TFR Reader’s Choice Awards

Founded in 2024, the TFR Reader’s Choice Awards are an open-voting chance for the transfeminine literary community to recognize excellence in transfeminine publishing for the year. The awards typically recognize a December-November review period, and voting lasts for the better part of December. In its first year, the TFR awards saw over 200 ballots cast by prominent figures across the community, and reflects the first cohesive awards process for nominating transfeminine authors at every level of the industry for their innovation, talent, and work.

The TFR Awards are committed to the principles of indie and self-publishing, to a recognition that the means of artistic production are less important than the art itself. In our first year, the majority of our awardees were indie or self-published – not from a nominating process, but from a completely blind vote. Moreover, our Indie Press of the Year award is the only category where The Transfeminine Review selects nominees at the start of the process, and recognizes innovation and excellence in indie publishing.

With over 30 categories, the TFR Awards aim to showcase the breadth and diversity of transfeminine publishing.

We recognize that for many authors, being nominated for an award can be just as meaningful as winning one. That’s why, in addition to our winners, we also recognize the award of ‘Distinction’ for books and authors who received a significant (but non-winning) tally of the vote.

Our hope is that these awards can stand as both record and testament to the yearly accomplishments of the transfeminine literary community, and that they may serve as a historical guide to readers on the best literature of years past.

Yearly Results

2025

2024

All-Time Records

Most Overall Votes: 277 (2025)

Most Nominations (Author): 30 – Alyson Greaves (2024)

Most Wins (Author): 11 – Alyson Greaves (2024)

Most Wins (Book): 5 – Welcome to Dorley Hall, Alyson Greaves (2024)

Biggest Blowout: +42 – Trans/Rad/Fem, Talia Bhatt, Best Transfeminine Nonfiction (2025)

Marquee Categories

Best Transfeminine Fiction

2025 – A/S/L by Jeanne Thornton [Shortlist | Longlist]

Woodworking by Emily St. James (Shortlisted with Distinction)
A Rotten Girl by Jemma Topaz (Shortlisted)
Stag Dance by Torrey Peters (Shortlisted)
Magica Riot: Full Bloom by Kara Buchanan (Longlisted with Distinction)
A Mask for the Sun by Kay F. Atkinson (Longlisted with Distinction)
Black Flame by Gretchen Felker-Martin (Longlisted with Distinction)
Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders (Longlisted)
Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan (Longlisted)
Glitch Girl! by Rainie Oet (Longlisted)
Machines of Consent by Sophia Turner (Longlisted)
Keeping the Peace by Tris Husband (Longlisted)
One of the Boys by Victoria Zeller (Longlisted)
A Hungry Light by Zin Nabelle (Longlisted)
Autumnal Conductor by Lhuzie Fénix (Distinction)

2024 – Welcome to Dorley Hall by Alyson Greaves [Shortlist | Longlist]

The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy (Shortlisted with Distinction)
Kimmy by Alyson Greaves (Shortlisted)
The Hades Calculus by Maria Ying (Shortlisted)
Love/Aggression by June Martin (Longlisted with Distinction)
The Sunforge by Sascha Stronach (Longlisted)
Magica Riot by Kara Buchanan (Longlisted)
How to Fly by Alyson Greaves (Longlisted)
The Default World by Naomi Kanakia (Longlisted)
They Who Bring the Light by Jessica Conwell (Longlisted)
Sundered Moon by Fae’Rynn (Longlisted)
These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart by Izzy Wasserstein (Longlisted)
Season of Fools by Morrigan C. L. Doerner (Longlisted)
The Library Thief by Kuchenga Shenjé (Longlisted)
The Potent Solution by Ashley Nova (Distinction)

Best Transfeminine Nonfiction

2025 – Trans/Rad/Fem by Talia Bhatt [Shortlist]

Gendertrash from Hell: The First Print Collection of the Zine that Changed Everything by Mirha-Soleil Ross (Shortlisted with Distinction)
Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson by Tourmaline (Shortlisted)
Authority: Essays About Being Right by Andrea Long Chu (Shortlisted)
Before Gender: Lost Stories from Trans History, 1850–1950 by Eli Erlick (Shortlisted)
Love in Exile by Shon Faye (Shortlisted)

2024 – “The Third Sex” by Talia Bhatt [Shortlist]

