Thom Gunn Award Explained

The Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry is an annual literary award presented by Publishing Triangle to honour works of gay male poetry. First presented in 2001 as the Triangle Award for Gay Poetry, the award was renamed in memory of British poet Thom Gunn, the award's first winner, following his death in 2004.

Recipients

Award winners and finalists^[1]
Year	Author	Title	Publisher	Result
2001		Boss Cupid	Farrar, Straus and Giroux	Winner
		Pastoral	Graywolf Press	Finalist
		Day for Night	Painted Leaf Press	Finalist
2002		Source	HarperCollins	Winner
			Arsenal Pulp Press	Finalist
		Harmless Medicine	Manic D Press	Finalist
2003		Red Suburb	Coffee House Press	Winner
		Theory of Devolution	University of Illinois Press	Finalist
		Landscape with Human Figure	Duke University Press	Finalist
2004			University of Wisconsin Press	Winner
			Ausable Press	Finalist
		Saying the World	Copper Canyon Press	Finalist
2005			Farrar, Straus and Giroux	Winner
		Cocktails	Graywolf Press	Finalist
		Survivable World	Word Works	Finalist
2006		Crush	Yale University Press	Winner	^[2]
		Star Dust	Farrar, Straus and Giroux	Finalist
		Cut Off the Ears of Winter	New Issues	Finalist
2007		Gutted	Manic D Press	Winner	^[3]
			Coffee House Press	Finalist
			Stonewall	Finalist
2008		Under Sleep	University of Chicago Press	Winner	^[4]
		Blind Date with Cafavy	Marsh Hawk Press	Winner
		Blackbird and Wolf	Farrar, Straus and Giroux	Finalist
2009		Boy with Flowers	Barrow Street Press	Winner	^[5]
		Please	New Issues	Finalist
		Fire to Fire	Harper/HarperCollins	Finalist
2010		Poems of the Black Object	Futurepoem Books	Winner
			Black Lawrence Press	Finalist
		Chronic	Graywolf Press	Finalist
2011			University of Arkansas Press	Winner	^[6]
		Harm’s Way	University of Arkansas Press	Finalist
			Omnidawn	Finalist
2012		Touch	Farrar, Straus and Giroux	Winner
		Motion Studies	The Word Works	Finalist
		Love-in-Idleness	Brooklyn Arts Press	Finalist
			Nightboat Books	Finalist
2013		Looking for the Gulf Motel	University of Pittsburgh Press	Winner	^[7]
		Appetite	University of Pittsburgh Press	Finalist
		Slow Lightning	Yale University Press	Finalist
		He Do the Gay Man in Different Voices	Sibling Rivalry Press	Finalist
2014		All the Heat We Could Carry	Main Street Rag	Winner	^[8] ^[9] ^[10]
		Sacrilegion	Carolina Wren Press	Finalist	^[11]
			Sibling Rivalry Press	Finalist
		Unpeopled Eden	Four Way Books	Finalist
2015			Copper Canyon Press	Winner	^[12]
	edited and by Stephen Sartarelli		University of Chicago Press	Finalist
		I Don’t Know Do You	Ampersand Books	Finalist
		Prelude to Bruise	Coffee House Press	Finalist
2016		Chord	Sarabande Books	Winner	^[13]
			Kent State University Press	Finalist
		Boy with Thorn	University of Pittsburgh Press	Finalist
		Farther Traveler	Counterpath Press	Finalist
2017		Night Sky with Exit Wounds	Copper Canyon Press	Winner	^[14] ^[15]
		Trouble the Water	BOA Editions	Finalist
		Thief in the Interior	Alice James Books	Finalist
		Rapture	Graywolf Press	Finalist
2018		When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities	BOA Editions	Winner	^[16]
		Into Each Room We Enter Without Knowing	Southern Illinois University Press	Finalist
		Don’t Call Us Dead	Graywolf Press	Finalist
		Half-Light: Collected Poems, 1965–2016	Farrar, Straus and Giroux	Finalist
2019		Not Here	Coffee House Press	Winner	^[17]
		Forgive the Body This Failure	Four Way Books	Finalist	^[18]
		Cenzontle	BOA Editions	Finalist
		Luminous Debris: New and Selected Legerdemain, 1992–2017	Barrow Street Press	Finalist
2020		Company	Four Way Books	Winner	^[19] ^[20]
			University of Pittsburgh Press	Finalist	^[21]
	by Lawrence Schimel	Impure Acts	Indolent Books	Finalist
		Documents	BOA Editions	Finalist
2021		13th Balloon	Copper Canyon Press	Winner	^[22] ^[23]
		Homie	Graywolf Press	Finalist
		Pricks in the Tapestry	Birds, LLC	Finalist
		Fantasia for the Man in Blue	Four Way Books	Finalist
2022		Punks: New and Selected Poems	The Song Cave	Winner	^[24]
			Northwestern University Press	Finalist
		Shoreditch	Barrow Street Press	Finalist
		Mutiny	Penguin Books	Finalist
2023	and Michael Bronski (ed.)	Invisible History: The Collected Poems of Walta Borawski	Rebel Satori Press	Winner	^[25] ^[26]
		Mouth, Sugar and Smoke	Diode Editions	Finalist
		Madness	Nightboat Books	Finalist
		Alive at the End of the World	Coffee House Press	Finalist
2024		Trace Evidence	Tin House	Winner	^[27] ^[28]
		Pig	Scribner	Finalist	^[29]
		Poem Bitten by a Man	Nightboat Books	Finalist
		To the Boy Who Was Night	Four Way Books	Finalist

