Lambda Literary Awards

Dr Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli of the School of Health and Social Development has once again been nominated as a finalist in the prestigious Lambda Literary Awards.

Dr Pallotta-Chiarolli was shortlisted and subsequently awarded as joint winner in the fiction category of the 22nd Annual Lambda Literary Awards, held in New York in May last year. This year she has been nominated and shortlisted in the Academic/Non-fiction category, with the awards ceremony to be held on Thursday 26 May.

The Lambda's are awarded annually by the Lambda Literary Foundation to works celebrating or exploring lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender themes. Dr Pallotta-Chiarolli's nominated book Border Sexualities, Border Families in Schools is published by academic publisher Rowman and Littlefield.

The first book of its kind internationally, Border Sexualities, Border Families in Schools explores the experiences of bisexual students, mixed sexual orientation families, and polyamorous families in schools.

It is testimony to Dr Pallotta-Chiarolli's breadth of expertise and ability to write for multiple audiences that she has received this international recognition now in both fiction and non-fiction categories.

Dr Pallotta-Chiarolli is internationally recognised as a leading writer, researcher, lecturer, consultant and activist in the issues of cultural, sexual and gender diversity and family diversity in health and education.

Her first book for young adults, Tapestry, explored five generations of her family's history in Australia and Italy and was short-listed by the Children's Book Council of Australia and in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards. Dr Pallotta-Chiarolli is author of Girls' Talk, Boys' Stuff, Someone You Know, and When Our Children Come Out.