A Short History of Transmisogyny by Jules Gill-Peterson (Shortlisted with Distinction)
Corpses, Fools and Monsters: The History and Future of Transness in Cinema by Willow Maclay and Caden Gardner (Shortlisted)
Feminism Against Cisness ed. Emma Heaney (Shortlisted)
When Monsters Speak by Susan Stryker, ed. McKenzie Wark (Shortlisted)
Gender/Fucking: The Pleasures and Politics of Living in a Gendered Body by Florence Ashley (Distinction)

Best Transfeminine Poetry

2025 – Perverts by Kay Gabriel

Glitch Girl! by Rainie Oet (Shortlisted with Distinction)
a body more tolerable by jaye simpson (Shortlisted)
Local Woman by jzl jmz (Shortlisted)
Sage by Yaffa As (Shortlisted)

2024 – Desecrated Poppies by Yaffa As [Shortlist]

I Don’t Want to Be Understood by Joshua Jennifer Espinoza (Shortlisted with Distinction)
She Who Eats Tourists by Atalaya Magdalena (Shortlisted)
Transgenesis by Ava Nathaniel Winter (Shortlisted)
DEED by torrin a. greathouse (Shortlisted)
Poème dégénéré by Névé Dumas (Shortlisted)
& Glee and Bless by Petero Kalulé (petals) (Shortlisted)

Best Transfeminine Debut

2025 – Woodworking by Emily St. James [Shortlist]

The Zeus Constant by Callisto Khan (Shortlisted)
One of the Boys by Victoria Zeller (Shortlisted)
Autumnal Conductor by Lhuzie Fénix (Shortlisted)
Herculine by Grace Byron (Shortlisted)
Flower of the Underworld by Cirice Gray (Shortlisted)
Keeping the Peace by Tris Husband (Shortlisted)
Glitch Girl! by Rainie Oet (Shortlisted)

2024 – Welcome to Dorley Hall by Alyson Greaves [Shortlist]

Love/Aggression by June Martin (Shortlisted with Distinction)
Magica Riot by Kara Buchanan (Shortlisted with Distinction)
Sundered Moon by Fae’Rynn (Shortlisted with Distinction)
A Quiet Universe by Kay F. Atkinson (Shortlisted)
The Potent Solution by Ashley Nova (Shortlisted)
Still Life by Katherine Packert Burke (Distinction)

Author of the Year

2025 – Talia Bhatt [Shortlist]

Jemma Topaz (Shortlisted)
Jeanne Thornton (Shortlisted)
Kara Buchanan (Shortlisted)

2024 – Alyson Greaves [Shortlist]

Sascha Stronach (Shortlisted)
Maria Ying (Shortlisted)
Naomi Kanakia (Shortlisted)
Margaret Killjoy (Distinction)
June Martin (Distinction)

Indie Press of the Year

2025 – LittlePuss Press [Nominations]

Lilac Peril Press (Nominated with Distinction)

2024 – Neon Hemlock Press [Nominations]

tRaum Books (Nominated with Distinction)
LittlePuss Press (Distinction)
The Feminist Press (Distinction)

Genre Categories

Outstanding Contemporary Fiction

2025 – A Rotten Girl by Jemma Topaz

Woodworking by Emily St. James (Distinction)
A/S/L by Jeanne Thornton (Distinction)

2024 – Welcome to Dorley Hall by Alyson Greaves

Still Life by Katherine Packert Burke (Distinction)
Love/Aggression by June Martin (Distinction)
The Default World by Naomi Kanakia (Distinction)

Outstanding Short Story

2025 – “Agent Provocateur” by Cassandra Spencer

“The Stages of Contagious Disease” by Aster Olsen (Distinction)
“Oh Time Thy Pyramids” by Ann LeBlanc (Distinction)

2024 – “The V*mpire” by P.H. Lee

“Kindly Basilisk” by AutumnalWalker (Distinction)
“Rachel is at a Protest” by Esther Alter (Distinction)

Outstanding Individual Poem

2025 – “The Returns” by JD Pluecker

“When I Try to Verify Why They Carpet Driveways After the Rain, Google Keeps Feeding Me Distressingly Hot Factoids About Hermaphroditic Earthworm Sex” by Callie Jennings (Distinction)
“This Poem Does Not Support Palestine Action” by Josie Giles (Distinction)
“I’m Not a Lumberjack and I Don’t Smoke, So Driving is the Most Dangerous Thing I Do” by Rosalind Shoopmann (Distinction)

Outstanding Collection or Anthology

2025 – Stag Dance by Torrey Peters

TABOO ed. Andrea Morgan and Luke Sutherland (Distinction)

2024 – Embodied Exegesis ed. Ann LeBlanc

The Brute of Greengrave by Jemma Topaz (Distinction)

