 years. Hart's mysteries include culinary elements similar to those of Diane Mott Davidson.
Lesbian literature is a subgenre of literature addressing lesbian themes. It includes poetry, plays, fiction addressing lesbian characters, and non-fiction about lesbian-interest topics. A similar term is sapphic literature, encompassing works that feature love between women that are not necessarily lesbian.
Elana Dykewomon was an American lesbian activist, author, editor, and teacher. She was a recipient of the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction.
Lori L. Lake is an American writer of fiction, mainly about lesbian protagonists. She is also an editor, writing instructor, and former publisher.
Karin Kallmaker is an American author of lesbian fiction whose works also include those originally written under the name Laura Adams. Her writings span lesbian romance, lesbian erotica, and lesbian science-fiction/fantasy. Dubbed the Queen of Lesbian Romance, she publishes exclusively in the lesbian market as a matter of personal choice.
Lee Lynch is an American author writing primarily on lesbian themes, specifically noted for authentic characterizing of butch and femme characters in fiction. She is the recipient of a Golden Crown Literary Society Trail Blazer award for lifetime achievement, as well as being the namesake for the Golden Crown Literary Society's Lee Lynch Classics Award.
Penny Mickelbury is an African-American playwright, short story writer, mystery series writer, and historical novelist who worked as a print and television journalist for ten years before concentrating on fiction writing. After leaving journalism, she taught fiction and script writing in Los Angeles and saw two of her plays produced there. She began writing detective novels with Keeping Secrets, published by Naiad Press in 1994, in the first of a series featuring Gianna Maglione, a lesbian chief of a hate-crimes unit based in Washington, D.C., and her lover 'Mimi Patterson', a journalist. Her second series of four books features Carole Ann Gibson, a Washington, D.C., attorney, who is widowed in the first book and subsequently runs an investigation agency with Jake Graham, the detective who investigated her husband's death. Her third series features Phil Rodriguez, a Puerto Rican private investigator on the Lower Easter Side of New York City. Mickelbury has also written short story collections and historical novels highlighting the Black experience in America.
Jessie Chandler is an American author of mystery and humorous caper fiction, most of which is about lesbian protagonists. Her work includes the Shay O'Hanlon Caper Series, many short stories, and other novels. Chandler has presented talks about the craft of writing, serves as a mentor to many up-and-coming writers, and is a contributing member of The Golden Crown Literary Society, Sisters in Crime, and serves on the board of Mystery Writers of America.
Ann Allen Shockley is an American journalist, editor and author, specialising in themes of interracial lesbian love, especially the plight of black lesbians living under what she views as the "triple oppression" of racism, sexism, and homophobia. She has also encouraged libraries to place special emphasis on Afro-American collections.
Headmistress Press is a small press based in Sequim, Washington. Founded in 2013, the press specializes in poetry by lesbian poets. Notable poets who have published collections with Headmistress include Janice Gould, Joy Ladin, Constance Merritt, and Lesléa Newman.
Jae is a German author of lesbian fiction. Her work is published in English as well as in German.
Launch Point Press is a small press publisher of lesbian literature based in Portland, Oregon.
S. Renée Bess is an American author from Pennsylvania whose writing focuses on multi-ethnic and cultural representation in literature, social themes, African-American culture, lesbianism, feminism, complex female characters, and family relationships. She is a retired Spanish and French teacher who has been writing for most of her life. Her writing has won a number of awards including a Golden Crown Literary Society “Goldie” for Our Happy Hours: LGBT Voices from the Gay Bars, a 2017 anthology that came about as a result of the massacre at the gay Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. She serves as a member of the GCLS Sandra Moran Writing Academy Scholarship board. and is a long-time member of the Golden Crown Literary Society and the Lambda Literary Foundation.
KG MacGregor is an American writer of lesbian fiction. She has authored over two dozen lesbian romance novels, collecting a Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Romance and nine Goldie Awards from the Golden Crown Literary Society, including the Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award. MacGregor served six years on the Board of Trustees of the Lambda Literary Foundation, including two years as board president.
Cheryl A. Head is an American author, television producer, organizer, and former broadcast executive. She is also the author of the award-winning Charlie Mack Motown mysteries, whose female PI protagonist is queer and Black. Head is an Anthony Award nominee, a two-time Lambda Literary Award finalist, a three-time Next Generation Indie Book Award finalist, and winner of the Golden Crown Literary Society's Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award. Her books are included in the Detroit Public Library's African American Booklist and in the Special Collections of the Library of Michigan. In 2019, Head was named to the Hall of Fame of the New Orleans Saints and Sinners Literary Festival, and she was awarded the Alice B Reader Award in 2022.
Lynn Ames is an American writer whose works feature female protagonists, past and present. She has authored sixteen novels spanning a variety of genres, including historical fiction, thrillers, and LGBTQ+ romance, and a biography of softball player and bowler Dot Wilkinson. Ames has collected six Goldie Awards from the Golden Crown Literary Society (GCLS) and was keynote speaker at the 2023 GCLS annual conference. Her contemporary romance novel, All That Lies Within, won the GCLS Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award in 2013 and was a Lambda Literary Award finalist for Lesbian Romance.