Stonewall Book Award-Barbara Gittings Literature Award and the Stonewall Book Award-Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award are presented to English language works published the year prior to the announcement date. The award, which consists of a commemorative plaque and a cash stipend, is announced in January and presented to the winning authors or editors at the American Library Association Annual Conference in June.

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Stonewall Book Awards

The first and most enduring award for GLBT books is the Stonewall Book Awards, sponsored by the American Library Association's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table. Since Isabel Miller's Patience and Sarah received the first award in 1971, many other books have been honored for exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered experience.

The Stonewall Book Award-Barbara Gittings Literature Award and the Stonewall Book Award-Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award are presented to English language works published the year prior to the announcement date. The award, which consists of a commemorative plaque and a cash stipend, is usually announced in January and presented to the winning authors or editors at the American Library Association Annual Conference in June or July.

Generally, recommendations for nomination for the Book Awards may be made by any individual not affiliated with the author or publisher of the book being nominated. A short statement describing why a book is being recommended for nomination must accompany the recommendation, which must be submitted to the Stonewall Book Awards Committee by October 31 of each year. For complete information about the nomination process, please consult the Book Awards Committee rules.

Recommendations for nomination may be sent to the current Chair:
Elizabeth Briggs
East Carolina University
1421 Joyner Library
Greenville, NC 27858
e-mail: briggse@ecu.edu

Winners for: 1971, 1972 , 1973 , 1974 , 1975 , 1976 , 1977 , 1978 , 1979 , 1980 , 1981 , 1982 , 1983 , 1984 , 1985 , 1986 , 1987 , 1988 , 1989 , 1990 , 1991 , 1992 , 1993 , 1994 , 1995 , 1996 , 1997 , 1998 , 1999 , 2000 , 2001 , 2002 , 2003 , 2004 , 2005 , 2006 , 2007 , 2008

History of the Stonewall Book Awards

The history of the Book Awards mirrors the growth of the GLBT publishing industry. Although in the first years of the award the committee had only a handful of books from which to choose, by 1995 they had to select the winners from a list of over 800 eligible titles.

Originally a grassroots acknowledgment honoring hallmark works in GLBT publishing, the Gay Book Award (as it was originally known) became an official American Library Association award in 1986. The next year, its name was changed to the Gay and Lesbian Book Award. Beginning in 1990, the Book Award expanded into two categories: nonfiction and literature. In 1994, the name changed once more to the Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Book Award. In 1999, when the Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Task Force became the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table, the name changed yet again to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Book Award. In 2002, the name changed to the Stonewall Book Award-Barbara Gittings Literature Award and the Stonewall Book Award-Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award.

The committee that surveys these multitudes of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender publications is made up of equal numbers of female- and male-identified members from various types of libraries across the United States. Ultimately, the committee must review the nominees and select five finalists each in the categories of nonfiction and literature. The winners are chosen from among these five finalists.

Please consider financial support to allow us to continue the tradition of honoring the finest in GLBT literature. For more information, visit the making donations page. Thank you.


2008

Stonewall Book Awards - Barbara Gittings Literature Award: Ellis Avery, "The Teahouse fire" (Riverhead Books)

Stonewall Book Awards - Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award: Mark Doty, "Dog Years: A Memoir" (HarperCollins)

The Stonewall honor books in literature are:
“Bow Grip” by Ivan E. Coyote (Arsenal Pulp Press)
“Dark Reflections” by Samuel R. Delany (Carroll & Graf Publishers)
“The Indian Clerk: A Novel” by David Leavitt (Bloomsbury; Distributed to the trade by Holtzbrinck Publishers)
“The IHOP Papers” by Ali Liebegott (Carroll & Graf Publishers)

The Stonewall honor books in non-fiction are:
“Transparent: Love, Family, and Living the T with Transgender Teenagers” by Cris Beam (Harcourt)
“The Grand Surprise: The Journals of Leo Lerman” edited by Stephen Pascal (Alfred A. Knopf)
“Two lives: Gertrude and Alice” by Janet Malcolm (Yale University Press)
“Mississippi Sissy” by Kevin Sessums (St. Martin's Press)

2007

Stonewall Book Awards - Barbara Gittings Literature Award: Andrew Holleran, "Grief" (Hyperion)

Stonewall Book Awards - Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award: Alison Bechdel, "Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic" (Houghton Mifflin)

The Stonewall honor books in literature are:
“The Manny Files” by Christian Burch (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
“The Night Watch” by Sarah Waters (Riverhead Books)
“Rose of No Man's Land: A Novel” by Michelle Tea (MacAdam/Cage Publishing)
“A Scarecrow's Bible” by Martin Hyatt (Suspect Thoughts Press)

The Stonewall honor books in non-fiction are:
“Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights” by Kenji Yoshino (Random House)
“Gay Power: An American Revolution” by David Eisenbach (Carroll & Graf)
“Male-Male Intimacy in Early America: Beyond Romantic Friendships” by William Benemann (Harrington Park Press)
“Mama's Boy, Preacher's Son: A Memoir” by Kevin Jennings (Beacon Press)

2006

Stonewall Book Awards- Barbara Gittings Literature Award: Abha Dawesar, "Babyji: a novel" (Anchor Books)

Stonewall Book Awards- Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award: Joshua Gamson, "The fabulous Sylvester: the legend, the music, the seventies in San Francisco" (H. Holt)

