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Winners of the Second Annual Bisexual Book Awards Announced

New York, NY-The Second Annual Bisexual Book Awards ceremony, organized by the Bi Writers Association (BWA), took place on Sat, May 31, honoring six categories of bisexual books and two special categories, for books published in 2013. The bisexual book categories were for Fiction, Non-fiction, Speculative Fiction (which includes Sci-fi, Fantasy, Horror and more), Teen/Young Adult Fiction, Biography/Memoir and Erotic Fiction/Erotica. The Bisexual Book Publisher of the Year award rewards publishers for publishing multiple, quality bi-themed books and Bi Writer of the Year is reserved for an out bi writer whose book is notable and influential.
"Even though this is only our second outing, we have attracted more bisexual book nominations than any other literary awards in history--with a total of sixty books," says Bi Writers Association founder/director Sheela Lambert, "adding weight to the notion: 'if you build it, they will come.' We are thrilled that so many quality books were nominated and thrilled that the work we've been doing to encourage publication of bisexual books over the past eight years has been working! We hope this momentum continues," says Lambert.
The dedicated judges, one team for each of the six categories, spent over five months reading, critiquing and deliberating; first picking a list of finalists, then from that narrowed down list, picking the winners. The finalist and winners of the two special awards were chosen by BWA director Sheela Lambert.
Two publishers, Circlet Press and Riverdale Avenue Books, stood out this year for several reasons: they each published and nominated multiple bisexual books, they each had finalists in the awards and they each are dedicated to publishing bisexual material. "I was having the toughest time deciding which one deserved the award. Eventually I gave up and called it a tie!," said Lambert.
Shiri Eisner was chosen as the Bi Writer of the Year. Her book, "Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution" was the first book on bisexual politics published in a long time and was not only comprehensive and thought provoking, it was also influential. It inspired a Bi Book Club in New York City formed solely to study that one book, one chapter per meeting, for eight meetings. Which has now inspired BWA to start its own Bi Book Club to study other bisexual books and discuss the issues they raise.
The awards ceremony was augmented by a fabulous presentation visual by BiRequest leader Paul Nocera, showing the finalist books arranged in circles around the points of the star topping the award trophy with a bi pride flag in the background.
The awards ceremony was preceded by Bi Lines VII, a multi-arts reading by several nominated finalists of the Bisexual Book Awards, with musical interludes and visual art. There was also a couple of readings by contributors to Best Bi Short Stories, an anthology of bisexual literary fiction in multiple-genres that came out the day of the awards and will be eligible next year.
BWA director Sheela Lambert hosted the awards and was joined by LGBT literary star, author/publisher Cecilia Tan (Slow Surrender/Circlet Press) and bi community fan favorite author Ann Herendeen (Pride/Prejudice, Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander) in handing them out. Of course, Tan could only hand out awards Circlet Press was not up for, which was joked about from the stage, since Circlet had finalists in three of the eight awards.
After the awards, performers, award winners and audience decamped to the afterparty nearby at Café Gitane at the Jane Hotel where food and drinks were imbibed and much literary conversation was had.
Second Annual Bisexual Book Awards Winners:
Bisexual Fiction: The City of Devi by Manil Suri, W. W. Norton & Company
Bisexual Non-fiction: Anything That Loves: Comics Beyond Gay and Straight edited by Charles “Zan” Christensen, Northwest Press
Bisexual Speculative Fiction [Sci-fi/Fantasy/Horror/Etc.]: Pantomime by Laura Lam, Strange Chemistry
Bisexual Teen/Young Adult Fiction: Inheritance by Malinda Lo, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Bisexual Biography/Memoir: The Blind Masseuse: A Traveler’s Memoir from Costa Rica to Cambodia, Alden Jones, Terrace Books/The University of Wisconsin Press
Bisexual Erotic Fiction/Erotica: The Reunion by Adriana Kraft, B&B Publishing
Bisexual Book Publisher of the Year: (Tie) Circlet Press and Riverdale Avenue Books
For more articles and photos on Bi Lines VII & Bisexual Book Awards:
Bi Lines VII multi-arts reading wowed audience-includes photo slideshow!
More photos of Bi Lines VII and the Bisexual Book Awards
Photos of Bi Lines VII by Efrain John Gonzalez
Photos of the Bisexual Book Awards Ceremony by Efrain John Gonzalez

