Lambda Literary is pleased to announce that it will be the new home of the largest monetary prize awarded exclusively to an LGBT writer: The Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists’ Prize. The award, made possible by James Duggins, PhD, consists of two cash awards of five thousand dollars and is unprecedented in its category as well as its value.
Previously presented at the Saints and Sinners annual writers conference in New Orleans, The Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists’ Prize will now be featured at the annual Lambda Literary Awards beginning in 2011. It will be awarded in perpetuity under the auspices of Dr. Duggins’s donor-advised fund at Horizons Foundation.
Lambda Literary’s Board of Trustees is in the process of forming a panel of Grant Advisors to choose candidates according to the following criteria established by Dr. Duggins:
* The award will be presented to one self-identified man and one self-identified woman, and age will not be a factor in defining mid-career.
* The award will recognize emergent LGBT authors who have written and published at least three novels or two novels and a substantial additional literary work such as poetry, short stories, essays.
* The authors will be of demonstrated ability and show promise for growth.
* Candidates’ contributions to the LGBT literary field beyond their writings and publications will also be considered.
The Grant Advisors for the award will be distinguished members of the writing community with knowledge of LGBT literature, and will recommend recipients for the awards for approval from the Board of Trustees.
Lambda Literary Foundation is proud and honored to be the home of this generous and career-enhancing award.
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A U.S. Navy Journalist in the Pacific (Korean War), Jim studied with James Michener and Bill Lederer. He graduated from San Francisco State, and received his PhD from UC Berkeley. He taught English and Speech at high school and community college, and retired as a professor from San Francisco State. He is co-author of Hooked on Books (Berkley Books), compiled Teaching Reading for Human Values (Charles Merrill), and has written many articles for academic journals (The English Journal, The Journal of Reading, Wilson Library Journal,); his memoir “A Rock and a Hard Place” appeared in Love, Castro Street: Reflections of San Francisco (Alyson Press, 2007). He now writes fiction full time and his love of history has produced the historical novels The Power: A Novel of Voodoo, the forthcoming sequel, Slave Stealer, and he is at work on two more. He divides his time between the desert in southern California and his house in Mexico where he collects Mexican Folk Art and is a regular contributor to museums around the United States.
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The Lambda Literary Foundation nurtures, celebrates, and preserves LGBT literature through programs that honor excellence, promote visibility and encourage development of emerging writers. LLF’s programs include: the Lambda Literary Awards, the Writers’ Retreat for Emerging LGBT Voices, and our comprehensive website, www.LambdaLiterary.org. For more information call (213) 568-3570.
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