Date:         Mon, 13 Mar 1995 11:14:56 -0500
Reply-To: deacon.maccubbin@HIS.COM

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7TH ANNUAL LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

Lammy Finalists Show Gay Men and Lesbians Joining Forces


Washington, DC; March 1, 1995--Is it possible to speak of gay men and lesbian
women as a community? If this year's crop of Lambda Literary Award finalists
is any indication, the answer is yes.

Four out of the five books selected in the Gay and Lesbian Non-fiction
Anthology category this year included writing by both men and women.
Similarly, two of the Fiction Anthology nominees contained writings by both
gay men and lesbians, while at least three out of the five Photography/Visual
arts nominees took broad glances at the entire community. (We're not quite
sure how to describe the genders represented in Masked Culture, which depicts
Greenwich Village's annual Halloween parade.)

The nominees for the non-fiction anthology include SISTER AND BROTHER edited
by Joan Nestle and John Preston (HarperSanFrancisco), ONE TEACHER IN TEN
edited by Kevin Jennings (Alyson), OUT OF THE CLASS CLOSET edited by Julia
Penelope (Crossing), LONG ROAD TO FREEDOM edited by Mark Thompson (St.
Martin's), and THE QUEER READER edited by Patrick Higgins (New Press).
Fiction Anthology finalists are CHLOE PLUS OLIVIA edited by Lillian Faderman
(Viking), MEN ON MEN 5 edited by David Bergman (Plume), HIGH RISK 2 edited by
Ira Silverberg and Amy Scholder (Plume), THE VERY INSIDE edited by Sharon
Lim-Hing (Sister Vision), and LAVENDER MANSIONS edited by Irene Zahava
(Westview Press). The nominees in Photography/Visual Arts are FAMILY by Nancy
Andrews (HarperSanFrancisco), OUT IN AMERICA by Out Magazine (Viking Studio),
MASKED CULTURE by Jack Kugelmass (Columbia University Press), LONG ROAD TO
FREEDOM edited by Mark Thompson (St. Martin's), and THE ART OF THE MALE NUDE
by Jim French (State of Man).

The increasing number of gay and lesbian books directed toward teenagers is
seen in this year's Children's/Young Adult category, where four of the five
finalists were aimed at the young adult market. Debut fiction made a strong
showing in both Gay Men's and Lesbian fiction categories, including HOUSE
RULES by Heather Lewis (Doubleday/Nan Talese), CHELSEA GIRLS by Eileen Myles
(Black Sparrow), STIR FRY by Emma Donoghue (HarperCollins), CULTURAL
REVOLUTION by Norman Wong (Persea Books), AMERICAN STUDIES by Mark Merlis
(Houghton Mifflin), and SACRED LIPS OF THE BRONX by Doug Sadownick (St.
Martin's). Joining these newcomers on the fiction list were THE DYKE AND THE
DYBBUK by Ellen Galford, an American writer now living in Scotland, GIFTS OF
THE BODY by Rebecca Brown, a British writer now living in the Pacific
Northwest, the FOLDING STAR by the English writer Alan Hollinghurst, whose
SWIMMING POOL LIBRARY won a Lammy at the first annual banquet in 1988, and
NIGHTSWIMMER by Joseph Olshan, whose novel CLARA'S HEART became a major
motion picture starring Whoopi Goldberg.

The list of nominees also provides a sad reminder of the devastation AIDS is
visiting upon the gay community. Nominees John Boswell (SAME SEX UNIONSI),
Paul Monette (LAST WATCH OF THE NIGHT, WEST OF YESTERDAY, EAST OF SUMMER),
Assotto Saint (WISHING FOR WINGS), John Preston (SISTER AND BROTHER, MY LIFE
AS A PORNOGRAPHER), and David Feinberg (QUEER AND LOATHING) have all died in
the past year.

A large number of this year's finalists were recognized in more than one
category. Paul Monette was nominated three times, while Ellen Galford,
Dorothy Allison, Sapphire, Lillian Faderman, Mabel Maney, Mark Thompson and
the Canadian writers' collective Kiss and Tell were all nominated twice.

"The sold-out attendance at last year's banquet was a solid measure of the
depth of interest in gay and lesbian publishing," said Deacon Maccubbin,
publisher of the "Lambda Book Report," which sponsors the award. "This year's
outpouring of books reflects the undiminished strength of the gay and lesbian
book boom."

The Lambda Literary Award categories continue to be adjusted, reflecting
changes within the gay and lesbian publishing world. This year saw the debut
of a photography/visual arts category, while anthologies, long a mainstay in
bringing new gay and lesbian work to the public, were recognized with fiction
and nonfiction categories. Mainstream houses, small presses, and gay and
lesbian presses almost equally contributed finalists, with about a dozen
books falling in each category. In addition, gay and lesbian books in
English, printed in other countries and distributed in the United States,
were eligible for the first time this year. Two Canadian published books --
THE VERY INSIDE, ed. by Sharon Lim-Hing (Sister Vision) and HER TONGUE ON MY
THEORY, KISS AND TELL (Press Gang) -- were finalists.

Penguin USA remained a strong force in gay and lesbian publishing, having a
total of 11 nominees, followed by St. Martin's Press with 8 nominees and
HarperCollins with seven. Alyson Publications led the gay and lesbian presses
with three finalists.

The Lambda Literary Awards have a three tier selection process. A list of
nominees is assembled from nominating ballots sent in by readers: this year,
nearly 400,000 ballots were distributed nationwide, with an unknown number of
ballots also distributed electronically through Internet newsgroups and
listservs. The more than 500 books nominated were narrowed down to five
finalists in each category by a finalist committee that included gay and
lesbian booksellers and publishing professionals, members of the lesbian and
gay press, and the staff of the "Lambda Book Report." Ninety-eight judges,
representing a broad cross-section of the entire lesbian and gay literary
community, will select a single book in each category from among the
finalists. Award recipients will be announced at a formal gala reception and
banquet at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, on Friday, June 2,
1995 during the American Booksellers Association Convention.

Tickets to the 7th Annual Lambda Literary Awards will be $60. A limited
number of scholarship tickets will be available at $35 for those on limited
incomes. For further information about the awards program or banquet tickets,
please contact Lambda BOOK REPORT, 1625 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington,
DC, 20009-1013 or phone the LAMMYS LINE at (202) 462-7924. Inquiries may also
be sent by e-mail to lambdabookreport@his.com