Lambda Literary is here!

1 March 2010

Today there’s a new website in town: Lambda Literary. It’s a virtual home for anyone who reads, writes, publishes, reviews and supports stories by and about queer people.

When I met Nicola in 1988 and then went back home alone to Atlanta for a year, the queer people I knew were friends I’d met by happenstance at first, and then through dances and parties and, most especially, Charis Books and More. I missed Nicola, and I had new things about myself to figure out, and I was hungry for stories and connection with people who wrote them.

Fortunately for Atlanta, Charis is still there. But many LGBT bookstores have not survived, and that means that queer people in many parts of the US — and around the world — have to go looking for stories elsewhere. Because of the hard work of an amazing team of people, Lambda Literary is a new place for all of us. Because it’s not just about finding book reviews, interviews with writers, news of queer literature — although you will — it’s also about finding community.

It’s important. And it rocks.

I’m enormously proud of my beloved Nicola, who championed this vision to the LLF board; our dear friend Karina Meléndez, who developed this extensive, beautiful site; and of people I’ve never met — Tony Valenzuela, the Executive Director of Lambda Literary Foundation, and Antonio Gonzalez, the Web Producer and Chief Editor, who together will keep the site growing for all of us.

So hey, that’s enough from me. Go take a look! And tell everyone!

Posted by Kelley | Filed Under blog

Comments

8 Responses to “Lambda Literary is here!”

Jennifer on March 2nd, 2010 8:44 am

Nicola and Karina did a friggin amazing job on this. It does ROCK! And so do they. Especially Nicola for her tireless efforts in making this happen. A huge gift for our community, and I we needed it.
rhbee on March 2nd, 2010 4:18 pm

I, too, like the look but after I registered my email so as to get the news, But I clicked on reviews and then submissions and the buttons didn’t work. What’s up with that, please?
Kelley on March 2nd, 2010 4:23 pm

I wouldn’t know. I am not affiliated with the website and am not on their technical team.
rhbee on March 2nd, 2010 5:53 pm

Sorry for the garbled nature of my first comment. I was trying to be complimentary and nice while asking my question. Why don’t the buttons work is what I meant to ask? I registered for the email. But clicking on any of the buttons/links doesn’t work. Are you saying you aren’t hosting the site so you don’t know? Or did I misunderstand that you and Nicola were a part of this project?
Kelley on March 2nd, 2010 8:30 pm

Nicola is responsible for project management/vision in generating the LLF website. But I don’t speak for her, and I don’t take messages No offense intended. But if you have problems with the website, use their contact information to report it, or ask her directly.
Zack on March 3rd, 2010 9:42 am

Hmm. I had no trouble with any of the buttons, but then again I looked at the site early in the morning, probably before the traffic mounted. I know that Nicola said the traffic on the site was very high later in the day. I don’t know if that would make a difference, but possibly.
Kelley on March 3rd, 2010 10:16 am

@ Zack, thanks for being helpful.

@ rhbee, you should try clearing the cache on your browser, then load the page again and see if that helps. If you don’t know how to clear your cache, ask your browser’s help file. Otherwise, you should contact the site’s technical support.

Sorry to have been unhelpful earlier.
Zack on March 3rd, 2010 1:59 pm

You’re welcome. : )

I’m playing with the upgraded version of my voice control software and I have to say it must find you fascinating. I say this because it is still calibrating itself to my voice and keeps interpreting all longer string commands as “(go to) blog: Kelley Eskridge” : P