Golden Crown Literary Society logo

Golden Crown Literary Society

Karin Kallmaker Resources

Devoted to visibility and recognition of books for and about women who love women, Golden Crown Literary Society (GCLS) also produces the conference I look forward to all year. It’s a book love fest that buoys the writer in me with panels, workshops, and master classes.

It also buoys the reader in me, and builds connections between writers and readers. Fun, exhilarating, informative – did I mention fun? There’s games and dancing and conversation. The sound of people laughing together is truly like no other.

GCLS also operates the Writing Academy.

From GCLS’s site:

Mission: To increase the visibility and quality of literature that embraces and celebrates women loving women (WLW). Our goals:

  1. Recognize and reward quality literary works about women who love women;
  2. Provide learning opportunities, encouragement and assistance to new and established writers in developing their craft;
  3. Provide opportunities to promote WLW literature, including events that bring readers and writers together;
  4. Be inclusive of friends/supporters of literature that celebrates women who love women.

Vision: The GCLS is the leading literary organization for editors, publishers, readers, writers, and friends/supporters who celebrate books about women loving women. The GCLS is inclusive, welcoming, professional, and financially viable. As a versatile organization, we strive to recognize changes in our community, our literary industry, our membership needs, and social trends. We align our initiatives to these changes when and as appropriate.

Awards Language new for 2022: Books should contain a main character who is a woman or nonbinary person who identifies as lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, Two-Spirit, sapphic, homo/bi/pan-romantic asexual, and/or queer. If the book contains a primary romantic arc, it should feature a woman or sapphically aligned nonbinary person paired with a woman or sapphically aligned nonbinary person. Gender and sexuality are subjective and personal, and not all nonbinary people are woman-aligned or identify as sapphic for their attraction to women. Only those characters who do should be considered. For the purposes of these awards and all our programs and activities, we assert unequivocally that trans women are women.