The winners of the 38th annual Lambda Literary Awards, or Lammys, honoring the best LGBTQ+ literature of the year, were announced on Friday, June 12. The prize for LGBTQ+ Comics went to Gaysians, the graphic novel by Mike Curato (published by Algonquin Books), which tells the semi-autobiographical story of a young gay Asian man, who befriends three other “gaysians” after moving to Seattle during the early 2000s.
In his acceptance speech, Curato thanked his family, partner, and more, including the friends who inspired the story, and encouraged the audience to continue to find joy in this constantly turbulent world. Other nominees for the award were Love, Misha, by Askel Aden; Precious Rubbish by Kayla E.; Soften the Blow, by Bread Tarleton; and Alison Bechdel‘s Spent.
Gaysians marked the first graphic novel for adults by Curato, who previously created the children’s picture book series Little Elliot, and the young adult OGN Flamer, for which he won the 2020 Lammy for LGBTQ Young Adult releases. Prior to this, Gaysians had won this year’s GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Graphic Novel, and a Stonewall Book Award from the American Library Association’s Rainbow Round Table.
Further winners this year included Jim! Six True Stories about One Great Artist: James Marshall, by Jerrold Connors, which won the Children’s Books prize; Chuck Forester (I Throw Like a Girl), who received the Lambda Literary’s Visionary Award (now renamed the Chuck Forester Queer Visionary Award); José Enrique Medina (Haunt Me) for the Samuel Prize for Emerging Writers Over 50; and Natalie Marlin (Ghost Tropic), who received the Holt Prize for Critical Arts Writing.
Congratulations to all the winners! You can check out the full list here, all of the nominees here, and watch the full ceremony here.