Manil Suri receiving his award for Bisexual Fiction for "The City of Devi" from BWA Director Sheela Lambert.
Winners of the Second Annual Bisexual Book Awards

Bisexual Book Awards displayed on the Bi Pride Flag / Photo by Truc Kempner
On Saturday May 31st, the winners of our second annual Bisexual Book Awards were announced at a ceremony following Bi Lines VII, our annual multi-arts reading. The winners are:
Bisexual Fiction: The City of Devi by Manil Suri, W. W. Norton & Company
Bisexual Non-fiction: Anything That Loves: Comics Beyond Gay and Straight edited by Charles “Zan” Christensen, Northwest Press
Bisexual Speculative Fiction [Sci-fi/Fantasy Horror/Etc.]: Pantomime by Laura Lam, Strange Chemistry
Bisexual Teen/Young Adult Fiction: Inheritance by Malinda Lo, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Bisexual Biography/Memoir: The Blind Masseuse: A Traveler’s Memoir from Costa Rica to Cambodia, Alden Jones, Terrace Books/The University of Wisconsin Press
Bisexual Erotic Fiction/Erotica: The Reunion by Adriana Kraft, B&B Publishing
Bisexual Book Publisher of the Year: (Tie) Circlet Press & Riverdale Avenue Books
Bi Writer of the Year: Shiri Eisner, author of Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution, Seal Press
Congratulations to all the winners!
If you'd like to know more about our fabulous judges, click here.
More photos of Bi Lines VII and the Bisexual Book Awards will be posted soon.

Charles "Zan" Christensen receiving the Bisexual Non-fiction Award from Cecilia Tan,
with Ann Herendeen and Sheela Lambert on the right. /Photo by Efrain John Gonzalez
Judges of the Second Annual Bisexual Book Awards
Ammy Achenbach, co-author of Few of the Many Adventures of Oliver Toliver, is working toward a PhD, has an MA in English Literature and an MFA in Creative Writing. When she is not writing, she can be found spending time with her husband and furkids, Rosco, Teddy and Saxon.
Geer Austin is the author of Cloverleaf, a chapbook from Poets Wear Prada Press. His poetry and fiction has appeared in Big Bridge, BlazeVOX, Ginosko Literary Journal, Potomac Review, and many other journals and anthologies.
Bill Crosby is a New York-based attorney. He is an avid reader who particularly enjoys LGBT-themed fiction. He is actively involved with the New York bisexual discussion group BiRequest, and serves as a board member for Theatre Askew, a theater company that focuses on LGBT productions.
Kate Evans is the author of The Footholds Will Appear: An Odyssey of Life, Love, Sex and Travel (forthcoming), two novels, a collection of poems and a book about queer teachers. A writing coach and nomad, she lives in Baja Sur, Mexico, when she’s not on the road. beingandwriting.blogspot.com
Janet W. Hardy has authored/coauthored 11 books about relationships and sexuality, including The Ethical Slut and Girlfag: A Life Told in Sex and Musicals. She’s traveled the world, speaking about ethical multipartner relationships, erotic spanking and beyond. She is the Editorial Director for Greenery Press and Down There Press.
