Publishing Triangle Winners: Russell, Fergus, Jordan, Córdova

Last night Paul Russell became the first ever two-time winner of the Ferro-Grumley award for The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov [Kindle] twelve years after taking the prize for The Coming Storm. The novel’s tortured path to publication, rejected by major houses and caught in limbo during the protracted and prolonged demise of an independent, finally reached its happy ending at Cleis Press. Russell said in all his years of writing, Frederique Delacoste and the people at Cleis were the wisest, most careful, and most professional team he has ever known. To my mind, this wonderful, wonderful book, which is also a Lammy finalist, ought to have been published as a hardcover last spring and would have benefited enormously from a second release in a paperback. You can help create a second wave now. It’s simple: When a novel is this good, you must buy it.

We all must also get Lara Fergus’s debut winner My Sister Chaos if the judges believe it better than the excellent other nominees Mitko, Zipper Mouth, and We the Animals. In the evening’s most charming acceptance speech, Lara, who traveled from Melbourne to attend, said, “There aren’t enough lesbians in Australia. That’s not just a personal frustration” [! buy her book immediately], it’s a professional one too if you’re creating work for a lesbian audience. Lara thanked her boisterous cheering section, her partner Maryse, and the staff at Spinifex Press. Of twenty-four finalists, Spinifex was the only double nominated publisher.

Regrettably absent were the evening’s other four winners (below). Each had emailed remarks to be read by a colleague. All their comments played variations on the theme of gratitude, perhaps best conveyed by Jeanne Córdova who shared her feeling that the honor was, “Fucking Awesome!”

The same two words describe leadership and lifetime achievement winners Frances Goldin and Alison Bechdel. Frances is now over 80 and has marched in every single NYC pride parade carrying the sign above. She said she cries the whole way because spectators constantly run up to her asking if she will adopt them, which she doesn’t, or begging her to call their less supportive parents, which she does. She started her literary agency when she was 55 and their client list of 150 writers includes Dorothy Allison, Martin Duberman, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and Staceyann Chin. In his introduction, Michael Denneny described her as a mix of “Auntie Mame and Rosa Luxembourg” and he pointed out that she quit the Communist Party because it wasn’t radical enough for her. She’s closing her office on May Day to take part in an illegal Occupy action downtown.  

The amazing and incredible Alison Bechdel doesn't need stairs. She hopped on stage to make her brief thanks for the lifetime achievement award, adding, "although it may be a trifle premature." She also said,"I want to thank and acknowledge my past publishing ties and my present publishing ties. They provide a bridge, that without it, I would perhaps be floundering in a river, or maybe be a lawyer." Thank god. Her new graphic memoir Are You My Mother? comes out May 1.

Ferro-Grumley Fiction Award: Paul Russell, The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov [Kindle]

Debut Fiction: Laura Fergus, My Sister Chaos 

Lesbian Nonfiction: Jeanne Córdova, When We Were Outlaws [Kindle]

Gay Nonfiction: Mark D. Jordan, Recruiting Young Love: How Christians Talk about Homosexuality 

Lesbian Poetry: Inside the Money Machine by Minnie Bruce Pratt 

Gay Poetry: Touch by Henri Cole 

Additional reporting by Logan Ragsdale.

Comments

[Logan]

Thanks Stephen for the "additional" by-line. It was fun. I enjoyed the awards.

[Dean Van de Motter]

I am so looking forward to Alison Bechdel's Are You My Mother?!

[Jen_g]

I hope you are told often what a service you provide with this blog! I check in every day and it now dictates my reading list--thank you!

[LowerHaightbk]

On behalf of Cleis Press, I can say we are pleased and proud as anything. As for the hardcover aspect, it is a long story. Very nearly a novella in and of itself. If at all interested, I would be happy to discuss!

Brenda Knight
[email protected]

[http://artistisle.net/]

If the replacement car is secondhand, use the guide to calculate the difference young driver car insurance - http://artistisle.net/ - between an A and a B. Merely a study of the circumstances of the incident and the nature of damage to the car within about an hour, Mr.

[Tooth brush]

You should take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the internet. I'm going to recommend this website!

[http://pbdspace.kj.yamagata-u.ac.jp/]

The biggest hike was to third party, fire and theft", not the cause of it, but is largely at fault itself. The group said %anchor-text% fraud was one of many factors used to set premiums. Young people were bearing the brunt of the rise in personal injury awards.

[web page]

On Wednesday, the Office for National Statistics, the Department of Health and unemployment and crime statistics. 62 The rise is the biggest increase recorded by the motoring organisation since it started collecting the data in 1994. The Ministry of Justice and the justice committee at Stormont to examine the web page market, but don't hold your breath. web page motor insurance; http://womanfit.ch, web site

[coarse fishing carp rods]

Taylor Made assemble a number of the highest quality lumber patio planters in the UK. Hand made from top quality resources at an cost-effective price. Handmade wooden planters are available in most shapes and forms and can be tailor made constructed to fit in any place. Utilizing approximately twenty years of knowledge to this point Taylor Made are one of the British Isles top rated backyard garden planter producers together with clientele of all types.coarse fishing carp rods

[Piper]

I visited several websites except the audio quality for audio songs current at this website is really wonderful.