Author wins at Lambda

Melbourne author Dr Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli was announced as a winner in the Bisexual Fiction category of the Lambda Literary Awards for her young adult novel Love You Too last week.

The US-based LGBT literary founda-tion uses the awards in its mission to nurture, celebrate, and preserve lesbian, gay and bisexual literature and encourage the development of emerging writers.

Published by Random House Australia, Love You Too explores themes of homosexual and bisexual relationships, as well as examining the challenges of multiracial relationships and the pressures put on families by more traditional generations.

Pallotta-Chiarolli is a senior lecturer in the School of Health and Social Development at Deakin University and has had previous works shortlisted by the Children’s Book Council of Australia and the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards.

Upon winning the award in New York, she said she felt honoured and humbled, shocked and blissed, and teary-smiley.

“I’ve been reading Lambda Award winners for years with awe and to think I actually won one took time to seem real,” she said.

“It is an honour to contribute to the awareness, understanding and affirmation of the many cultures, genders, sexualities and families in our communities and societies.”