Tag Archives: Nik Nicholson

‘Masculine Women’ Debut Scoops Lambda Award

Descendants of Hagar, Nik Nicholson’s first book, has won the Lambda award for best debut novel. LGBT.

This work of historical fiction explores the issue of a woman coming to terms with her masculine nature. To research her book Nicholson interviewed a wide variety of women who identified themselves as ‘masculine’.

‘I didn’t want Linny to be a combination of all my assumptions about masculine women,’ said Nicholson during the Lambda ceremony. ‘I don’t know of any other book where such a process was used … I interviewed more than sixty women who I presumed were lesbians because I’d posted requests for interviews on lesbian sites, but surprisingly the majority were bisexual. This was a constant reminder that gender expression does not denote sexuality.’

Descendants of Hagar is set in Georgia in 1914 during the Black Codes era, when the oppression of African-American people was particularly severe. Madelyn “Linny” Remington is a tough black woman whose forefather was the strong-spirited slave Miemay. Trapped by the limitations of her race and gender, Linny makes a promise that gives her the freedom she desires but that also brings shame upon her family.