By Robyn Ochs
The finalists for this year’s Bisexual Book Awards and Lambda Literary Awards were announced in April. By the time you read this, you can find the winners at biwriters.org and lambdaliterary.org, respectively.
LAMBDA LITERARY AWARDS FINALISTS:
Bisexual Nonfiction: Fire Shut Up In My Bones, Charles M. Blow; Not My Father’s Son, Alan Cumming; Recognize: The Voices of Bisexual Men, Robyn Ochs (YES, ME!) & H. Sharif Williams, editors. Bisexual Fiction: Best Bi Short Stories: Bisexual Fiction, Sheela Lambert, ed.; Extraordinary Adventures of Mullah Nasruddin, Ron J. Suresha; Finder of Lost Objects, Susie Hara; Give It to Me, Ana Castillo; She of the Mountains, Vivek Shraya.
BISEXUAL BOOK AWARD FINALISTS:
Fifty-one books are listed as finalists so we can’t list them all, but here are tops in fiction and non-fiction.
FICTION: Best Bi Short Stories, Sheela Lambert; Frog Music, Emma Donoghue; In Case of Emergency, Courtney Moreno; The Paying Guests, Sarah Waters; She of the Mountains, Vivek Shraya.
NON-FICTION: A Cup of Water Under My Bed: A Memoir, Daisy Hernández; Fire Shut Up in My Bones, Charles M. Blow; Queerly Beloved: A Love Story Across Gender, Jacob and Diane Anderson-Minshall; Recognize: The Voices of Bisexual Men, Robyn Ochs (YES, ME!) & H. Sharif Williams, editors (YES, AGAIN!); The Tastemaker, Carl Van Vechten; The Birth of Modern America, Edward White; Valerie Solanas: The Defiant Life of the Woman Who Wrote SCUM (and Shot Andy Warhol), Breanne Fahs.
Other categories include: Romance, Erotic Fiction/Erotica, Speculative Fiction, Memoir/Biography, Teen/Young Adult Fiction, Mystery, Poetry, Anthology, Book Publisher of the Year and Writer of the Year. Find the full list at http://www.biwriters.org/bi-book-awards-finalists.
Lani Ka’ahumanu and Loraine Hutchins, editors of Bi Any Other Name: Bisexuals Speak Out are pleased to announce the release on May 28th of a new edition of this 1991 anthology with a new cover and updated introduction. This powerful anthology has sold over 50,000 copies, was listed on Lambda Book Review’s Top 100 LGBT Books of the 20th Century and was published in 2007 in Mandarin.
On CW’s The 100, lead character Clarke Griffen, played by Eliza Taylor, kissed another woman. The Internet went atwitter, with fans wondering what that signified. Screenwriter Jason Rothenberg answered fans’ questions over Twitter, writing, “In The 100 they don’t label themselves. If Clarke’s attracted to someone, gender isn’t a factor. Some things improve post-apocalypse.”
A heads-up for X-Files fans: Gillian Anderson will be co-starring with David Duchovny in a six-episode reprise of this show. Anderson, who has long identified as bisexual, told The Telegraph (3/24/15) that she has been single for some time and is open to dating. When asked whether she would be open to a relationship with a woman, Anderson replied, “I wouldn’t discount it. I did it before and I’m not closed to that idea. To me a relationship is about loving another human being; their gender is irrelevant.”
In other celebrity news, Australian actress Cate Blanchett revealed in an interview that she had several relationships with women in the past. Now married to a man, Blanchett did not use the b-word to describe herself but we love that she answered honestly and forthrightly. Blanchett is portraying a queer woman in the film adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel, The Price of Salt. Blanchett plays Carol, which is the name of the film version. Many have described it as a lesbian novel or film, but some of us looking at it from a bi lens might take a more fluid approach. Hmm, sounds familiar.
Julia Canfield, president of the Bisexual Resource Center, recently received the Award for Student Excellence in Public Health Practice at Boston University. Julia interned with the BRC for two years during her graduate studies and piloted the Bisexual Health Awareness Month in 2014 as her practicum.
Woody Glenn, one of the co-founders of the Bisexual Resource Center, and Ellyn Ruthstrom, president of the BRC from 2004-2014, were elected Pride Marshals for Boston’s 45th Pride Parade on Saturday, June 13th. This is the first time an out bi leader in the Boston community has been chosen for this honor. As part of the BRC Pride contingent, the group will be carrying a 45-foot bi pride flag behind Woody and Ellyn. For more information about how you can participate, check BRC’s Facebook page for updates.
