It’s that time of year again!! Time to recognize the best creative works of the year in the LDS/Ex-Mormon universe!! Main Street Plaza has been hosting these awards since 2009 — back when the blogging world was a bit more lively… But even though the hotspots of social media keep moving to new places (I’m currently posting on Mastodon as @chanson@social.linux.pizza), I still think it’s fun ans worthwhile to keep up the tradition here — and I hope you agree!!
The objective of the “Brodie Awards” is to give a bit more recognition and signal boost to creative works by ex-Mormons (or any liberal Mo’s willing to hang with us) that have LDS-interest subject matter.
As usual, I’ll review the guidelines, then list the category recommendations, and then you (yes you!! whoever you are!) are free to submit your nominations in the comments below.
- Please nominate only works that first appeared during 2022.
- Please include links to the works you nominate. (If your nomination comment doesn’t appear right away, please email me at chanson dot exmormon at gmail dot com).
- Please nominate as many people, books, blogs, sites, podcasts, songs, articles, images, etc. as you want. However, please do not nominate more than two individual works by any one author/artist.
- You are encouraged to nominate your own works. No one knows better than you do which pieces were your best. No more than two, though.
- Please only nominate works that have some connection with Mormonism (or, y’know, the religious movement formerly known as “Mormonism” *eyeroll*).
- A category must have at least three nominations in order to be included in the voting and awards phase.
- You may suggest your own categories — however please do it as early as possible in the nominations process, to give others plenty of time to add nominations in your proposed categories.
- Any other proposed changes to the categories or to the guidelines are welcome — feel free to discuss it in the comments.
- The nominations will be open until mid-January, 2023, depending on my schedule. I will finalize the dates and categories and add my own nominations a few days before the nominations close and voting begins.
Here are my proposed categories — keeping in mind that these are just suggestions. You can see the old winners’ lists in the sidebar for other potential category ideas, or suggest your own!
Year-long awards for sites/channels/etc.:
- Best LDS-interest podcast
- Best LDS-interest video channel
- Best LDS-interest blog
- Best new LDS-interest channel/site/blog
Awards for individual works:
- Best LDS-interest book (fiction)
- Best LDS-interest book (non-fiction)
- Best LDS-interest song
- Best LDS-interest video
- Best LDS-interest short (e.g. TikTok)
- Best LDS-interest Tweet
- Best LDS-interest Reddit thread
- Best LDS-interest public Facebook discussion
- Best LDS-interest podcast episode
- Best LDS-interest comic or image
- Funniest LDS-interest work of humor
- Best treatment of subject X (where you suggest the subject when nominating)
Additionally, please be aware that the nominations for X-Mormon of the Year are still open here. We’ve gotten a fair amount, but we could use some more — especially nominations for people who did something noteworthy specifically during 2022.
Thanks in advance — I look forward to seeing the best LDS-interest creative works of 2022!!
I think “video” is too broad a category. Does that mean YouTube video? TikTok? AND movie or TV series? I see the separate category “short” so maybe we just need to clarify that “video” means film or TV?
Maybe we can have a movie/film/TV category that is separate. I’d nominate “Under the Banner of Heaven” for that.
For best LDS-interest book, I nominate Donna Banta’s “Seer Stone” and Johnny Townsend’s “Orgy at the STD Clinic” (please don’t add any other of my books this year–I also published “Please Evacuate” and a collection of my best short stories, “Life Is Better with Love” but those stories first appeared in previous years).
@Johnny, This is just a list of suggestions. I like your idea of having a movie/film/TV category.
I actually also want to nominate Zelph on the Shelf’s various Jack Weyland reading series, and I really need to think of a good category for that. It’s not exactly a “review”… What do you think would be the category for videos reading and commenting on books?
Thanks for the nominations — keep ’em coming!!!
“Sins of our mother,” a Netflix series about Lori Vallow, who killed her kids.
“Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey,” Netflix series about fundamentalist LDS
“Mormon No More,” Hulu series
Dang, forgot the links!
Sins of Our Mother, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21867596/
Keep Sweet, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20560404/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Under the Banner of Heaven, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1998372/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
Seer Stone, https://www.amazon.com/Seer-Stone-Donna-Banta/dp/0990017044/ref=sr_1_6?crid=11TWI5KNL8RBB&keywords=seer+stone&qid=1672248624&s=books&sprefix=seer+stone%2Cstripbooks%2C219&sr=1-6
Orgy at the STD Clinic, https://www.amazon.com/Orgy-STD-Clinic-Johnny-Townsend/dp/1647199387/ref=sr_1_6?crid=2LUCTH940XS7X&keywords=johnny+townsend&qid=1672248662&s=books&sprefix=johnny+townsend%2Cstripbooks%2C143&sr=1-6
Mormon No More, https://www.hulu.com/series/mormon-no-more-61c6289d-1038-45a4-a982-6fad782a00f1
Novel, “One Breath from Drowning,” https://www.amazon.com/One-Breath-Drowning-Kent-Quaney/dp/0299337146/ref=sr_1_8?crid=1GB55BJ868SKT&keywords=gay+mormon+novel&qid=1672248781&s=books&sprefix=gay+mormon+novel%2Cstripbooks%2C161&sr=1-8
Novel, If You Want Me Close, https://www.amazon.com/If-You-Want-Me-Close/dp/B0B5Q4J9RP/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1672248937&sr=1-23
For starters I’ll nominate Wheat & Tares as best LDS-interest blog. https://wheatandtares.org
More to come shortly!
