John Birdsall (born ) is an American writer. He is the author of The Man Who Ate Too Much (2020) and What is Queer Food? (2025); he also wrote Hawker Fare (2018) with James Syhabout. He has won two James Beard Foundation Awards, as well as the 2026 Amber Hollibaugh Award.
Career Birdsall began his career working in restaurants.
His writing career kicked off with his essay "America, Your Food Is So Gay", published in Lucky Peach in 2013. The essay highlighted closeted gay food writers of the twentieth century, including American chef James Beard (1903–1985), American food writer Richard Olney (1927–1999), and American restaurant critic and food journalist Craig Claiborne (1920–2000). According to Jaya Saxena, writing for Eater, this essay "essentially kicked off the queer food conversation". In 2014, "American, Your Food Is So Gay" won the James Beard Foundation Award for Food and Culture.
In 2016, Birdsall won the James Beard Foundation Award for Food and Culture again for his essay "Straight-Up Passing", originally published in Jerry.
Birdsall's debut book, The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard, is a biography of James Beard, published by W. W. Norton & Company on October 6, 2020. The book was well received by critics, including starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly. In 2021, The Man Who Ate Too Much was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Memoir or Biography, as well as the Randy Shilts Award.
In 2018, Birdsall co-authored Hawker Fare: Stories and Recipes from a Refugee Chef's Isan Thai & Lao Roots with James Syhabout. The book received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.
Birdsall published What Is Queer Food?: How We Served a Revolution with W. W. Norton & Company on June 3, 2025. Expanding on ideas from his earlier works, What Is Queer Food? connects food and queer history through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The book received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, and won the 2026 Amber Hollibaugh Award.
Awards and honors +Awards for Birdsall's writingYearTitleAwardResult2014"America, Your Food Is So Gay", Lucky PeachJames Beard Foundation Award for Food and CultureWinner2016"Straight-Up Passing", JarryJames Beard Foundation Award for Food and CultureWinner2021Lambda Literary Award for Gay Memoir or BiographyFinalist2021Randy Shilts AwardFinalist2026What Is Queer Food?Amber Hollibaugh AwardWinner
Personal life Birdsall was born in 1959 or 1960. He grew up with his older brother and parents in a San Francisco suburb.
Publications
References