Lambda Literary Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 13 (2001) Winner
Michelle Tea (born Michelle Tomasik)
ミシェル・ティー
Michelle Tea
Pen Names:
Michelle Tea（Pen name used for publications and public work）
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1971-01-01 （Chelsea, Massachusetts, United States）
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Religion
- Catholic (family background)
- Residence History
- Chelsea, Massachusetts → Boston, Massachusetts → San Francisco, California → Los Angeles, California
Career
- Occupations
- Author, Poet, Editor, Producer, Director, Publisher
- Active Years
- 1994-
- Influenced By
- Sylvia Plath, Beat Generation writers, Siouxsie Sioux
- Influenced
- Younger queer writers associated with Sister Spit (e.g., Beth Lisick, Nicole J. Georges), Ariel Schrag (example)
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Lambda Literary Award (Lesbian Fiction) | Valencia | Lesbian Fiction | Lambda Literary | Winner |
| 2008 | Jim Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists' Prize | — | — | Saints & Sinners Literary Festival | Winner |
| 2019 | PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay | Against Memoir | — | PEN America (awarding body) | Winner |
Lambda Literary Award (Lesbian Fiction)
2001
Work:
Valencia
Category:
Lesbian Fiction
Organization:
Lambda Literary
Result:
Winner
Jim Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists' Prize
2008
Organization:
Saints & Sinners Literary Festival
Result:
Winner
PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay
2019
Work:
Against Memoir
Organization:
PEN America (awarding body)
Result:
Winner
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
The Passionate Mistakes and Intricate Corruption of One Girl in America
1998 Short stories / autobiographical fictionA collection of short stories in memoir form exploring her youth in Massachusetts, goth subculture, and sex work.
AutobiographyClassSex work
Valencia
2000 Memoir / NonfictionChronicles a year in the life of a young queer poet in San Francisco's Mission District, candidly addressing love, trauma, poverty, and queer community.
Queer experienceSex and relationshipsTrauma
Adaptations
- [Film (experimental)] Valencia: The Movie / Hilary Goldberg and multiple directors (2013)
Translations
- Valencia (translated editions)
Black Wave
2016 Fiction / Apocalyptic novelAn apocalyptic novel set in San Francisco in 1999, dealing with societal collapse and individual survival.
ApocalypseCommunity disintegration
Against Memoir
2018 Essay collectionA collection of journalistic and critical essays on varied topics, blending personal experience with cultural critique.
EssayCultural criticism
Knocking Myself Up: A Memoir of My (In)Fertility
2022 Memoir / ParentingA memoir chronicling fertility treatments and becoming a parent, highlighting challenges faced by queer couples.
Fertility treatmentParenthoodQueer family
Modern Magic: Stories, Rituals, and Spells for Contemporary Witches
2024 Essays / PracticalContains stories, rituals, and spells aimed at contemporary witchcraft practice, blending narrative and practical guidance.
MagicSpirituality
Bibliography
- The Passionate Mistakes and Intricate Corruption of One Girl in America (1998)
- Valencia (2000)
- The Chelsea Whistle (2002)
- The Beautiful (2003)
- Rent Girl (2004)
- Rose of No Man's Land (2006)
- Coal to Diamonds: A Memoir (with Beth Ditto) (2013)
- Mermaid in Chelsea Creek (2013)
- How to Grow Up: A Memoir (2015)
- Girl at the Bottom of the Sea (2015)
- Black Wave (2016)
- Modern Tarot (2017)
- Against Memoir (2018)
- Knocking Myself Up (2022)
- Modern Magic (2024)
Adaptations
- Valencia: The Movie (experimental film by multiple directors, 2013)
Translations of Works
- Valencia (translated into multiple languages)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Autobiographical, candid voiceFragmentary and memoiristic structureFeminist and queer-theory informed critique
- Recurring Motifs
- Queer communityTrauma and healingPoverty and classSex workBecoming a parent / parenting
Legacy
Michelle Tea is a prominent voice in queer literary circles, known for community-building through Sister Spit and Radar Productions and for initiating the Drag Queen Story Hour. Her memoiristic works candidly portray queer experience, class, and sex work, influencing many younger writers.
In Popular Culture
- Contribution to founding and popularizing Drag Queen Story Hour
- Impact of the Sister Spit tour on queer literary events
Quotes
-
The 'Michelle' in the book is definitely me, though if it makes a reader more comfortable to imagine it's all a giant work of fiction, that's fine too.
Source: Interview (e.g., The Guardian) (2000)
Trivia
- Born Michelle Tomasik; publishes under the name Michelle Tea.
- Co-founded the Sister Spit collective in 1994.
- Founded Radar Productions in 2003 and served as creative director through 2015.
- One of the creators of the first Drag Queen Story Hour in San Francisco.
- Won the Lambda Literary Award (Lesbian Fiction) in 2001 for Valencia.
- Won the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay in 2019 for Against Memoir.
- Has publicly identified as bisexual.
- Launched the nonprofit press Dopamine Books in 2023.