Lost Luggage

We made it to Barcelona fine, depite a too tight connection at JFK to Madrid. The only problem: our bags didn´t make it here with us. It´s been almost 24 hours and still no word on where they are. Ah well . . . thank goodness we brought an extra change of clothes in our carry-ons. And if our bags don´t arrive today? Well, you know the saying: when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping! *grin*

But seriously, Barcelona is a gorgeous city. Well-designed, clean, beautiful. Looking forward to exploring the Rambla and the Barrio Gotic today, maybe Sagrada Familia this afternoon.

In other news:

The 2006 Publishing Triangle Awards
The Publishing Triangle and the Ferro-Grumley Foundation are proud to announce the finalists for the best lesbian and gay fiction, nonfiction, and poetry of the year. This awards cycle honors books published in 2005 in the United States or Canada. The finalists in the nonfiction, fiction, and poetry categories are:

The Thom Gunn Award for Gay Male Poetry
Frank Bidart, Star Dust (Farrar Straus Giroux)
Peter Covino, Cut Off the Ears of Winter (New Issues)
Richard Siken, Crush (Yale University Press)

The Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry
Djuna Barnes, Collected Poems with Notes Toward the Memoirs, edited by Phillip Herring and Osias Stutman (University of Wisconsin Press)
June Jordan, Directed by Desire, edited by Jan Heller Levi and Sara Miles (Copper Canyon)
Jane Miller, A Palace of Pearls (Copper Canyon)

The Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction
Thomas Glave, Words to Our Now (University of Minnesota Press)
Neil McKenna, The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde (Basic Books)
Martin Moran, The Tricky Part (Beacon Press)

The Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction
Tania Katan, My One-Night Stand with Cancer (Alyson Books)
Gretchen Legler, On the Ice (Milkweed Editions)
Diana Souhami, Wild Girls (St. Martin’s Press)

The Ferro-Grumley Award for Fiction: Women
Brenda Brooks, Gotta Find Me an Angel (Raincoast Books)
Ivan E. Coyote, Loose End (Arsenal Pulp Press)
Patricia Grossman, Brian in Three Seasons (Permanent Press)

The Ferro-Grumley Awards for Fiction: Men
Darren Greer, Still Life With June (Cormorant Books)
Barry McCrea, The First Verse (Carroll & Graf)
Douglas A. Martin, Branwell (Soft Skull Press)

For the first time, the Publishing Triangle will also present an award for debut fiction, named in honor of one of our most eminent men of letters, Edmund White. Men and women compete against each other in this award:

The Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction
Charlie Anders, Choir Boy (Soft Skull Press)
Mack Friedman, Setting the Lawn on Fire (University of Wisconsin Press)
Katia Noyes, Crashing America (Alyson Books)

We congratulate all of our nominees on their fine work. All of these books deserve the widest possible audience.

The winners will be announced (and honored) at a ceremony on Thursday, May 11, at the New School University in New York City. The event is free and open to the public. The winners in nonfiction, fiction, and debut fiction will receive $1,000; the poetry winners will receive $250.

But why do the pooets get only $250?? Hmmmm . . . .