All-in-all, a glorious, memorable evening of celebration for some of our finest authors and photographers. Hundreds showed up at Le Parker Meridien Hotel across from Central Park in New York City.

Unfortunately, Jewels: 50 Phenomenal Black Women Over 50, didn’t win in the category of photography. Yeah, I went there. I really wanted Michael to win ’cause he’s a superb portrait photographer, and women should be screaming to be photographed by him.

Fortunately, many other very deserving people were recognized, including Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe in the photography category for her book Daufuskie Island. Moutoussamy-Ashe gracefully acknowledged the other photographers in this category. I’m very thankful that Essence decided to include the category and I hope it encourages more of us to document and capture African-American people and culture in photo books.

Here’s a list of the victors in all the categories.

First Annual Essence Literary Award Winners

Congratulations to each and every one of them. And hats off to Essence for beginning a wonderful tradition, especially to Essence Senior Editor Patrik Henry Bass for his hard work pulling off the event and to Hoda Kotb and Dr. Ian Smith for being so entertaining as hosts of the stellar evening.

And thanks to all the glittering stars who came out like T.D. Jakes, who received the President’s Award, and Terry McMillan, who got a well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award. Then there was the Emmy-award winning actress Lynn Whitfield who presented the award for most inspirational book. Actress and author Victoria Rowell was nominated in the category of memoirs for her book, The Women Who Raised Me, and she also presented the award for best children’s book.

Just one complaint: It was way too crowded. The reception was packed and the room where the awards were presented was standing room only. Bass did promise that Essence would “have enough chairs” next year. Let’s hope they follow through on that for what promises to be a huge hit in the years to come.

Photo captions: Top–Hosts Hoda Kotb and Dr. Ian Smith; Middle–photographers and nominees Michael Cunningham and Carol Ross; Bottom–Connie Briscoe and AALBC Founder Troy Johnson

As many of you know, I attended the Essence Literary Awards Gala in New York City yesterday, and I just returned home a few hours ago. I’ll have details about the gala posted here this weekend. For now, I’ll just say that it was packed with people, and you could feel the excitement for this first-ever literary event pulsating through the atmosphere.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has given striking writers permission to work for the 39th annual NAACP Image Awards ceremony. This means that the show can go on without fear of being picketed by writers. And the ceremony won’t suffer the same fate as the Golden Globes award ceremony, which was reduced from the usual big gala to a brief press conference. Bet those writers are lined up for the NAACP gig.

The 39th NAACP Image Awards ceremony will air live on February 14 on FOX. The awards honor diversity in the arts in television, film and literature.

I was once nominated for an Image Award for my historical novel, A Long Way From Home, and it is a huge honor, with a glitzy affair in Los Angeles where all the stars come out. If memory serves me right, at that time there was only one award for literature, and Nikki Giovanni beat out me and a handful of other authors. Still I had fun, and I can’t complain about losing to Nikki. She’s awesome.

I’m pleased to see that the number of nominees for literature has mushroomed to dozens in several categories, from fiction and autobiography to poetry and books for the young ones. That’s a reflection of how many more books are being written by African Americans.

Here’s the list of the NAACP Image Awards nominees in the literary categories–

Outstanding Literary Work - Fiction

• Blonde Faith - Walter Mosley (Little, Brown & Company)
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz (Penguin/Riverhead)
• Cion: A Novel - Zakes Mda (Picador)
• Knots - Nuruddin Farah (Penguin/Riverhead)
• New England White: A Novel - Stephen L. Carter (Alfred A. Knopf/RH)

Outstanding Literary Work - Non-Fiction

• An Unbroken Agony - Randall Robinson (Basic Civitas Books/Perseus)
• Brother, I’m Dying - Edwidge Danticat (Alfred A. Knopf/RH)
• Know What I Mean?: Reflections on Hip-Hop - Michael Eric Dyson (Basic Civitas Books/Perseus)
• Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond - Don Cheadle, John Prendergast (Hyperion)
• Race and Racism in the Chinas: Chinese Racial Attitudes Toward Africans and African-Americans - M. Dujon Johnson (Authorhouse)

Continue reading →

Many of you are aware by now that starting this year Essence magazine will give out literary awards in several categories. What you might not know is that my latest title Jewels, a photo-essay book coauthored with photographer Michael Cunningham, was nominated in the category of photography. Yeah!

