Former MSNBC host Joy Reid, who departed the network in February after the cancellation of her prime time show “The ReidOut,” received the Before Columbus Foundation’s anti-censorship prize, reported Associated Press.
John Edgar Wideman, an acclaimed fiction and nonfiction writer since the 1960s, was honored with a lifetime achievement award for his significant contributions to literature.
Awards for current works
The awards recognised several notable works, including:
- Percival Everett for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “James,” a retelling of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”
- Kaveh Akbar for “Martyr!”
- Danzy Senna for “Colored Television.”
- Claire Messud for “This Strange Eventful History.”
Poetry and nonfiction honours
Other recipients included Amy M Alvarez for her poetry collection “Makeshift Altar” and Sarah Lewis for her nonfiction work “The Unseen Truth: When Race Changed Sight in America.”
Editor/Publisher award
Penguin Random House editor Erroll McDonald, known for working with authors like Wideman, Toni Morrison, and Wole Soyinka, was awarded the editor/publisher prize.
Foundation’s mission
The Before Columbus Foundation, founded in 1976 by author-playwright Ishmael Reed, presents the awards to celebrate diversity in American art and culture. “The purpose of the awards is to recognize literary excellence without limitations or restrictions,” the foundation’s announcement reads in part. “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.”
Previous winners of the American Book Awards include literary figures such as Bell hooks, Dave Eggers, and the newly appointed poet laureate, Arthur Sze.