The Stonewall honor books in literature are:
"Acqua calda" by Keith McDermott (Carroll & Graf Publishers)
"The first verse: a novel" by Barry McCrea (Carroll & Graf Publishers)
"Mother of sorrows" by Richard McCann (Pantheon Books)
"The wild creatures: collected stories of Sam D'Allesandro" by Sam D'Allesandro; edited by Kevin Killian (Suspect Thoughts Press)

The Stonewall honor books in non-fiction are:
"My one-night stand with cancer" by Tania Katan (Alyson Books)
"Queer London: perils and pleasures in the sexual metropolis, 1918-1957" by Matt Houlbrook (University of Chicago Press)
"The secret life of Oscar Wilde" by Neil McKenna (Basic Books)
"The tragedy of today's gays" by Larry Kramer (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin)

2005

Stonewall Book Awards- Barbara Gittings Literature Award: Colm Tóibín, "The Master: Novel" (Scribner)

Stonewall Book Awards- Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award: Joan Roughgarden, "Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and in People" (University of California Press)

The Stonewall honor books in literature are:
"I Am My Own Wife: a Play" by Doug Wright (Faber & Faber)
"The Line of Beauty" by Alan Hollinghurst (Bloomsbury)
"Luna: a Novel" by Julie Anne Peters (Megan Tingley Books, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company)
"A Seahorse Year" by Stacey D'Erasmo (Houghton Mifflin)

The Stonewall honor books in non-fiction are:
"Beyond Shame: Reclaiming the Abandoned History of Radical Gay Sexuality" by Patrick Moore (Beacon Press)
"Both: a Portrait in Two Parts" by Douglas Crase (Pantheon)
"Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim" by David Sedaris (Little, Brown and Company)
"Warrior Poet: a Biography of Audre Lorde" by Alexis De Veaux (W. W. Norton)

2004

Stonewall Book Awards- Barbara Gittings Literature Award: Monique Truong,"The Book of Salt" (Houghton Mifflin Company)

Stonewall Book Awards- Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award: John D'Emilio,"Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin" (Free Press)

The Stonewall honor books in literature are:
"Cutting Room" by Louise Welsh (Canongate)
"Keeping you a Secret" by Julie Ann Peters (Little, Brown & Co.)
"Lives of the Circus Animals: a Novel" by Christopher Bram (William Morrow)
"Southland" by Nina Revoyr (Akashic Books)

The Stonewall honor books in non-fiction are:
"Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith" by Andrew Wilson (Bloomsbury)
Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context edited by Vern L. Bullough, R.N., Ph.D. (Harrington Park Press)
Intertwined Lives: Margaret Mead,Ruth Benedict, and their Circle by Lois W. Banner(Knopf)
"Ridiculous!: The Theatrical Life and Times of Charles Ludlam by David Kaufman (Applause Books)

2003

Stonewall Book Awards-Barbara Gittings Literature Award:Noel Alumit, Letters to Montgomery Clift : a Novel, (MacAdam/Cage Pub) ISBN: 1931561028

Stonewall Book Awards-Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award:Joanne Meyerowitz, How Sex Changed: a History of Transsexuality in the United States, ( Harvard University Press) ISBN: 0674009258

Stonewall Book Awards Non-Fiction Honor Books:

Stonewall Book AwardsLiterature Honor Books:

2002

Stonewall Book Awards-Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award:Werth, Barry. The Scarlet Professor: Newton Arvin, a Literary Life Shattered by Scandal. (Nan A. Talese) ISBN 0385494688

Stonewall Book Awards-Barbara Gittings Literature Award:Kaufman, Moisés, and the Tectonic Theatre Project. The Laramie Project. (Vintage Books) ISBN 0375727191

Stonewall Book Awards Non-Fiction Honor Books:

Stonewall Book Awards Literature Honor Books:

2001

Stonewall Book Award: Nonfiction

Stonewall Book Award: Literature

Stonewall Book Awards Non-Fiction Honor Books:

Stonewall Book Awards Literature Honor Books:

2000

Stonewall Book Award: Nonfiction

Stonewall Book Award: Literature

Other Non-Fiction Finalists:

Other Literature Finalists :

1999

Stonewall Book Award: Nonfiction

Stonewall Book Award: Literature

Other Non-Fiction Finalists:

Other Literature Finalists :

1998

Stonewall Book Award: Nonfiction

Stonewall Book Award: Literature

Other Non-Fiction Finalists:

Other Literature Finalists

1997

Nonfiction

Literature

Other Nonfiction Finalists

Other Literature Finalists

1996

Nonfiction

Literature

Other Nonfiction Finalists

Other Literature Finalists

1995

Nonfiction

Literature

Other Nonfiction Finalists

Other Literature Finalists

1994

Nonfiction

Literature

Other Nonfiction Finalists

Other Literature Finalists

1993

Nonfiction

Literature

Other Nonfiction Finalists

Other Literature Finalists

1992

Nonfiction

Literature

Other Nonfiction Finalists

Other Literature Finalists

1991

Nonfiction

Literature

Other Nonfiction Finalists

Other Literature Finalists

1990

Nonfiction

Literature

Other Nonfiction Finalists

Other Literature Finalists

1989

1988

1987

1986

1985

1984

1983

No award given.

1982

1981

1980

1979

1978

1977

1976

No award given.

1975

1974

1973

No award given.

1972

1971

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