Chike Frankie Edozien’s Lives of Great Men is a finalist for the Publishing Triangle Awards, in the Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction category. The New York University journalism professor’s book is the first memoir by a Nigerian to focus on being gay. Other finalists are: Brilliant Imperfection, by Eli Clare; The Inheritance of Shame, by Peter Gajdics; and Patient Zero and the Making of the AIDS Epidemic, by Richard A. McKay.

Most recently shortlisted for Best Gay Memoir/Biography at the 2018 LAMBDA AwardsLives of Great Men, which was published last year by Team Angelica Publishing, drew praise from Ethiopian novelist Maaza Mengiste (“an incredibly powerful portrayal of what it means to be a gay Nigerian man…so outstanding is its tender and insightful exploration of all the complicated, unspoken bonds in our most intimate relationships”); Nigerian novelist and poet Chris Abani (“Frankie Edozien writes with an urgency that is compelling, with a vulnerable honesty that is disarming and impressive, and with elegance about his life and a subject so risky and yet necessary”); and Somali writer and visual artist Diriye Osman (“focuses his pinpoint-sharp lens not only on his own experiences of being a gay Nigerian man, but embeds a very specific generosity of spirit and wisdom”).

Chike Frankie Edozien.

The winners in all the Awards’ seven competitive categories will be announced at the 30th annual Triangle Awards on April 26, 2018, at the Tishman Auditorium of the New School, New York City.

Chinelo Okparanta’s Under the Udala Trees won the Publishing Triangle Awards’ Betty Berzon Emerging Writer category in 2016.

Chike Frankie Edozien is also currently shortlisted for the 2018 Gerald Kraak Award.

Congratulations to Chike Frankie Edozien.

Check out the other finalists HERE.