Notes and References

Web site: The Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry . 2024-05-21 . . en-US . 2022-09-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220929134646/https://publishingtriangle.org/awards/thom-gunn-gay-poetry/ . live .
Web site: 2006-05-12 . Awards: The 18th Annual Triangles . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231129211435/https://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=209 . 2023-11-29 . 2024-05-20 . Shelf Awareness.
Web site: 2007-05-08 . Awards: Publishing Triangle, Ferro-Grumley, Chesley . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20171001222524/http://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=432 . 2017-10-01 . 2024-05-20 . Shelf Awareness.
Web site: 2008-04-29 . Awards: Winners of Nebula; Triangle; Eric Hoffer . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20171002023202/http://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=665 . 2017-10-02 . 2024-05-20 . Shelf Awareness.
Web site: 2009-05-08 . Awards: Triangle; Irish Book . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221014185508/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=918 . 2022-10-14 . 2024-05-20 . Shelf Awareness.
Web site: 2011-05-02 . Awards: L.A. Times Book Prizes; BTBA; Triangle . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220316192018/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=1453 . 2022-03-16 . 2024-05-20 . Shelf Awareness .
Web site: Bookey . Seth J. . 2013-05-08 . Going for the Silver – Gay City News . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220205161648/https://gaycitynews.com/going-for-the-silver/ . 2022-02-05 . 2024-05-20 . . en-US.
Web site: 2014-04-25 . Triangle Award Winners Revealed . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200809054603/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/62008-triangle-award-winners-revealed.html . 2020-08-09 . 2024-05-20 . . en.
Web site: 2014-04-25 . Awards: Cervantes Winner; Triangle Winners; Orwell Shortlist . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240518232333/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2237 . 2024-05-18 . 2024-05-20 . Shelf Awareness.
Web site: Charles . Ron . 2014-04-25 . Do ask, do tell: Poetry collection about U.S. soldier wins gay literary award . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140506081845/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/04/25/do-ask-do-tell-poetry-collection-about-u-s-soldier-wins-gay-literary-award/ . 2014-05-06 . 2024-05-21 . The Washington Post.
Web site: 2014-03-12 . Triangle Award Finalists Named . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231229060813/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/61398-triangle-award-finalists-named.html . 2023-12-29 . 2024-05-20 . . en.
Web site: 2015-04-24 . Awards: Triangle; Thwaites Wainwright; CrimeFest . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220719231717/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2493 . 2022-07-19 . 2024-05-20 . Shelf Awareness .
Web site: 2016-04-22 . Awards: Triangle; Orwell; James Tait Black . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240422044547/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2738 . 2024-04-22 . 2024-05-20 . Shelf Awareness.
Web site: 2017-05-01 . Vivek Shraya wins Publishing Triangle Award for even this page is white . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170601173622/http://www.cbc.ca/books/2017/05/vivek-shraya-wins-publishing-triangle-award-for-even-this-page-is-white.html . 2017-06-01 . 2024-05-19 . CBC Books.
Web site: 2017-04-28 . Awards: Edgars; Publishing Triangle; Chicago Tribune YA; Dewdney Read Together . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231203164514/https://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2990#m36324 . 2023-12-03 . 2024-05-20 . Shelf Awareness.
