top of page

Celebrating Excellence in Sapphic Literature

​

For more than two decades, the Golden Crown Literary Awards—the Goldies—have recognized outstanding sapphic books and the writers whose work enriches, expands, and preserves our literary community.

Untitled design (7).png

Goldie Nominations are
Now Open!

The Goldies

Goldie Award.png

$46,000 TOTAL PRIZES
3 SPECIAL CATEGORIES
2 POPULAR CHOICE
17 CATEGORIES

Since their creation, the Goldies have grown into one of GCLS’s signature programs, honoring works from established and emerging authors and reflecting the breadth and diversity of sapphic storytelling. From romance, mystery, and speculative fiction to poetry, nonfiction, and other literary forms, the awards celebrate both the quality of the work and the richness of the literature our community creates.

​

Books entered in the Goldies are evaluated through a structured judging process by volunteer judges from the GCLS community. Awards are presented each year during the Goldie Awards Ceremony at the GCLS Annual Conference, where authors, readers, publishers, narrators, and other members of the sapphic literary community come together to celebrate the year’s outstanding works.

​

At their heart, the Goldies are about more than receiving an award. They are part of GCLS’s mission to increase the visibility and quality of sapphic literature—helping readers discover books, recognizing literary achievement, and creating a lasting record of the stories and authors shaping our literary community.

Photo Credit: Celeste Burns Photography

Goldie Award Categories
Click each category for detailed descriptions and evaluation criteria

Fiction Novels

Fiction Anthologies/Collections

Audiobook Narrator

Nonfiction

Special Awards

The Golden Crown Literary Society thanks the Aronson-Besthoff Fund of the Greater New Orleans Foundation for their 5-year, $500,000 grant.
greater new orleans foundation.png
Jae

Since being a writer is mostly a very solitary job, winning a Goldie was a wonderful recognition of a job well done. Knowing judges and readers alike enjoy my work keeps me trying harder to write the best books I possibly can.

KG MacGregor

I'm proud, grateful and deeply honored to have been recognized with several Goldie Awards over my career. I treasure them all because I treasure the amazing GCLS community that inspired my stories and nurtured me as I wrote.

Rachel Spangler

At a time when our culture is growing increasingly hostile to queer lives and queer stories, I think it’s vital to have organizations like the GCLS that not only promote queer women’s writing, but celebrate its excellence.

When I got my Goldie I was a newly published author who struggled for years to find a publisher without success. A Goldie meant acceptance by my peers. It was a high only a Nobel prize winner can describe. Even the glow in my photograph could light up a city.

bottom of page