Lambda Literary Welcomes Its Next Executive Director, Sue Landers!

Lambda Literary has announced its next executive director: Sue Landers, author of Franklinstein, or the Making of a Modern Neighborhood (Roof, 2016) and Covers (O Books, 2007). Landers will succeed Tony Valenzuela, "who announced last fall that he would step down as executive director after a nine-year tenure. Sue will assume the role on July 2, 2018." Having held a variety of leadership roles at the College Board, and with extensive experience in poetry and LGBTQ communities, "Sue Landers brings an abundance of experience and a heartfelt, personal connection to the work of Lambda Literary." More about her background, from there: 

She has had an extensive career in nonprofit management and a long record of engagement in poetry and queer literary communities. Sue began her career at Lambda Rising bookstore in Washington, DC, which originated the Lambda Book Report and whose owners founded Lambda Literary. She has since worked primarily in the nonprofit sector, most recently in a variety of management roles at the College Board for sixteen years. An author as well as an editor, Sue recently published her third book, a hybrid work of poetry and prose about the racially diverse community in Philadelphia where she grew up.

“We are thrilled that Sue has agreed to lead us as we seek to build on our successes and further advance our impact and reach as the premier organization supporting LGBTQ readers and writers,” said Lambda Literary Board President Amy Scholder. “In light of the extraordinary and divisive political and cultural upheaval we are experiencing in our country, we need to ground ourselves in the power of our words and resist the forces that continue to try to undermine us. Nurturing our individual and collective artistic capacity will fuel and sustain our communities, and expand our rich creative legacies. Sue has the perfect blend of skill, energy, and vision that we need to lead Lambda Literary through these times.”

“I believe that LGBTQ writing is absolutely vital for our collective happiness and survival,” Sue Landers said, “For decades, Lambda Literary has fostered precisely the kind of radical imagination we need to build a more equitable world. I am honored to join this incredible organization and look forward to serving our LGBTQ+ community.”

Read more at Lambda Literary!