Hugh Ryan Explained

Hugh Ryan
Nationality:American
Genre:Non-fiction
Awards:Stonewall Book Award (2023)

Hugh Ryan is an American historian and non-fiction writer focusing on the LGBT history of New York City. He wrote The Women's House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison and When Brooklyn Was Queer.

The Women's House of Detention focuses on the queer women and transmasculine people who were systematically imprisoned in the New York City institution.[1] The book won the American Library Association's 2023 Stonewall Book Award for nonfiction[2] and Publishers Weekly called it "a vital contribution to LGBTQ history."[3] Kirkus Reviews called it a "blistering critique of the country’s ‘criminal legal system’.”[4]

When Brooklyn Was Queer focuses on the LGBT history of the borough's waterfront. The book was a 2019 New York Times Editor's Choice[5] and one of Harper's Bazaar's Best LGBTQ books of 2019.[6] It was a finalist for the 2020 Lambda Literary Award for Nonfiction.[7]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Women's House of Detention . 2023-03-24 . Library Journal.
  2. Web site: 2023-02-01 . Queer Author Talk: Hugh Ryan with Jennifer Love Williams on The Women's House of Detention . 2023-03-24 . Brooklyn Public Library . en-us.
  3. Web site: February 2, 2022 . The Women’s House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison by Hugh Ryan . 2023-03-24 . Publishers Weekly.
  4. Book: THE WOMEN'S HOUSE OF DETENTION Kirkus Reviews . en.
  5. News: Crain . Caleb . 2019-04-20 . ‘When Brooklyn Was Queer’ Evokes the Borough’s Hidden History . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-03-24 . 0362-4331.
  6. Web site: 2019-10-11 . Celebrate National Coming Out Day with the Best LGBTQ Books of 2019 . 2023-03-24 . Harper's BAZAAR . en-US.
  7. Web site: 2020-03-10 . Here are the Finalists For the 2020 Lambda Literary Awards . 2023-03-24 . Oprah Daily . en-us.