Ann Herendeen is the author of the novels Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander and Pride/Prejudice, a Lambda Literary Award finalist for Bisexual Fiction (both HarperCollins); short story A Charming Menage (Gay City Anthology 4, At Second Glance); and eBook fantasy series Lady Amalie’s Memoirs, which chronicles m/m/f family life.
Long Island native Florence Ivy graduated from SUNY Purchase’s creative writing program, and works as a writer and photographer. Her short story collections Inside Out and What Little Girls Are Made Of are available on Amazon and iTunes, respectively. She resides in New York with her partner, cats and reptiles.
Basil Papademos is the author of Mount Royal: There’s Nothing Harder Than Love, winner of the 2013 BiLines Book Award for Erotic Fiction and short-listed for the 2013 Re-Lit Award. His upcoming novel is How To F♥ck Your Psychiatrist. He currently lives in Bangkok.
Phil Polizatto is the author of Hunga Dunga and the erotic novel Saltydog (under a pseudonym). He’s also written for a major news service, a national ad agency and the online magazine Worldwide Hippies. A published poet, composer and award-winning corporate film producer, he resides in the Pacific Northwest.
Sarah E. Rowley, a former acquisitions editor, spent 10 years in publishing. She is the co-editor of two editions of Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World with Robyn Ochs; and she has published essays and reviews of bisexual content for AfterEllen.com, Bi Women Quarterly and other venues.
Sarah Spilsbury is a reader, writer, broadcaster and bi-activist (Brum Bi Group) based in Birmingham, UK.
Jan Steckel’s poetry book The Horizontal Poet (Zeitgeist Press, 2011) won a Lambda Literary Award. Her fiction chapbook Mixing Tracks (Gertrude Press, 2009) and poetry chapbook The Underwater Hospital (Zeitgeist Press, 2006) also won awards. She is looking for a publisher for her short story collection Ghosts and Oceans.
Sarah E. Stumpf is a Teen Services Librarian for the White Oak Library District in the southwest Chicago suburbs. She is the co-founder of Bisexual Books (bisexual-books.tumblr.com), a blog devoted to views and reviews of literature from the bisexual perspective.
David Sullivan is a retired police officer-turned-writer/editor/proofreader.
A.J. Walkley is an author, activist and blogger based in Phoenix, AZ. She has three novels to her name: Choice (2009), Queer Greer (2012) and Vuto (2013). Her books tackle thought-provoking subjects, including teenage pregnancy, bisexuality and Third World women’s rights, respectively. She is working on her fourth novel. ajwalkley.com
Lili Wilkinson has authored eight YA novels, including The Zigzag Effect, Scatterheart and Pink, 2011 Stonewall Honour Book and Lambda Literary Award finalist. She established the teen reading website insideadog.com.au at the State Library of Victoria, Australia, and the Inky Awards. She’s studying for her PhD at the University of Melbourne.
Performer lineup for Bi Lines VII

