Lambda Literary Foundation


The Lambda Literary Foundation is an American LGBT literary organization that aims to promote lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender literature through programs that encourage development of emerging writers.

Function

The Lambda Literary Foundation was incorporated in 1997, but traces its roots to the first publication of the Lambda Book Report in 1987. The foundation promotes LGBT literature via the annual Lambda Literary Award, the Writers' Retreat for Emerging LGBT Voices, their website LambdaLiterary.org, their editorial staff Lambda Literary Review, their weekly e-newsletter Bookish, their annual anthology, their scholarships, and LGBTQ writers in schools program.

Lambda Literary Awards

The Annual Lambda Literary Awards honor "Excellence in LGBT literature" in various categories that change from year to year. Started in 1988, the Lambda Literary Awards are based principally on the LGBT content, the sexual orientation of the author and the literary merit of the work.

Writers' Retreat for Emerging LGBT Voices

The Writers’ Retreat for Emerging LGBT Voices was established in 2007 by the Lambda Literary Foundation, and was the first of its kind offered to LGBT writers. It is a one-week intensive immersion course in fiction, nonfiction, or poetry, aiming to allow new writers learn from established writers in the LGBT community. Faculty have included Dorothy Allison, Claire Carmichael, Bernard Cooper, Elana Dykewomon, Katherine V. Forrest, Rigoberto González, Eloise Klein Healy, Fenton Johnson, Joy Ladin, Michael Nava, D. A. Powell, John Rechy, Ellen Bass, Sarah Schulman, Ryka Aoki, Ellery Washington and Nicola Griffith.

Anthology

In 2016, Lambda published their first hardback, Anthology, Emerge: 2015 Lambda Fellows Anthology, which was written by the 2015 Lambda literary fellows.

Scholarships

Lambda offers a variety of scholarships to emerging LGBT voices most recently adding scholarships in honor of transgender writer Bryn Kelly and feminist writer Jeanne Cordova.