It’s time to get real. In the first year of this website’s publication, 2008, all of the books QueerReader recommended were written by white people. Last year none of them were. It’s important to keep in mind that 2019 was an extraordinarily strong year for queer lit. Maybe that had something to do with the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Whatever the reason, there’s no denying people of color dominated queer lit last year.
Let’s start with poetry. QueerReader strongly recommended Jericho Brown’s The Tradition. What makes this volume so remarkable is nothing less than an entirely new poetic form. Mr. Brown’s defines this as “The Duplex” and scholars will be studying this for years. For this queer reader, the result is poetry that is both readable and surprising. If for some reason you haven’t heard this by now, earlier this month it was announced that The Tradition won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. It’s also a finalist for Lambda’s Gay Poetry Award.
At long last, Bernardine Evaristo is getting the attention she deserves. QueerReader strongly recommended Ms. Evaristo’s 2014 novel, Mr. Loverman. And it also won the Publishing Triangle Award. This year she won The Booker Prize for Girl, Woman, Other. This is important. Because Ms. Evaristo is the first black woman to win The Booker Prize. And because this is a landmark feminist novel–presenting the stories of twelve women in an innovative, sometimes experimental style. But please, don’t be put off by the “importance” of this book. Above all, this is a delightful read. In specific, Ms. Evaristo’s depiction of the self-concsiously clever London theater set made this Queer Reader laugh out loud.
In almost any other year, just about all of the Queer Lit world’s attention would be focused on Nicole Dennis-Benn’s Patsy. This exceptional novel tells the story of one queer woman’s pursuit of happiness. In this case she is a forgotten woman: a Jamaican immigrant, without papers. But Ms. Dennis-Benn brilliantly shows us just how much her life matters. This is a page-turner–a great story. Keep tissues handy. Patsy is a finalist for Lambda’s Lesbian Fiction Award.
What sets Saeed Jones’s memoir apart is quite simply the quality of his writing. Though the title implies a polemic, How We Fight For Our Lives is so much more than that. It is the story of the coming of age of an enormously talented African-American gay man in troubled times. It is the story of generational acceptance and ultimately, self-acceptance. How We fight For Our Lives won The Publishing Triangle’s Randy Shilts Award for Gay Non-Fiction. And it’s a finalist for Lambda’s Gay Memoir Award.
Finally, let’s take a good look at Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. It’s important that we not forget just how great this novel is. In a style that is both lyrical and realistic, Mr. Vuong tells two life stories: a woman’s survival of The Vietnam War and her immigration to the United States and the coming of age story of her queer grandson. QueerReader strongly recommended Mr. Vuong’s poetry collection Night Sky With Exit Wounds and it’s not hard to see that a poet wrote this novel. But Mr. Vuong is wise not to lapse into poetry here. Instead, he hovers on the edge of it. The result is a soulful, transcendental style that is all his own. In September it was announced that Ocean Vuong won the MacArthur Foundation’s Genius Award. Last month it was announced that On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous won The Publishing Triangle’s Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ Fiction. And it’s a finalist for Lambda’s Gay Fiction Award.
The literary awards season isn’t quite over yet, but it isn’t too early to announce that Queer Lit is more diverse than ever. And that’s a good thing.
Jericho Brown’s The Tradition is published by Copper Canyon Press.
Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other is published by Penguin Press.
Nicole Dennis-Benn’s Patsy is published by Liveright Publishing.
Saeed Jones How We Fight For Our Lives is published by Simon and Schuster
Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is published by Penguin Press.
Ocean Vuong’s Night Sky with Exit Wounds is published by Copper Canyon Press.
5/19/2020
UPDATE 6/1/20 Today it was announced that Nicole Dennis-Benn’s Patsy won Lambda’s Lesbian Fiction Award. And Saeed Jones’s How We Fight For Our Lives won Lambda’s Gay Memoir Award. Click here for the complete list of the winners.