21st Lambda Literary Awards

The 21st Lambda Literary Awards were held in 2009, to honour works of LGBT literature published in 2008.

Special awards

Category	Winner
Pioneer Award	Leslie Feinberg, The Violet Quill

Nominees and winners

Category	Winner	Nominated
Bisexual Literature	Jenny Block, Open	Lisa M. Diamond, Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women’s Love & Desire Honor Moore, The Bishop’s Daughter Ron Jackson Suresha, Kinsey Zero Through Sixty: Bisexual Perspectives on Kinsey Edmund White, Rimbaud
Gay Debut Fiction	Shawn Stewart Ruff, Finlater	Daniel Allen Cox, Shuck Evan Fallenberg, Light Fell Drew Ferguson, The Screwed-Up Life of Charlie the Second Mike Hoolboom, The Steve Machine
Gay Erotica	Richard Labonté and James Lear, eds., Best Gay Erotica 2009	James Lear, The Secret Tunnel William Maltese, Victor J. Banis, Jardonn Smith and J.P. Bowie, Hard Working Men
Gay Fiction	Scott Heim, We Disappear	David Francis, Stray Dog Winter Thomas Glave, The Torturer’s Wife Joseph Olshan, The Conversion Jay Quinn, The Boomerang Kid
Gay Memoir/Biography	Sheila Rowbotham, Edward Carpenter: A Life of Liberty and Love	Aaron Cooper, Bringing Him Home Joel Derfner, Swish Bob Morris, Assisted Loving Aaron Shurin, King of Shadows
Gay Mystery	Scott Sherman, First You Fall	Stephen Anable, The Fisher Boy Anthony Bidulka, Sundowner Ubuntu Neil Plakcy, Mahu Fire John Morgan Wilson, Spider Season
Gay Poetry	Mark Doty, Fire to Fire James Allen Hall, Now You're the Enemy	Rick Barot, Want Jericho Brown, Please Jack Spicer (Peter Gizzi and Kevin Killian, eds.), My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer
Gay Romance	Larry Duplechan, Got 'til it's Gone	Laura Baumbach and Josh Lanyon, Mexican Heat N. L. Gassert, The Protector
Lesbian Debut Fiction	Magdalena Zurawski, The Bruise	Jill Malone, Red Audrey & the Roping Linda Villarosa, Passing for Black Meri Weiss, Closer to Fine Chavisa Woods, Love Does Not Make Me Gentle or Kind
Lesbian Erotica	Radclyffe and Karin Kallmaker, In Deep Waters 2: Cruising the Strip	Sacchi Green and Rakelle Valencia, Lipstick on Her Collar Lynne Jamneck, Periphery: Erotic Lesbian Futures
Lesbian Fiction	Emma Donoghue, The Sealed Letter Chandra Mayor, All the Pretty Girls	Ivan Coyote, The Slow Fix Stephanie Grant, Map of Ireland Ruth Perkinson, Breaking Spirit Bridge
Lesbian Memoir/Biography	Maureen Seaton, Sex Talks to Girls: A Memoir	Susan Griffin, Wrestling with the Angel of Democracy Thea Hillman, Intersex (For Lack of a Better Word) Joanne Passet, Sex Variant Woman Abbe Smith, Case of a Lifetime
Lesbian Mystery	Josie Gordon, Whacked	Diane Anderson-Minshall and Jacob Anderson-Minshall, Blind Faith Ellen Hart, Sweet Poison Jessica Thomas, Losers Weepers Ali Vali, Calling the Dead
Lesbian Poetry	Judy Grahn, love belongs to those who do the feeling	Elizabeth Bradfield, Interpretive Work Daphne Gottlieb, Kissing Dead Girls Maureen N. McLane, Same Life Nancy K. Pearson, Two Minutes of Light
Lesbian Romance	Karin Kallmaker, The Kiss That Counted	Georgia Beers, Finding Home Catherine Friend, A Pirate’s Heart JLee Meyer, Hotel Liaison Radclyffe, The Lonely Hearts Club
LGBT Anthology	Thomas Glave, Our Caribbean	Peter Burton, ed., A Casualty of War: Gay Short Fiction Sabrina Chapadjiev, ed., Live Through This Chris Freeman and James J. Berg, eds., Love, West Hollywood Raphael Kadushin, ed., Big Trips: More Good Gay Travel Writing
LGBT Children's/Young Adult	Bill Konigsberg, Out of the Pocket	Christian Burch, Hit the Road, Manny David Levithan, How They Met & Other Stories Pat Schmatz, Mousetraps Martin Wilson, What They Always Tell Us Ellen Wittlinger, Love & Lies: Marisol’s Story
LGBT Drama	Carolyn Gage, The Second Coming of Joan of Arc	Dan Bernitt, Phi Alpha Gamma Martin Duberman, Radical Acts: Collected Political Plays Scott Schofield, Two Truths and a Lie Vanda, Vile Affections
LGBT Non-Fiction	Jane Rule, Loving the Difficult	Nancy Agabian, Me as Her Again Michelle Cliff, If I Could Write This in Fire William N. Eskridge, Jr., Dishonorable Passions: Sodomy Laws in America 1861-2003 Nancy Polikoff, Beyond (Straight & Gay) Marriage Kai Wright, Drifting Toward Love
LGBT Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror	Nicole Kimberling, Turnskin	Astrid Amara, The Archer’s Heart Barth Anderson, The Magician and the Fool Steve Berman, Wilde Stories 2008 Craig Laurance Gidney, Sea, Swallow Me and Other Stories
LGBT Studies	Regina Kunzel, Criminal Intimacy: Prison and the Uneven History of Modern American Sexuality	Michelle Ann Abate, Tomboys: A Literary & Cultural History Amin Ghaziani, The Dividends of Dissent: How Conflict and Culture Work in Lesbian and Gay Marches on Washington Kevin P. Murphy, Political Manhood: Red Bloods, Mollycoddles, & the Politics of Progressive Reform Linda Williams, Screening Sex
Transgender Literature	Thea Hillman, Intersex (For Lack of a Better Word)	Marcus Ewert and Rex Ray, 10,000 Dresses Scott Schofield, Two Truths and a Lie Ely Shipley, Boy with Flowers Susan Stryker, Transgender History

References

• "21st Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary Awards. February 18, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2025.