‘The Terrible We’ by Cameron Awkward-Rich Named Finalist for 35th Annual Lambda Literary Awards 

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“The Terrible We: Thinking with Trans Maladjustment” (Duke University Press, 2022) by Assistant Professor in the Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Cameron Awkward-Rich has been named a finalist in the Transgender Nonfiction category for the 35th Annual Lambda Literary Awards.  

The finalists were selected by a panel of over 65 literary professionals from more than 1,350 book submissions. These selections represent the best of LGBTQ literature this year. 

Awkward-Rich is a poet and scholar of trans theory and expressive culture in the U.S. He has published two collections of poetry, "Sympathetic Little Monster” (Ricochet Editions, 2016) and “Dispatch” (Persea Books, 2019), the former of which was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award and was listed on Entropy’s Best Poetry Books and Collections of 2016. His creative work has been supported by fellowships from Cave Canem, The Watering Hole, and the Lannan Foundation.  

He received his B.A. in English and biology from Wesleyan University and, in 2017, his Ph.D. in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University. His research and teaching creatively combine trans/feminist/queer theory, disability studies, Black studies, studies of contemporary American literature, poetry, and other forms of experimental writing to explore transgender aesthetics and cultural production; the conflicted histories of trans/feminist/queer thought in the U.S.; and collective affect/feeling—particularly “bad” feelings like loneliness, dissociation, depression, withdrawal, and ambivalence.    

The Lambda Literary Awards were established in 1989 to garner national visibility for LGBTQ books, which had established a foothold through a nascent network of lesbian and gay publishers and bookstores. Today, the awards—also known as the Lammys—celebrate more than 150 LGBTQ+ writers across 25 categories and include several cash prizes for writers at all stages in their careers. The Lammys are awarded each June at a ceremony in New York City.