The 2023 Lambda Literary shortlist was announced today, celebrating 25 categories of LGBTQ+ literature. And so! many! books! that made the cut — from the 1,350+ that were submitted — have been reviewed, covered, and celebrated right here at Autostraddle in our ever-growing literature vertical. I feel confident saying this is actually the highest percentage of Lammy finalists that have received coverage of some sort by Autostraddle, especially when we factor in lists, roundups, and other forms of coverage beyond reviews and author interviews. This is evidence that we just keep expanding and finding ways to cover as many LGBTQ+ books and authors as possible despite our limited resources.
Check out the full list of finalists on the Lambda Literary website, and below I’m going to highlight the categories that feature books covered by Autostraddle. Congratulations to all of the shortlisted authors as well as everyone who played a role in the making of their books! And for the books in the highlighted categories below that haven’t been covered by Autostraddle yet, stay tuned! I’m hoping to add some more of these titles to our vertical’s shelves, especially as paperbacks become available! As for the shortlisted books below and finalists in other categories on the full list that did not receive standalone coverage already, many were still highlighted in our Best Queer Books of 2022 List and our Anticipated Queer Books Previews for Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall last year. And many have also been highlighted enthusiastically in our biweekly LGBTQ+ Literature news roundup, Rainbow Reading.
Lesbian Fiction
Gods of Want by K-Ming Chang
K-Ming Chang on Writing Sex Scenes, Profanity in Myths, and Letting Flash Fiction Be Messy
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
Additional finalists in this category: Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda, translated by Sarah Booker, Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley, Big Girl by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan
Transgender Fiction
Manywhere by Morgan Thomas
Morgan Thomas On Weaving Genderqueer History Into Their Debut Short Fiction Collection “Manywhere”
Additional finalists in this category: All the Hometowns You Can’t Stay Away From by Izzy Wasserstein, Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta by James Hannaham, The Call-Out by Cat Fitzpatrick, Wrath Goddess Sing by Maya Deane
Transgender Nonfiction
Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender by Kit Heyam
Faltas: Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn’t My Rapist by Cecilia Gentili
https://develop.autostraddle.com/cecilia-gentilis-faltas-is-one-of-the-best-memoirs-ive-ever-read/
Additional finalists in this category: Feral City: On Finding Liberation in Lockdown New York by Jeremiah Moss, The Terrible We: Thinking with Trans Maladjustment by Cameron Awkward-Rich, The Third Person by Emma Grove
LGBTQ+ Nonfiction
How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler
I’ll Never Look at the Ocean the Same Way After Reading Sabrina Imbler’s “How Far the Light Reaches”
Virology: Essays for the Living, the Dead, and the Small Things in Between by Joseph Osmundson
Joe Osmundson on Expansive Science Writing and Living in an Impossible World
Additional finalists in this category: And the Category Is…: Inside New York’s Vogue, House, and Ballroom Community by Ricky Tucker, The Black Period: On Personhood, Race, and Origin by Hafizah Augustus Geter, The Women’s House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison by Hugh Ryan
LGBTQ+ Anthology
OutWrite: The Speeches That Shaped LGBTQ Literary Culture by Julie R. Enszer and Elena Gross
Additional finalists in this category: Queer Nature: A Poetry Anthology edited by Michael Walsh, This Arab is Queer: An Anthology by LGBTQ+ Arab Writers by Elias Jahshan, Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource by and for Transgender Communities Second Edition by Laura Erickson-Schroth, Xenocultivars: Stories of Queer Growth by Isabela Oliveira and Jed Sabin
Lesbian Memoir/Biography
Brown Neon by Raquel Gutiérrez
“Brown Neon” Is a Tribute to the Power of Art and Community in the American Southwest
Ma and Me by Putsata Reang
Putsata Reang’s New Memoir Fills In the Gaps of Lost Family History
Pretty Baby: A Memoir by Chris Belcher
Chris Belcher’s “Pretty Baby” Examines the Power of Shame in Our Culture
Chris Belcher on “Pretty Baby,” Dungeon Dynamics, and the Expansiveness of Queer Sex
Additional finalists in this category: Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place by Neema Avashia, Lost & Found: Reflections on Grief, Gratitude, and Happiness by Kathryn Schulz
LGBTQ+ Mystery
Lavender House by Lev A. C. Rosen
As Anti-LGBTQ Legislation Ramps Up in My Home State, I Find Myself Returning to This Book
Additional finalists in this category: A Death in Berlin by David C Dawson, And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling, Dead Letters from Paradise by Ann McMan, Dirt Creek: A Novel by Hayley Scrivenor
Lesbian Romance
Queerly Beloved by Susie Dumond
“Queerly Beloved” Is a Love Letter to Tulsa and Chosen Family
Additional finalists in this category: Hard Pressed by Aurora Rey, If I Don’t Ask by E. J. Noyes, Southbound and Down by K.B. Draper, The Rules of Forever by Nan Campbell
LGBTQ+ Romance and Erotica
The Romance Recipe by Ruby Barrett
Kiss Her Once For Me by Alison Cochrun
In a Year Full of Great Sapphic Holiday Romances, “Kiss Her Once for Me” Stood Out
Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner
Author Meryl Wilsner on Writing MILFs, Age Gaps, and Twisting Tropes
Additional finalists in this category: A Lady’s Finder by Edie Cay, Loose Lips: A Gay Sea Odyssey by Joseph Brennan
LGBTQ+ Studies
Lesbian Death: Desire and Danger between Feminist and Queer by Mairead Sullivan
Mairead Sullivan’s “Lesbian Death” Tells Us Why the L Isn’t Disappearing
Additional finalists in this category: Keeping It Unreal: Black Queer Fantasy and Superhero Comics by Darieck Scott, Sissy Insurgencies: A Racial Anatomy of Unfit Manliness by Marlon B. Ross, Surface Relations: Queer Forms of Asian American Inscrutability by Vivian L. Huang, There’s a Disco Ball Between Us: A Theory of Black Gay Life by Jafari S. Allen
Again, congratulations to ALL THE FINALISTS! The above just represent a portion of the shortlisted books and the 25 whopping categories. Make sure to check out the full list; keep checking the Autostraddle literature vertical for more LGBTQ+ book reviews, author interviews, lists, and features written by our all-queer team of critics and readers (we have new content almost daily!); and tune in for the Lambda Literary awards ceremony where the winners in each category will be announced on June 9, 2023 — there’s a virtual component as well as an in-person event in NYC. We love gay books!!!!
