Dr. Lawrence LaFountain-Stokes is the winner of the 2023 University of Michigan Press Book Award, for Translocas: The Politics of Puerto Rican Drag and Trans Performance! 

The Director University of Michigan Press, Charles Watkinson, wrote:  “Professor La Fountain-Stokes's study of drag and transgender performance and activism in Puerto Rico and its diaspora is exceptional. La Fountain-Stokes is a drag performer himself and brings autobiographical insights to this ethnography of performers who help us rethink how gender as a construct is powerfully interconnected with other aspects of identity, including race, class, and national identity. While the focus is on the Puerto Rican community, the book informs our larger understanding of the representation of transgenderism and is a vital work for understanding why a commitment to supporting drag performance queens - rather than attempting to cancel drag queens' public presence - must be an essential act for any of us who believe in freedom of expression and identity."

Read more about the award here. 

Congratulations, Larry!