Black queer writer Roxane Gay honoured with prestigious literary award

Acclaimed Black queer writer Roxane Gay is set to receive the 2025 Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community, a lifetime achievement honour presented by the National Book Foundation.

The award will be formally bestowed at the 76th National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner on 19 November in New York City, with celebrated author Jacqueline Woodson presenting the accolade.

Gay, known for her powerful and genre-defying works such as Bad Feminist, Hunger, Difficult Women, and Ayiti, has long been a champion for marginalised voices in literature. Her imprint, Roxane Gay Books, under Grove Atlantic, is dedicated to publishing works by Black, queer, disabled, and economically diverse writers, as well as those living at the intersections of multiple marginalised identities.

In addition to her literary achievements, Gay is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, host of the podcast The Roxane Gay Agenda, and curator of The Audacious Book Club. She also publishes The Audacity newsletter and owns The Rumpus literary magazine with her wife, Debbie Millman.

David Steinberger, Chair of the National Book Foundation’s Board of Directors, praised Gay’s “intentional and artful” efforts to create inclusive spaces in publishing. “We will continue to reap the benefits of her achievements for generations,” he said.

Gay, who served as the Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair in Media, Culture, and Feminist Studies at Rutgers University from 2022 to 2025, expressed humility upon learning of the award. “These moments don’t come often,” she reflected, adding that while she doesn’t consider herself an activist, she strives to “arc towards a greater good” in all her work.