Bi Lines VII & The Bisexual Book Awards: A Multi-Arts Celebration of Bisexual Writing is coming up on May 31st, so we thought you might like to know more about the authors and performers on our program. More info will be posted as it becomes available.
Performers for Bi Lines VII program:


Maryland, Baltimore County.










Tickets: $12 at the door.
Schedule: Book signings 6:30pm, stage program 7-9:30, more book signings until 10:00pm. Afterparty 10:00pm-1am
Program: Our program will include readings, live music, projected art from a bisexual comic anthology, capped off with the Bisexual Book Awards Ceremony and an afterparty.
Directions: Option 1-Take A train to 14 St. Walk west to Washington Street. Turn L on Washington and walk down to Bethune. Make R on Bethune.
Option 2-Take #1 train to Christopher St../Sheridan Sq. Walk west on Christopher to Washington St. Make R on Washington and walk up to Bethune. Turn L on Bethune.
Afterparty Location: Cafe Gitane at the Jane Hotel. Cash bar/food-no entrance fee. We'll walk over together after the event.
New artists for Bi Lines: Cecilia Tan, Michael David Gordon & J.R. Yussuf



[Photos left to right: Cecilia Tan, Michael David Gordon, J.R. Yussuf]
New artists have been added to the Bi Lines program!
Cecilia Tan is a writer, editor, and sexuality activist. She is the author of Slow Surrender, The Prince’s Boy, Mind Games, The Hot Streak, White Flames, Edge Plays, Black Feathers, The Velderet, and Telepaths Don’t Need Safewords, as well as the Magic University series of paranormal erotic romances. She has the distinction of being perhaps the only writer to have erotic fiction published in both Penthouse and Ms. magazines, as well as in scores of other magazines and anthologies including Asimov’s, Best American Erotica, and Nerve. She is the founder and editor of Circlet Press, publishers of erotic science fiction and fantasy, the founder and creator of the Fetish Fair Fleamarket ™, and was inducted into the Saints & Sinners Hall of Fame for GLBT writers in 2010.
Michael David Gordon is a professional singer, actor and director. {bio coming soon}
J.R. Yussuf is a New York based writer, actor and photographer. He has been published in Instigatorzine, FOCUS Magazine, The CultureLP and the upcoming anthologies, Best Bi Short Stories and Double Consciousness: An Autoethnographic Guide to My Black American Existence. He has written short stories, poetry, monologues, fictional letters, fictional journal entries, answering dear abi letters, journalism, pop culture, sexual health and political-cultural studies pieces. Yussuf graduated from Stony Brook University with his B.A. in Theater Arts.
Tickets: $12 at the door.
Schedule: Book signings begin at 6:30pm, the stage program will be from approx 7-9:30, with more book signings until 10pm. Afterparty 10pm-?
Our program will include multiple readings, live music, projected art from a bisexual comic anthology, capped off with the Bisexual Book Awards Ceremony.
This is what we've confirmed for the program so far, with more to come:
Manil Suri, author of novel The City of Devi
Cecilia Tan & J.R. Yussuf, contributors to Best Bi Short Stories
Bushra Rehman, author of semi-autobiographical novel Corona
Marina Peralta, author of memoir Barriers to Love: Embracing a Bisexual Identity
Jean Roberta, author of erotic novel The Flight of the Black Swan
Charles “Zan” Christensen & Lena Chandhok, Presentation of art & reading from Anything That Loves: Comics Beyond Gay and Straight
Michael David Gordon: Live music
Bisexual Book Awards Ceremony: Presentation of Awards
Afterparty: TBA
Manil Suri author of City of Devi announced for Bi Lines program
The other authors currently on the program are:
Lena Chandhok, contributor to Anything That Loves: Comics Beyond Gay and Straight
The Bisexual Book Awards and Bi Lines VII, a reading and multi-arts celebration of bisexual writing, will take place on Saturday May 31, so save the date! The festivities will be held in the community room at Westbeth in the West Village, a popular arts venue at 55 Bethune, corner of Washington St., a few blocks from the LGBT Community Center.
Doors will open at 6:30pm for book signings, the program is from 7-9:30pm, with more book signings until 10pm and an after-party nearby, location TBA.
Bi Lines VII will feature readings from Bisexual Book Awards finalists, live music and projected art from Anything That Loves: Comics Beyond Gay and Straight edited by Charles “Zan” Christensen. More details will be announced throughout April and May as they become available.
Bisexual Book Awards announces finalists