Nominating YouTube/Patreons ZelphOntheShelf for best exmo blog/video/content overall
https://youtu.be/_ftpxI8boSw
This and other Zelph on the shelf videos are absolutely phenomenal!!!
Best new LDS channel/site/blog: Unboxing Queer Mormonism
https://jacobnewman.substack.com
Best LDS-interest book non-fiction: Rainbow Letters: The Temerity to Believe by Gary M. Watts M.D.
https://www.amazon.com/Rainbow-Letters-Gary-Watts-M-D/dp/B09YMGF8K2/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1MCX6A9ITA8XU&keywords=rainbow+letters+gary+watts&qid=1672355064&sprefix=rainbow+letters+watts%2Caps%2C214&sr=8-1
Nominating YouTube/Patreons ZelphOntheShelf for best exmo blog/video/content overall.
Interest Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41w03g_77Ac
https://www.patreon.com/zelphontheshelf/posts
I enjoy watching them and I’m a Patreon subscriber to support their ongoing message of hope for those that are Post-Mormonism as well as for those of us who are not mormons.
Nominating Zelph on the Shelf for best exmo blog/video/content overall. As a NeverMo, I’ve learned so much from their insightful and funny content
https://www.youtube.com/@ZelphOntheShelf
Thanks for all of the fantastic nominations!!! I completely second the “Zelph on the Shelf” nominations — I’m a huge fan too, and they’ve really produced some fantastic content in 2022!!
Here are a couple more nominations for narrative nonfiction/memoir:
Jeanette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Im-Glad-My-Mom-Died/Jennette-McCurdy/9781982185824
Revising Eternity edited by Holly Welker: https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=36gxw3ww9780252044359
In the category of “Best Redditors”:
* TreeTableBenchGrass https://old.reddit.com/user/treetablebenchgrass
* uncorrelated mormon https://old.reddit.com/user/uncorrolated-mormon
Best Podcast:
* Radio Free Mormon: https://radiofreemormon.org/
Best (short?) video creator:
* Exmo Lex: https://www.youtube.com/c/ExmoLex?app=desktop
* Nuanceho: https://www.tiktok.com/discover/nuancehoe?lang=en
? Best LDS-interest podcast
Best Podcast: Human Stories by Jill Hazard Rowe.
https://www.facebook.com/HumanStoriespod/
Founder of Mama Dragons lets non-straight, non-cis people with Mormon backgrounds tell their stories of self-awakening and healing
? Best LDS-interest video
Mormon No More – the story of charismatic lesbian couple finding each other and working through their faith, with insight from Bradley Tablot (light the y) and Matty Easton (whose college-approved coming-out BYU valedictory speech prompted J Holland’s musket-fire comment)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21158428/
? Best treatment of subject X (where you suggest the subject when nominating)
Best way to find healing from disposing of Miracle of Forgiveness
https://lattergaystories.org/gala/
Also, I second Donna’s nomination for Rainbow Letters.
Jana Riess has an article today of her top 10 LDS stories of 2022. Perhaps something there is relevant for the Brodies:
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2022/12/31/jana-riess-joseph-smith-david/?utm_source=Salt+Lake+Tribune&utm_campaign=b6bed5aa08-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_12_30_03_03&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-b6bed5aa08-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D
I would like to nominate the Widow’s Mite Report as best new blog/site. Enormous help peeling back the layers of church finances, presented in clear, balanced and accessible formatted reports. They released something like 5 amazing reports in 2022.
http://widowsmitereport.wordpress.com
Widow’s Mite Report may also qualify as best treatment of LDS finances (as per the categry list).
Thanks for all the awesome nominations!! Keep ’em coming!!!
My plan is to post the poll for X-Mormon of the year tomorrow (the 2nd), then do a post organizing the Brodies nominations on on Wednesday. At that point I will highlight newly-suggested categories in order to gather more nominations for them.
Maybe a separate category of best book by a single author and best collection? I don’t want to compete with Donna and Johnny, but I definitely want the 2022 essay collection I edited to win an award!
https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=36gxw3ww9780252044359
Also, maybe a separate category for best single tweet and best twitter thread?
Once again, I’ll nominate myself. I am partial to this twitter thread that begins, ‘Being born Mormon was like going to a really lovely party where at some point, the hosts bring out a bunch of pigeons & say, “OK, now we’ll all strip down to our underwear, bite the heads off these pigeons, smear their blood all over us, & run screaming through the streets.”‘
https://twitter.com/hollywelker/status/1605589837746016256
One more for podcast
Latter Gay Stories
Kyle Ashworth has really brought forward such a variety of insightful guests
https://lattergaystories.org/episodes/