Outstanding TG/TF or Transition Fantasy

2025 – Song of the Dryads by Bailey Saxon

A Hungry Light by Zin Nabelle (Distinction)

2024 – Welcome to Dorley Hall by Alyson Greaves

Kimmy by Alyson Greaves (Distinction)
A Little Vice by Erin Elkin (Distinction)

Outstanding Fantasy

2025 – Autumnal Conductor by Lhuzie Fénix

Song of the Dryads by Bailey Saxon (Distinction)
Magica Riot: Full Bloom by Kara Buchanan (Distinction

2024 – The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy

Outstanding Science Fiction

2025 – Machines of Consent by Sophia Turner

A Mask for the Sun by Kay F. Atkinson

2024 – Kimmy by Alyson Greaves

Sundered Moon by Fae’Rynn (Distinction)
A Quiet Universe by Kay F. Atkinson (Distinction)
The Hades Calculus by Maria Ying (Distinction)
These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart by Izzy Wasserstein (Distinction)
Season of Fools by Morrigan C. L. Doerner (Distinction)

Outstanding Romance

2025 – Bottle Blondes by Rhiannon Swanson

2024 – Dulhaniyaa by Talia Bhatt

How to Fly by Alyson Greaves (Distinction)
Home Ice by Olivia Lynd (Distinction)

Outstanding Erotica

2025 – Warhound by Kallidora Rho

Essence of the Eye by Jemma Topaz (Distinction)
Sugar and Spice by Bailey Saxon (Distinction)

2024 – The Brute of Greengrave by Jemma Topaz

Tempting Poison by Jemma Topaz (Distinction)
Nexus Alpha by Ela Bambust (Distinction)

Outstanding Horror

2025 – Black Flame by Gretchen Felker-Martin

Moonflow by Bitter Karella (Distinction)
A Mask for the Sun by Kay F. Atkinson (Distinction)

2024 – Kimmy by Alyson Greaves

Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin (Distinction)
A Quiet Universe by Kay F. Atkinson (Distinction)
All The Hearts You Eat by Hailey Piper (Distinction)

Outstanding Historical Fiction

2025 – Geraldine by Andrea Thompson

Stag Dance by Torrey Peters

2024 – The Library Thief by Kuchenga Shenjé

The Potent Solution by Ashley Nova (Distinction)

Outstanding Thriller, Suspense, or Mystery

2025 – Keeping the Peace by Tris Husband

2024 – These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart by Izzy Wasserstein

Welcome to Dorley Hall by Alyson Greaves (Distinction)
Nothing but the Truth by Robyn Gigl (Distinction)
The Potent Solution by Ashley Nova (Distinction)
A Plague of Grackles by Dharma Kelleher (Distinction)

Outstanding Young Adult

2025 – One of the Boys by Victoria Zeller

2024 – Just Happy to Be Here by Naomi Kanakia

The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy (Distinction)
Girlmode by Magdalene Visaggio (Distinction)

Outstanding Children’s Fiction

2025 – Glitch Girl! by Rainie Oet

The Ink Witch by Steph Cherrywell (Distinction)

Outstanding Graphic Novel

2025 – Simplicity by Mattie Lubchansky

2024 – Girlmode by Magdalene Visaggio, ill. Paulina Ganucheau

Bad Dream: A Dreamer Story by Nicole Maines (Distinction)

Outstanding Web Serial or Fanfiction

2025 – Ranked Competitive Breast Growth by Beth Leigh-Ann and Talia Bhatt

Carve it on My Bones by Erin Elkin (Distinction)
The Sisters of Dorley by Alyson Greaves (Distinction)
Bottle Blondes by Rhiannon Swanson (Distinction)

2024 – The Sisters of Dorley by Alyson Greaves

Face Reveal by Querelle (Distinction)
The Objectively Most Rational Decision by The_Luce (Distinction)

Outstanding Memoir

2025 – The Dad Rock that Made Me a Woman by Niko Stratis

Trauma Plot by Jamie Hood (Distinction)

2024 – Gender/Fucking: The Pleasures and Politics of Living in a Gendered Body by Florence Ashley

It Gets Better… Except When it Gets Worse: And Other Unsolicited Truths I Wish Someone Had Told Me by Nicole Maines (Distinction)
I Heard Her Call My Name by Lucy Sante (Distinction)

Outstanding Trans Theory

2025 – Trans/Rad/Fem by Talia Bhatt

Beyond Personhood: An Essay in Trans Philosophy by Talia Mae Bettcher (Distinction)

