June Publishing Notes

The buzz: Bertelsmann, which recently acquired Bookspan, is overhauling the book club business. Bookspan will close eight book clubs, including the popular GLBT Insightout Books. Former Insightout editor David Rosen is now Editor-in-Chief at a soon-to-be-launched Progressive Book Club, which hopes to continue ISO’s queer literary outreach. Perseus Books Group, which recently acquired Avalon Publishing Group, is eliminating the Avalon imprints Thunder’s Mouth and Carroll and Graf. Among the 24 positions eliminated in the downsizing was senior editor Don Weise. Winton Shoemaker & Co LLC has acquired Soft Skull Press. Beacon Press in Boston is launching Queer Action/Queer Ideas, a trade series edited by Michael Bronski. The first two books in the series will be Come Out and Win: Organizing Yourself, Your Community, and Your World by activist Sue Hyde and Out Law: What LGBT Youth Should Know about Their Legal Rights by journalist Lisa Keen. Floricanto Press is launching a new line of GLBT-themed books, with Carlos T. Mock as series editor. Up first are Papi Chulo: A Legend, A Novel, and the Puerto Rican Identity by Mock and Leo Cabranes-Grant's The Chat Room and Other Plays-a Puerto Rican Anthology. Emanuel Xavier will edit The First Modern Anthology of Latino GLBT Poetry-Mariposas for a Summer 2008 release. Winston Leyland has re-launched Gay Sunshine and Leyland Publications imprints. Lawrence Schimel has re-launched A Midsummer Night's Press. Founded in 1991, the press now publishes commercially-printed chapbooks under three imprints including Body Language: devoted to texts exploring questions of gender and sexual identity. The first title from this imprint will be a collection of poems by Lambda Literary Award-winner Achy Obejas. Toni Amato is the editor and publisher of a new literary journal, Concrete, published by Sideshow Press. Mystery writer Michael Nava, who is also an attorney, is being considered for a seat on San Francisco’s 1st District Court of Appeal. If chosen, he would become California’s first openly gay appellate justice. Edmund White’s play Terre Haute was recently performed in London. Disturbia screenwriter Christopher Landon will write the psychological thriller The Flock for Warner Independent Pictures. The movie will revolve around three teens accused of practicing witchcraft. Bryan Singer and Gus Van Sant are each eyeing separate projects about Harvey Milk. TLA has acquired the distribution rights to the upcoming film version of the hit off-Broadway musical Naked Boys Singing, headed into cinemas this fall.

Upcoming Readings: Contributors to Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys will read June 13 at A Different Light in Los Angeles, June 5th at the KGB Bar in Manhattan, June 19th at Borders Columbus Circle in Manhattan, and July 21 at Book Hampton in East Hampton. Lawrence Schimel will read from Fairy Tales for Writers June 3rd at Bluestockings Bookstore in New York City and will celebrate the release of The Mammoth Book of New Gay Erotica June 6th in Manhattan with Will Clark Presents Porno Bingo!

Kudos: Winners of the Arch and Bruce Brown Awards in Full-length fiction are: First Prize: Myrlin A. Hermes of Portland, Oregon for The Lunatic, the Lover and the Poet. Second Place Award: Joy Shayne Laughter of Seattle, Washington for Yu and Dick Wagenaar of Newburgh, New York for Koryo. Third Place Award: M.M. DeVoe of New York, New York for Burn in Our Hearts. Moises Kaufman received the Immigration Equality’s Global Vision Award at the Safe Havens Awards in New York City, which is produced as a means to increase awareness of immigration issues for gay families. Among this year’s recipients of fellowships from New York Foundation for the Arts were Clifford Chase and Aaron Smith.

Publishing Triangle Awards: Andrew Holleran received the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Publishing Triangle’s annual awards ceremony in New York City. Justin Chin, author of Gutted, won the Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry. Jennifer Rose, author of Hometown for an Hour, won the Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry. Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home, won the Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction. Kenji Yoshino, author Covering, won the Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction. Martin Hyatt, author of A Scarecrow's Bible, won the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction. Nancy Bereano won a special Leadership award in recognition of her long and distinguished service to GLBT literature, especially while the head of Firebrand Books. Lisa Carey, author of Every Visible Thing, won the Ferro-Grumley Award for Lesbian Fiction. Christopher Bram, author of Exiles in America, won the Ferro-Grumley Award for Gay Fiction. The Robert Chesley Foundation Award for playwriting was shared by Eric Bentley (Lifetime Achievement Award) and Chris Weikel (Emerging Artist).

Lambda Literary Awards: The Lambda Literary Awards were presented May 31, 2007 in Manhattan. The winners are: Anthology: Love, Bourbon Street, edited by Greg Herren & Paul J. Willis. Arts & Culture: GAY L.A. by Lillian Faderman & Stuart Timmons. Bisexual: The Bisexual's Guide to the Universe by Nicole Kristal & Michael Szymanski. Children’s/Young Adult (tie): Full Spectrum, edited by David Levithan & Billy Merrell and Between Mom & Jo by Julie Anne Peters. Drama/Theater: 1001 Beds by Tim Miller. Humor: My Lucky Star by Joe Keenan. LGBT Nonfiction (tie): GAY L.A. by Lillian Faderman & Stuart Timmons and Different Daughters by Marcia M. Gallo. LGBT Studies: Their Own Receive Them Not by Horace L. Griffin. Sci-fi/Fantasy/Horror: Izzy and Eve by Neal Drinnan. Spirituality: The After-Death Room by Michael McColly. Transgender: The Transgender Studies Reader, edited by Susan Stryker & Stephen Whittle. Lesbian Fiction: The Night Watch by Sarah Waters. Lesbian Romance: Fresh Tracks by Georgia Beers. Lesbian Mystery: The Art of Detection by Laurie R. King. Lesbian Poetry: Lemon Hound by Sina Queyras. Lesbian Memoir/Biography: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. Lesbian Erotica: Walk Like a Man by Laurinda D. Brown. Lesbian Debut Fiction: The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery. Gay Fiction: Suspension by Robert Westfield. Gay Romance: When the Stars Come Out by Rob Byrnes. Gay Mystery: The Lucky Elephant Restaurant by Garry Ryan. Gay Poetry: A History of My Tattoo by Jim Elledge. Gay Memoir/Biography: The Bill From My Father by Bernard Cooper. Gay Erotica: A History of Barbed Wire by Jeff Mann. Gay Debut Fiction: Suspension by Robert Westfield.

Passages: Terry Ryan, author of the memoir The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, later turned into a movie starring Julianne Moore, about how her mother kept the family financially afloat by winning jingle contests, died May 16, 2007, of cancer. She was 61. Ryan was the sixth of ten children. She was born on July 14, 1946, in Defiance, Ohio. Growing up in the middle, with five brothers, she earned the nickname “Tuff.” In the late ‘60s, she earned her bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and moved to Chicago and later to San Francisco. She worked there as a writer and cartoonist and also reviewed books and wrote poetry. She wrote her mother’s life story after her death at the age of 85 in 1998. She is survived by editor Pat Holt, her partner of nearly a quarter century, and five brothers and four sisters.