This guide was created to help those looking for information on the literature and history of the LGBTQ+ community with an emphasis on those people and communities who are black, indigenous, or other peoples of color.
Below you will information on several awards given to the LGBTQ+ literary community starting with the Stonewall Literary Awards named after one of the major turning points in the fight for equality.
The first and most enduring of the awards for LGBTQ+ books is the Stonewall Book Awards sponsored by the American Library Association through their Rainbow Round Table. Since Isbel Miller’s Patience and Sarah received the first award in 1971 many other books have been honored for their merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience.
The Stonewall Book Awards include: The Barbara Gittings Literature Award, The Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award, and The Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award.
The award winners receive a commemorative plaque and $1000.
Click HERE to learn more about the awards and suggest a title
Click HERE to see this year's winners
The Lambda Literary Awards were created over 30 years ago to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The awards affectionately called the Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.
Click HERE to find out more about the awards
Click HERE to see 2021's winners visit:
Click HERE to see past winners
The Publishing Triangle is a group of members of the LGBTQ+ community that work together to further the publication of books and other materials written by LGBTQ+ authors or with themes relating to the community. Their primary method of shining light on queer books is through their awards program. They give out 10 awards annually each with a cash prize of between $500 and $3000. Seven of these awards honor the best books of the previous year in nonfiction, poetry, and trans/gender-variant literature. There is also a lifetime achievement award, an award given to an emerging writer, and a leadership award honoring a book industry figure each year.
Click HERE to learn more about The Publishing Triangle and its awards program
Click HERE for 2021's winners
The Gaylactic Spectrum Awards honor outstanding works of science fiction, fantasy, and horror which include significant positive explorations of LGBTQIA+ characters, themes, or issues.
The Gaylactic Network, the premier organization for LGBTQIA fandom at the time, created the Awards in 1998 because there was no existing avenue for the recognition of outstanding queer-positive work within the genre. In 2002, the Awards struck out on their own, becoming an independent organization - the Gaylactic Spectrum Awards Foundation.
Click HERE for more information
Click HERE to see 2020's winners
The Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers, sponsored by the Writer's Trust of Canada, was established by Robin Pacific in 2007 to honor her late friend, Dayne Ogilvie, who was a respected editor, writer, literary manager, and passionate lover of all the arts. The Dayne Ogilvie Prize rewards LGBTQ2S+ writers of any age who are in the developing stages of their career and whose body of work to date demonstrates great potential.
Click HERE to learn more
Click HERE to see past winners
The Bi Writers Association (BWA) organizes the Bisexual Book Awards (BBA) an annual multi-arts reading and award ceremony. They are the foremost voice in the community that is promoting bisexual books, bi writers, bisexual writing, and bi-themed arts and culture in the country. BWA works to dispel myths and stereotypes about bisexuality and promotes bi visibility. BWA members include writers of all genres including: journalism, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, erotica, songwriting, plays, as well as TV and movie scripts.
BWA organizes readings, panels, summits, film programs, educational workshops, as well as in-service trainings. They provide networking services for bi writers and readers as well book lists, educational handouts, and a media guide. BWA has the most extensive library of bisexual books in the world.
Click HERE to learn more about the awards and the BWA
Click HERE to see this year's and past years' winners
The Alice B. Medal is an annual award given to living writers who have careers distinguished by consistent well-written Sapphic stories. The award is given only once in appreciation of career achievement. In addition to the medal, each recipient receives a cash gift of $500 and a lapel pin.
At least two medals are given out each year. Selections are made from lists of all-time favorite living authors complied by committee members. In order to qualify a writer must have published at least three books. Decisions are made by consensus.
Click HERE for more information about the award
Click HERE to see this year's winners
Click HERE for past years' winners
The Otherwise Award celebrates science fiction, fantasy, and other forms of speculative narrative that expand and explore our understanding of gender. They seek out works that have broad, intersectional, trans-inclusive understanding of gender in the context of race, class, nationality, disability, and more.
The Otherwise Award is presented annually at WisCon, the world’s premiere feminist science fiction convention. It is awarded to a creator of a work published the previous year. Alongside the winner, an Honor list is announced along with many works. This award is awarded to several works not just one or two per year. The award celebration is known for its exuberance and irony: the winner is crowned with a tiara, serenaded by hundreds of attendees, showered with chocolate, and awarded a check for $1000, as well as a piece of original art.
Click HERE to learn more about the award
Click HERE to see past winners
Affectionately known as the Goldies, the Golden Crown Literary Society (GCLS) annually awards excellence in women loving women literature. Presented each year at the Annual GCLS conference the Goldies recognize excellence in 19 categories, 2 popular choice categories, and 3 special categories.
Click HERE to learn more about the Golden Literary Society
Click HERE to see past winners