Eskridge, Waters win 2001 ALA Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Book Awards

Contact: Larra Clark


312-280-5043


lclark@ala.org

ALA News Release


For Immediate Release


January 2001

Eskridge, Waters win 2001 ALA Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Book Awards

"Gaylaw: Challenging the Apartheid of the Closet," by William N. Eskridge and "Affinity," by Sarah Waters received top honors from the American Library Association (ALA) Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered (GLBT) Book Awards Committee.

"Gaylaw," published by Harvard University Press, was named the winner of the GLBT Book Award for non-fiction at the Midwinter Meeting of the ALA held January 12-16 in Washington, DC. The literature award went to "Affinity," published by Riverhead (Penguin Putnam).

The GLBT Book Award, established in 1971 and sponsored by ALA's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Round Table, is the oldest award of its kind to recognize excellence in GLBT literature.

“In 'Gaylaw,' Eskridge articulates an original postmodern theoretical framework for interpretation of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues in the law,” said GLBT Book Awards Chair Anne Moore. “This is the first work to bring context to current legal cases, from
Bowers v. Hardwick to
Romer v. Evans.”

John Bradford, vice-chair/chair-elect of the book awards committee, lauded Water’s fictional works.

“Waters’ empathetic depiction of women’s rich emotional lives in Victorian England in her novels, "Tipping the Velvet," and "Affinity," gains power from her extensive historical research and skill with language,” he said.

The committee also named several honor books for fiction/literature. These are:

  • "Breakfast With Scot,"by Michael Downing and published by Counterpoint;
  • "The Danish Girl," by David Ebershoff and published by Viking;
  • "The Night Listener," by Armistead Maupin and published by Harper Collins;
  • "The World in Us: Lesbian and Gay Poetry of the Next Wave," edited by Michael Lassell and Elena Georgiu, published by St. Martin’s Press

Honor books for the nonfiction are:

  • "Janet, My Mother and Me: A Memoir of Growing Up with Janet Flanner and Natalia Danesi Murray,"by William Murray, published by Simon and Schuster
  • "Lesbian and Gay Voices: An Annotated Bibliography and Guide to Literature for Children and Young Adults," by Francis Ann Day, published by Greenwood
  • "Losing Matt Shepard," by Beth Loffreda, published by Columbia University Press
  • "Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned," by Judd Winnick, published by Henry Holt

"Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned," also was recognized as an honor book for the Robert F. Sibert Award for most distinguished informational books for children. This award is administered by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the ALA.

The GLBT awards will be presented to winners at the ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco in June 2001.

Members of this year's book awards committee include: Chair, Anne Moore, University of Massachusetts-Amherst Library; Ellen Bosman, Indiana University Northwest Library; John Bradford, Galaxy.com, Austin, Texas; David Garnes, University of Connecticut Library; Sarah Holmes, Boston; James Hoogstra, Manager, Detroit Public Library; Alison Hopkins, Queens Borough (N.Y.) Public Library; Gary McMillan, Washington, D.C.; Susan E. Parker, California State University, Northridge Library; Nancy Silverrod, San Francisco Public Library; Victor Schill, Harris County (Texas) Public Library; Steve Stratton, Virginia Commonwealth University Library; Ed Teague, University of Oregon Library; and Karen Whittlesley, American Theological Library Association.