Rainbow Round Table Announces the 2026 Stonewall Book Award Winners in Non-Fiction and Literature

CHICAGO — The 2026 Stonewall Book Awards for Adult Non-Fiction and Literature were announced Sunday, Jan. 25 by the Rainbow Roundtable of the American Library Association (ALA), during a virtual event.

“Dead Girl Cameo” by m. mick powell and published by One World, an imprint of Penguin Random House, and “Gaysians” by Mike Curato and published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. are the 2026 recipients of the Stonewall Book Awards – Barbara Gittings Poetry and Literature Awards, respectively. 

Three Barbara Gittings Literature Award Honor Titles were named:

• “Awakened” written by A.E. Osworth and published by Hachette Book Group
• “Let the Moon Wobble” written by Ally Ang and published by Alice James Books
• “The Lilac People” written by Milo Todd and published by Counterpoint Press

“Baldwin: A Love Story” by Nicholas Boggs and published by Farrar, Straus, & Giroux is the 2026 recipient of the Stonewall Book Awards – Israel Fishman Non-fiction Award.

Four Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award Honor Titles were named:

• “American Scare: Florida’s Hidden Cold War on Black and Queer Lives” written by Robert W. Fieseler and published by Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House
• “The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity 1869-1939” by Jonathan D. Katz and published by Monacelli Press, a Phaidon imprint
• “Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson” by Tourmaline and published by Tiny Reparations Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House
• “Seahorses: Trans, Nonbinary, and Gender-Expansive Pregnancy” by Simon Knaphus and published by PM Press

The members of the 2026 Stonewall Book Awards - Barbara Gittings Literature Award Adult Committee are: Samantha Garlock (chair), Mariah Elizabeth Busher, Leslie Flynn, Emily Anne Grosskopf, Jeremy Gunnoe, Caitlin Harrington, Mrs. Ziba Pérez, Hale Polebaum-Freeman, Emily Reeb, Calvin Silver, Talya Sokoll, Abigail Guidry, Laura Schmidt, Sam Woolhiser; with significant administrative support from Ahliah Bratzler.

The members of the 2026 Stonewall Book Awards - Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award Committee are: Dr. Ashley Shari McGuire (chair), Brian Ronald Candelori (chair), Tanner Duff Boeckmann, Melinda Borie, Gill Friedlander, Chad Harper, Dai Newman, Jordan Ostrum, Joseph Kevin Tuvera Sebastian, Robert O. Werner, Megan Whitt, and Sherry Wichitchu

The Stonewall Book Awards are given annually to English-language works that are of exceptional merit relating to the LGBTQIA+ experience.

About the American Library Association 
The American Library Association (ALA) is the foremost national organization providing resources to inspire library and information professionals to transform their communities through essential programs and services. For more than 140 years, the ALA has been the trusted voice for academic, public, school, government and special libraries, advocating for the profession and the library’s role in enhancing learning and ensuring access to information for all. For more information, visit www.ala.org