Founded 14 years ago by The Lambda Literary Foundation, The Lambda Literary Awards recognize the year’s top writers in the gay/lesbian genre of literature. Informally called the “Lammys,” The Lambda Literary Awards span a broad array of specific literary genres in both the writing and publishing sectors of the bookselling industry. We have listed the winners in the fiction and nonfiction genres for the last ten years.

2003
Lesbian Fiction: Southland, Nina Revoyr
Gay Fiction: Lives of the Circus Animals, Christopher Bram
Studies: Time on Two Crosses, Devon W. Carbado and Donald Weise, eds.

2002
Lesbian Fiction: Fingersmith, Sarah Waters
Gay Fiction: At Swim Two Boys, Jamie O’Neill
Studies: Sex Crime Panic, Neil Miller

2001
Lesbian Fiction: Valencia, Michelle Tea
Gay Fiction: The World of Normal Boys, K.M. Soehnlein
Lesbian Studies: Lesbian Art in America, Harmony Hammond
Gay Studies: The Isherwood Century, James J. Berg and Chris Freeman

2000
Lesbian Fiction: Valencia, Michelle Tea
Gay Fiction: The World of Normal Boys, K. M. Soehnlein
Lesbian Studies: Lesbian Art in America, Harmony Hammond
Gay Studies: The Isherwood Century, James J. Berg & Chris Freeman

1999
No Awards

1998
Lesbian Fiction: Cavedweller, Dorothy Allison
Gay Fiction: An Arrow’s Flight, Mark Merlis
Lesbian Studies: A Fragile Union, Joan Nestle
Gay Studies: The Other Side of Silence, John Loughery

1997
Lesbian Fiction: Beyond the Pale, Elana Dykewomon
Gay Fiction: The Far Euphrates, Aryeh Lev Stollman
Lesbian Studies: does your momma know?, Lisa C. Moore
Gay Studies: Gay Metropolis, Charles Kaiser

1996
Lesbian Fiction: Memory Mambo, Achy Obejas
Gay Fiction: Funny Boy, Shyam Selvadurai
Lesbian Studies: Love Between Women, Bernadette J. Brooten
Gay Studies: Boys Like Us, Patrick Merla

1995
Lesbian Fiction: Autobiography of a Family Photo, Jacqueline Woodson
Gay Fiction: Flesh and Blood, Michael Cunningham
Lesbian Studies: Dyke Life, Karla Jay
Gay Studies: De Los Otro, Joseph Carrier

1994
Lesbian Fiction: The Folding Star, Alan Hollinghurst
Gay Fiction: Gifts of the Body, Rebecca Brown
Lesbian Studies: Skin, Dorothy Allison
Gay Studies: Gay New York, George Chauncey

1993
Lesbian Fiction: Written on the Body, Jeanette Winterson
Gay Fiction: Living Upstairs, Joseph Hansen
Lesbian Studies: Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold, Elizabeth Kennedy & Madeline Davis
Gay Studies: Conduct Unbecoming, Randy Shilts

1992
Lesbian Fiction: Running Fiercely Toward a High Thin Sound, Judith Katz
Gay Fiction: Let the Dead Bury Their Dead, Randall Kenan
Lesbian Nonfiction: Eleanor Roosevelt, Blanche Wiesen Cook
Gay Nonfiction: Becoming a Man, Paul Monette

1991
Lesbian Fiction: Revolution of Little Girls, Blanche McCrary Boyd
Gilda Stories, Jewelle Gomez
Gay Fiction: What the Dead Remember, Harlan Greene
Murder By Tradition, Katherine V. Forrest
Lesbian Nonfiction: Cancer in Two Voices, Sandra Butler & Barbara Rosenblum
Gay Nonfiction: Zuni Man-Woman, Will Roscoe

Other Awards