2024 – “The Third Sex” by Talia Bhatt

Outstanding General Nonfiction

2025 – Authority: Essays on Being Right by Andrea Long Chu

Worthy of the Event by Vivian Blaxwell (Distinction)

Outstanding Foreign Language or Translated Work

2025 – (So What) If I’m a Puta by Amara Moira, trans. Amanda de Lisio and Bruna Dantas Lobito

Land of Mirrors by Maria Medem, trans. Aleshia Jensen and Daniella Ortiz (Distinction)
A We Without a State by Yásnaya Elena Aguilar Gil, trans. Jadine Pluecker (Distinction)

2024 – Bad Habit by Alana S. Portero, trans. Mara Faye Lethem

I’m a Fool to Want You by Camila Sosa Villada, trans. Kit Maude (Distinction)
La Foresta Incantata ed Altre Storie: Cinque Racconti di Magie del Genere by Zoe Storm (Distinction)

Outstanding Audiobook

2025 – Magica Riot by Kara Buchanan, narr. Emma Martello

One of the Boys by Victoria Zeller, narr. Jen Richards (Distinction)
Trauma Plot by Jamie Hood, narr. Jamie Hood (Distinction)
Glitch Girl! by Rainie Oet, narr. Rainie Oet and Jeff Ebner (Distinction)

Author Categories

Breakout or Debut Author

2025 – Emily St. James

Callisto Khan (Distinction)
Lhuzie Fénix (Distinction)
Victoria Zeller (Distinction)

2024 – June Martin

Alyson Greaves (Distinction)
Kara Buchanan (Distinction)

Pillar of the Community

2025 – Ana Valens

Talia Bhatt (Distinction)

2024 – Alyson Greaves

Talia Bhatt (Distinction)

Up-and-Coming Author

2025 – Callisto Khan

Aster Olsen (Distinction)
Cassandra Spencer (Distinction)
Cirice Gray (Distinction)

2024 – Fae’Rynn

Kay F. Atkinson (Distinction)
Kara Buchanan (Distinction)
Naomi Kanakia (Distinction)

Best Technical Prose or Craft

2025 – Jeanne Thornton

Lhuzie Fénix (Distinction)
Callisto Khan (Distinction)

2024 – Alyson Greaves

June Martin (Distinction)
Maria Ying (Distinction)

Miscellaneous Categories

Funniest Book

2025 – A Rotten Girl by Jemma Topaz

Ranked Competitive Breast Growth by Beth Leigh-Ann and Talia Bhatt (Distinction)

2024 – Welcome to Dorley Hall by Alyson Greaves

Love/Aggression by June Martin (Distinction)
Magica Riot by Kara Buchanan (Distinction)
The Brute of Greengrave by Jemma Topaz (Distinction)
The Transitive Properties of Cheese by Ann LeBlanc (Distinction)
Why Can’t You Feminize Me Already? by AdeptLamia (Distinction)

Best Character

2025 – Katherine, Ranked Competitive Breast Growth, Beth Leigh-Ann and Talia Bhatt

Abraxa, A/S/L by Jeanne Thornton (Distinction)
Madalithea, Flower of the Underworld by Cirice Gray (Distinction)

2024 – Persephone, The Hades Calculus by Maria Ying

Max Giordiano, How to Fly by Alyson Greaves (Distinction)

Best Transfeminine Representation by a Non-Transfeminine Author

2025 – Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman

Fawn’s Blood by Hal Schrive (Distinction)
Root Rot by Saskia Nislow (Distinction)

2024 – The World Within by Dani Finn

Maej by Dale Stromberg (Distinction)
Old Wounds by Logan-Ashley Kisner (Distinction)

Outstanding Editor or Agent

2025 – Cat Fitzpatrick

2024 – Denne Michele Norris

Ann LeBlanc (Distinction)
DongWon Song (Distinction)

Outstanding Publication

2025 – Woman of Letters by Naomi Kanakia

Lilac Peril ed. Andrea Morgan and Luke Sutherland (Distinction)

2024 – Lilac Peril ed. Andrea Morgan and Luke Sutherland

Outstanding Reviewer

2025 – Bethany Karsten

Andrea Long Chu (Distinction)

2024 – Bethany Karsten

Roz Milner (Distinction)
Tris Husband (Distinction)
Charlie Jane Anders (Distinction)

Outstanding Academic

2025 – Talia Bhatt

Eartha Mae Guthman (Distinction)

2024 – Jules Gill-Peterson