Web site: 2018-04-27 . Awards: Edgars; Publishing Triangle . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220920163719/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3237 . 2022-09-20 . 2024-05-20 . Shelf Awareness.
Web site: Maher . John . 2019-04-26 . This Year's Triangle Award Winners Announced . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190505215255/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/79885-2018-triangle-award-winners-announced.html . 2019-05-05 . 2024-05-20 . . en.
Web site: Reid . Calvin . 2019-03-11 . Finalists, Achievement Winners Announced for 2019 Triangle Lit Awards . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230927195149/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/79488-finalists-achievement-winners-announced-for-2019-triangle-lit-awards.html . 2023-09-27 . 2024-05-20 . . en.
Web site: Yohannes . Samraweet . 2020-05-01 . Téa Mutonji and Kai Cheng Thom among winners of 2020 Publishing Triangle Awards for LGBTQ literature . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200504090335/https://www.cbc.ca/books/t%C3%A9a-mutonji-and-kai-cheng-thom-among-winners-of-2020-publishing-triangle-awards-for-lgbtq-literature-1.5552236 . 2020-05-04 . 2024-05-19 . CBC Books.
Web site: 2020-05-04 . Awards: Triangle, Wolff Translator's Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220921231546/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3731 . 2022-09-21 . 2024-05-20 . Shelf Awareness .
Web site: Yohannes . Samraweet . 2020-03-23 . Samra Habib, Kai Cheng Thom and Téa Mutonji among finalists for 2020 Publishing Triangle Awards . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200327182435/https://www.cbc.ca/books/samra-habib-kai-cheng-thom-and-t%C3%A9a-mutonji-among-finalists-for-2020-publishing-triangle-awards-1.5506789 . 2020-03-27 . 2024-05-20 . CBC Books.
Web site: May 12, 2021 . 2021 Triangle Award Winners Announced . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210519135207/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/newsbrief/index.html?record=3254 . May 19, 2021 . May 19, 2021 . Publishers Weekly.
Web site: 2021-05-13 . Awards: Triangle Winners; Firecracker Finalists . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231203175401/https://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3985 . 2023-12-03 . 2024-05-20 . Shelf Awareness.
Web site: 2022-05-12 . Awards: Triangle Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230601062507/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=4231 . 2023-06-01 . 2024-05-20 . Shelf Awareness.
Web site: April 28, 2023 . 2023 Publishing Triangle Award Winners Announced . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230429131754/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/newsbrief/index.html?record=4189 . April 29, 2023 . May 3, 2023 . . en.
Web site: 2023-05-01 . Awards: Publishing Triangle Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231224151850/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=4470 . 2023-12-24 . 2024-05-20 . Shelf Awareness.
Web site: Albanese . Andrew . 2024-04-18 . Helen Elaine Lee, Joseph Plaster Among 2024 Publishing Triangle Award Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240515222113/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/94849-helen-elaine-lee-joseph-plaster-among-2024-publishing-triangle-award-winners.html . 2024-05-15 . 2024-05-20 . . en.
Web site: 2024-04-18 . Awards: Publishing Triangle Winners; Donner Shortlist . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240508012448/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=4708#m63518 . 2024-05-08 . 2024-05-20 . Shelf Awareness.
Web site: 2024-03-18 . 2024 Publishing Triangle Awards Finalists Announced . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240428141600/https://publishingtriangle.org/2024/03/2024-publishing-triangle-awards-finalists-announced/ . 2024-04-28 . 2024-05-20 . . en-US.