Hugh Ryan

For the Roman Catholic bishop, see Hugh Edward Ryan.
For Irish-Canadian industrialist, see Hugh Ryan (railway magnate).
Hugh Ryan
Occupation
  • Historian
  • writer
NationalityAmerican
GenreNon-fiction
Notable awardsStonewall 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]

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