
By Lambda Literary.org
On June 1, 2021, we announced the winners of the 33rd Annual Lambda Literary Awards. These winners were selected by a panel of over 60 literary professionals from more than 1,000 book submissions from over 300 publishers.
In addition to the winners below, four special honors were awarded: Ana-Maurine Lara received the Randall Kenan Prize for Black LGBTQ Fiction, the Jim Duggins, PhD Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Prize went to Sarah Gerard and Brontez Purnell, Nancy Agabian received the Jeanne Córdova Prize for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction, and the Judith A. Markowitz Award for Emerging LGBTQ Writers was awarded to Taylor Johnson and T Kira Madden.
You can pick up any of the winning books you haven’t read on our curated list at Bookshop.org, where your purchases benefit Lambda Literary.
Click here to watch the ceremony The 33rd Annual Lambda Literary Awards – YouTube
Lesbian Fiction

Fiebre Tropical
Juli Delgado Lopera
Feminist Press Read our Review

Gay Fiction
Neotenica
Joon Oluchi Lee
Nightboat BooksRead our Review

Bisexual Fiction
You Exist Too Much
Zaina Arafat
CatapultBuy the Book

Transgender Fiction
The Thirty Names of Night
Zeyn Joukhadar
Atria Books Buy the Book

Bisexual Nonfiction
Wow, No Thank You.: Essays
Samantha Irby
VintageBuy the Book

Transgender Nonfiction
The Black Trans Prayer Book
J Mase III & Dane Figueroa Edidi
The Black Trans Prayer BookBuy the Book

LGBTQ Nonfiction
The Lonely Letters
Ashon T. Crawley
Duke University PressBuy the Book

Lesbian Poetry
Funeral Diva
Pamela Sneed
City Lights BooksBuy the Book

Gay Poetry
Guillotine
Eduardo C. Corral
Graywolf PressBuy the Book

Bisexual Poetry
Salt Body Shimmer
Aricka Foreman
YesYes BooksBuy the Book

Transgender Poetry
I love you and I’m not dead
Sade LaNay
Argos BooksBuy the Book
Lesbian Memoir/Biography

My Autobiography of Carson McCullers
Jenn Shapland
Tin House BooksBuy the Book
Gay Memoir/Biography

A Dutiful Boy: A Memoir of a Gay Muslim’s Journey to Acceptance
Mohsin Zaidi
Square PegBuy the Book
Lesbian Romance

Written in the Stars
Alexandria Bellefleur
Avon BooksBuy the Book
Gay Romance

The Ghost and Charlie Muir
Felice Stevens
Self-publishedBuy the Book
LGBTQ Anthology

Love after the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction
edited by Joshua Whitehead
Arsenal Pulp PressBuy the Book
LGBTQ Children’s/Middle Grade

King and the Dragonflies
Kacen Callender
ScholasticBuy the Book
LGBTQ Young Adult

Flamer
Mike Curato
Henry Holt Books for Young ReadersBuy the Book
LGBTQ Comics

Apsara Engine
Bishakh Som
Feminist PressBuy the Book
LGBTQ Drama

The Book of Mountains and Seas
Yilong Liu
New Conservatory Theatre CenterRead about the Play
LGBTQ Erotica

The Nerves
Lee Suksi
Metatron PressBuy the Book
LGBTQ Mystery

I Hope You’re Listening
Tom Ryan
Albert Whitman & CompanyBuy the Book
LGBTQ Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror

Everyone on the Moon Is Essential Personnel
Julian K. Jarboe
Lethe PressBuy the Book
LGBTQ Studies

Becoming Human: Matter and Meaning in an Antiblack World
Zakiyyah Iman Jackson
NYU PressBuy the Book