American writer Christopher Bram was BOTD in 1952. Born in Buffalo, New York, he was raised in Virginia and studied at William and Mary College. He began publishing novels in the 1970s, describing New York City’s burgeoning gay scene. He is best known for his 1995 novel Father of Frankenstein, which re-imagines the final days of gay Frankenstein director James Whale. The 1998 film adaptation by Bill Condon, retitled Gods and Monsters and starring Ian McKellen, was a critical and commercial hit, winning Condon an Oscar for his screenplay and bringing wider attention to Bram’s writing. His novel The Notorious Dr August: His Life and Crimes and Lives of the Circus Animals, won the the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction and his non/fiction book Eminent Outlaws: The Gay Writers Who Changed America won the Randy Shilts Award for gay non-fiction. Bram lives in New York with the documentary maker Draper Shreeve, and teaches at New York University.