Daphne A. Brooks, Myriam J. A. Chancy, Zakiya Dalila Harris, Fatima Shaik, Phillip B. Williams, and Gayl Jones are winners at the American Book Awards 2022 announced on September 8, 2022.
The American Book Awards, from the Before Columbus Foundation, were created to provide recognition for outstanding literary achievements from the entire spectrum of America’s diverse literary community. The purpose of the awards, first hosted in 1980, is to recognize literary excellence without limitations or restrictions. There are no categories, no nominees, and therefore no losers. The award winners range from well-known and established writers to under-recognized authors and first works. There are no quotas for diversity, the winners’ list simply reflects it as a natural process. it is “a writers’ award given by other writers” and “there are no categories, no nominees, and therefore no losers.
In 2021, Maisy Card, Johanna Fernández, Randall Horton,Gerald Horne, Judy Juanita, William Melvin Kelley, Maryemma Graha, and Shana Redmond made the list.
Here are the writers of African descent on the awards list this year;
- Daphne A. Brooks, Liner Notes for the Revolution: The Intellectual Life of Black Feminist Sound (Harvard University Press)
- Myriam J. A. Chancy, What Storm, What Thunder (Tin House Books)
- Zakiya Dalila Harris, The Other Black Girl: A Novel (Atria Books)
- Fatima Shaik, Economy Hall: The Hidden History of a Free Black Brotherhood (The Historic New Orleans Collection)
- Phillip B. Williams, Mutiny (Penguin Books)
Lifetime Achievement Award
- Gayl Jones
The American Book Award 2022 winners will be formally recognised at a ceremony on Sunday, October 9, 2022.
