At that first gala event, honors went to such distinguished writers as National Book Award finalist Paul Monette (author of Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir), Dorothy Allison (Trash), Alan Hollinghurst (The Swimming-Pool Library), and Edmund White (The Beautiful Room is Empty).

The awards gave national visibility [2][3] to literature that had established a firm if nascent beachhead through a network of dynamic lesbian and gay publishers and bookstores springing up across America.

The awards have ranged over many categories, reflecting the wide spectrum of LGBTQ books, and from the first year, they have stated that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans stories are part of the nation's literature.

Faculty have included well-known and highly regarded writer-teachers such as Dorothy Allison, John Rechy, Fenton Johnson, Katherine V. Forrest, Claire McNab, Bernard Cooper, Nicola Griffith, Ellen Bass, Rigoberto Gonzalez, D. A. Powell, Ellery Washington and Eloise Klein Healy.

The retreat provides open access to industry professionals and the opportunity for fellows to create for themselves an ongoing community of practice as they advance in their craft and careers.