‘Art That Dares’ named Lammy finalist

My book Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More has been named a finalist for the 20th annual Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the Lammies.

The awards recognize excellence in the field of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender literature. They are considered to be the highest honor for a book from the GLBT community.

Lammy winners will be announced May 29 at a gala ceremony in West Hollywood, CA. The glamorous event is the queer literary version of the Academy Awards.

More than 80 judges -- writers, journalists, booksellers, librarians, professors -- chose 107 finalists in 21 categories this year. Finalists were chosen from 463 books nominated by 190 publishers.

Art That Dares is one of five finalists in the LGBT Arts and Culture category. It’s up against Harvard University Press among others -- quite an accomplishment for a small start-up queer press.

Three legendary figures of the LGBT literary community will receive Pioneer Awards at this year’s ceremony. They are Ann Bannon, author of the Beebo Brinker lesbian fiction series; Mark Thompson, author of Gay Soul; and Malcolm Boyd, Episcopal priest and author of Are You Running With Me, Jesus?

I will also participate in a reading by Lammy finalists in West Hollywood in early May. Details will be announced later.

Becoming a Lammy finalist makes me feel honored and grateful to the 11 contemporary artists who share their art in my book, which is packed with color illustrations. Art that dares to show Jesus as gay or female has been censored or destroyed. I gathered these beautiful, liberating, sometimes shocking images into a book to ensure that they would be available. In the book, the artists tell the stories behind the images. My introduction puts them into political and historical context, exploring issues of blasphemy and artistic freedom.

I’d love to see some of my supporters at the Lammy ceremony. For tickets and more info, visit LambdaLiterary.org.

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Kittredge Cherry blogs at the Jesus in Love Blog and edits the Jesus in Love Newsletter on queer spirituality and the arts. She offers GLBT and progressive spiritual resources at JesusInLove.org.