06/22/2026
A Message to Our Community:
At our 38th Annual Lambda Literary Awards, we navigated several technical challenges during the ceremony resulting in a disappointing and less-than-celebratory experience for the authors we adore so much. Honestly, it breaks our hearts to know that what was meant to be a night of celebration and recognition ended up being such a let down.
Specifically, there were instances where winners were announced before the finalists had been recognized, cheapening the honor. And, for that we are deeply sorry. We know how much time, energy, soul, and sacrifice goes into crafting your creativity and thoughts into written word. In fact, all we want is to uplift LGBTQ+ authors and that did not happen as we had planned.
We have done our research and are working diligently to prevent this from ever happening again. At the end of the day, the technical issues that were out of our control should not have prevented us from honoring the finalists differently. So, to make up for our mistakes, we are making the categories that were affected public.
Le***an Romance Finalists
Bed and Breakup // Susie Dumond. The Dial Press
Hot Tea & Bird Calls // Evie Marque. Self-published
House of Rayne // Harley Laroux. Kensington Publishing Corporation
Ladies in Hating // Alexandra Vasti. St. Martin’s Griffin
The Woman from the Waves // Roslyn Sinclair. Self-published
LGBTQ+ Comics Finalists
Gaysians // Mike Curato. Algonquin Books
Love, Misha // Askel Aden. First Second
Precious Rubbish // Kayla E. Fantagraphics
Soften the Blow // Bread Tarleton. Fieldmouse Press
Spent // Alison Bechdel. Mariner Books
We love our authors and we know that each of these finalists have produced what we would call a “great read” and hope you will do your own research by reading these titles this year.
With gratitude for your time,
Jozie Clapp
Executive Director