OK, so I had little to do with the photos in Jewels: 50 Phenomenal Black Women Over 50, but my name is still on the book jacket. Close enough. And I helped all the classy women in Jewels with their essays. And I can cheer on Michael, who knows a thing or two when it comes to photographing women. The photo of Ruby Dee on the book jacket is just one example of the many stunning photos in the book. A lot of you will know Michael’s work from his earlier titles like Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats and Queens: Portraits of Black Women and Their Glorious Hair. Check out his portfolio, especially his work from Jewels. Michael is the hottest photographer out there today.

The public can vote on the top five finalists in the Storyteller of the Year category at Essence.com until January 15. Winners in the other categories will be selected by a panel of publishing experts and all will be announced at an awards ceremony, emceed by Hoda Kotb and Dr. Ian Smith in New York City on February 7, 2008. Terry McMillan will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Countee Cullen Regional Library in Harlem, a branch of the New York City Public Library system, will be the first recipient of the Save Our Libraries campaign.

2008 ESSENCE LITERARY AWARDS FINALISTS
FICTION
Red River by Lalita Tademy/Grand Central Publishing
Casanegra by Blair Underwood, Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due/Atria
The Pirate’s Daughter by Margaret Cezair-Thompson/Unbridled Books
New England White by Stephen L. Carter/Knopf
Knots by Nuruddin Farah/Riverhead

MEMOIR
Brother, I’m Dying by Edwidge Danticat/Knopf
The Women Who Raised Me by Victoria Rowell/William Morrow
Alek by Alek Wek/Amistad
One Drop by Bliss Broyard/Little, Brown and Co.
A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah/Farrar, Straus and Giroux

INSPIRATION
Reposition Yourself by TD Jakes/Atria
From the Heart by Robin Roberts/Hyperion
Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy/Tyndale
Do You! by Russell Simmons/Penguin
How Strong Women Pray by Bonnie St. John/Faith Words

NONFICTION
The Bond by Sampson Davis, George Jenkins and Rameck Hunt/Riverhead
Friends: A Love Story by Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance/Harlequin
I Got Your Back by Eddie and Gerald Levert/Harlem Moon
Foreigners by Caryl Phillips/Knopf
Supreme Discomfort by Michael Fletcher and Kevin Merida/Doubleday

CURRENT AFFAIRS
Come on People by Bill Cosby/Thomas Nelson
The Covenant in Action by Tavis Smiley/Smiley Books
An Unbroken Agony by Randall Robinson/Basic Civitas
Know What I Mean? By Michael Eric Dyson/Perseus Books Group
Twice As Good by Marcus Mabry/Modern Times

PHOTOGRAPHY
Daufuskie Island by Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe/University of South Carolina Press
Pop by Carol Ross/Stewart, Tabori & Chang
Jimi Hendrix by Janie Hendrix/Atria
Let Your Motto Be Resistance edited by Deborah Willis/Smithsonian Press
Jewels by Michael Cunningham and Connie Briscoe/Little, Brown and Co.

CHILDREN’S BOOKS
Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine illustrated by Kadir Nelson/Scholastic
Sugar Cane: A Caribbean Rapunzel by Patricia Storace and Raul Colon/Jump at the Sun
Marvelous World by Troy Cle/Simon & Schuster’s Children’s Publishing
The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor-mbachu/Jump at the Sun
Sallie Gal and the Wall-a-Kee Man by Shelia P. Moses and Niki Daly/Scholastic

POETRY
Duende by Tracy K. Smith/Graywolf Press
Acolytes by Nikki Giovanni/William Morrow
Totem by Gregory Pardlo/American Poetry Review

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Terry McMillan

STORYTELLER OF THE YEAR
Eric Jerome Dickey
Lori Bryant-Woolridge
Trisha R. Thomas
L.A. Banks
Tananarive Due

CRITERIA
* Eligible titles were published in 2007
* Finalists illuminate the African-American experience throughout the Diaspora while provoking discussion about the human condition
* Demonstrates excellence and originality in concept, content and execution
* Recommended by Essence readers and Essence Book Club members