New York NY: The Bi Writers Association (BWA) announces the finalists for their Bisexual Book Awards today in six book categories and two additional categories: Publisher of the Year and Bi Writer of the Year. The awards are for books published in 2013.
Sixty books were nominated to our second Bisexual Book Awards. "We are thrilled that an unprecedented number of bisexual books were nominated this year. No book awards has ever seen 60 bisexual book submissions," says Sheela Lambert, Director of the Bi Writers Association. The previous record was held by the Lammy Awards, who received 33 nominations to their bisexual book categories in 2011.
Although this is only the second year of the Bisexual Book Awards, BWA has been working towards these same goals since our formation in 2006. "It’s our goal to increase awareness of bisexual books, to inspire authors to write more novels with bisexual characters, more non-fiction on bisexual topics, more openly bisexual memoirs, and to encourage more publishers to publish them. It’s working!" says Lambert.
Books were allowed to cross-nominate to multiple categories, if appropriate. But the general fiction category got so huge this year, any books also nominated to a genre fiction category, had to be removed. According to Lambert, "judges were complaining they had too many books to read. We were just not expecting this many books!"
A team of judges for each category has been working away for months to read and assess all the books and these are the finalists they have chosen. Winners will be announced at the Bisexual Book Awards Ceremony on May 31st, following Bi Lines VII, a reading and multi-arts celebration of bisexual writing, to be held in New York City. Check this blog for program details and updates.
Finalists for the Bisexual Book Awards:
(listed alphabetically by title)
Bisexual Fiction
- The City of Devi by Manil Suri, W. W. Norton & Company
- Corona by Bushra Rehman, Sibling Rivalry Press
- Hild by Nicola Griffith, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- The Last Place She’d Look by Arlene Schindler, ExtravaGonzo
- My Education by Susan Choi, Viking Adult
- The Spirit of Detroit by Frank Anthony Polito, Woodward Avenue Books
- The Two Hotel Francforts by David Leavitt, Bloomsbury
Bisexual Non-fiction
- Anything That Loves: Comics Beyond Gay and Straight edited by Charles “Zan” Christensen, Northwest Press
- Barriers to Love: Embracing a Bisexual Identity by Marina Peralta with Penelope James, Barriers Press
- The B Word: Bisexuality in Contemporary Film and Television, Maria San Filippo, Indiana University Press
- Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution, Shiri Eisner, Seal Press
- Kissing Oscar Wilde: A Love Story In The City Of Light by Jade Sylvan, Write Bloody Publishing
Bisexual Speculative Fiction [Sci-fi/Fantasy/Horror]
- Coda by Emma Trevayne, Running Press Kids
- The Elementals by Saundra Mitchell, Harcourt Children’s Books
- Inheritance by Malinda Lo, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
- Love in The Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block, Henry Holt and Co.
- Pantomime by Laura Lam, Strange Chemistry
- The Stars Change by Mary Anne Mohanraj, Circlet Press
- Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson, Arthur A. Levine Books
Bisexual Teen/Young Adult Fiction
- Bi-Normal by M.G. Higgins (Gravel Road Series), Saddleback Educational Publishing
- Inheritance by Malinda Lo, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
- Love in The Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block, Henry Holt and Co.
- Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg, Arthur A. Levine Books
- Pantomime by Laura Lam, Strange Chemistry
- The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson, Arthur A. Levine Books
Bisexual Biography/Memoir
- Anything That Loves: Comics Beyond Gay and Straight edited by Charles “Zan” Christensen, Northwest Press
- Barriers to Love: Embracing a Bisexual Identity by Marina Peralta with Penelope James, Barriers Press
- The Blind Masseuse: A Traveler’s Memoir from Costa Rica to Cambodia, Alden Jones, Terrace Books/The University of Wisconsin Press
Bisexual Erotic Fiction/Erotica
- The Flight of the Black Swan: A Bawdy Novella by Jean Roberta, Lethe Press
- House of Sable Locks by Elizabeth Schechter, Circlet Press
- Memoirs of a Gigolo Omnibus by Livia Ellis, Vol. 1-4, Riverdale Avenue Books/Desire
- The Reunion by Adriana Kraft: B&B Publishing
- Twice the Pleasure: Bisexual Women’s Erotica edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel, Cleis Press
Special Awards:
Bisexual Book Publisher of the Year
- Circlet Press
- Riverdale Avenue Books
Bi Writer of the Year
- Barriers to Love: Embracing a Bisexual Identity by Marina Peralta with Penelope James, Barriers Press
- Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution, Shiri Eisner, Seal Press
- The Flight of the Black Swan: A Bawdy Novella by Jean Roberta, Lethe Press
- Memoirs of a Gigolo Omnibus by Livia Ellis, Vol. 1-4, Riverdale Avenue Books/Desire
- The Soundtrack of My Life by Clive Davis with Anthony DeCurtis, Simon & Schuster
- Twice the Pleasure: Bisexual Women’s Erotica edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel, Cleis Press
- A Wind of Knives by Ed Kurtz, Snubnose Press
Authors for Bi Lines Program Announced
Lena Chandhok, contributor to Anything That Loves: Comics Beyond Gay and Straight
The Bisexual Book Awards and Bi Lines VII, a reading and multi-arts celebration of bisexual writing, will take place on Saturday May 31, so save the date! The festivities will be held in the community room at Westbeth in the West Village, a popular arts venue at 55 Bethune, corner of Washington St., a few blocks from the LGBT Community Center.
Doors will open at 6:30pm for book signings, the program is from 7-9:30pm with more book signings until 10pm and an after-party nearby, location TBA.
Bi Lines VII will feature readings from Bisexual Book Awards finalists, live music and projected art from Anything That Loves: Comics Beyond Gay and Straight edited by Charles “Zan” Christensen. More details will be announced throughout April and May as they become available.