July 2021 | By Sarah Gerard

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I felt shy about this when it happened so didn’t post about it, but since the ceremony replay lives forever online — and celebrates dozens of other incredible authors, including Florida’s own T Kira Madden — here it is. . .
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I was very honored to be the recipient of a 2021 Jim Duggins, PhD Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Prize from Lambda Literary, alongside Brontez Purnell.

Just a week after the ceremony, I had the pleasure of teaching a class with my partner Patrick Cottrell, about writing love. We used an excerpt from one of Purnell’s stories in 100 Boyfriends, called “Inherited Winter Coat.”

We talked about how skillfully he infuses the coat with metaphor, rather than reaching for some cliché symbol to contain the love of a son for his father. Also, how Purnell’s language describes the father’s coat as much as the man himself. Here’s the excerpt that we taught (between the two large redactions). I highly recommend the entire book.

The full list of the winners is here. I also recommend the list of finalists this year — the multitude of queer writers making gorgeous, vital, boundary-expanding, mind- and world-expanding work with intellect, talent, truth and heart is astounding.
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You can explore Sarah Gerard’s work at sarah-gerard.com