Hurston/Wright Legacy Award Nominees and Winning Books
The Hurston/Wright Legacy Award™ honors the best in Black literature. Introduced in 2001, the Legacy Award was the first national award presented to Black writers by a national organization of Black writers. Fiction, debut fiction, nonfiction, and poetry honorees are selected in a juried competition. Each October, the award winners are celebrated during the Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards that draws hundreds of literary stars, readers, representatives of the publishing industry, the arts, media, politics, and academia. Learn more at the Hurston/Wright Foundation’s website
17 Books Honored by the Hurston/Wright Foundation in 2019
Winner - Fiction
Heads of the Colored People (paperback): Stories
by Nafissa Thompson-Spires
- 1 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 1 Book Club’s Reading List
- Hurston/Wright Honored Book (2019)
- Kirkus Prize Finalist/Winner 2018
- An NAACP Image Award Honored Book
Atria / 37 Ink (Jan 22, 2019)
Fiction, Paperback, 224 pages
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Winner - Nonfiction
May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem
by Imani Perry
- 1 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 1 Book Club’s Reading List
- Hurston/Wright Honored Book (2019)
- An NAACP Image Award Honored Book
University of North Carolina Press (Oct 21, 2021)
Nonfiction, Paperback, 296 pages
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Winner - Poetry
American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin
by Terrance Hayes
- 1 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 1 Book Club’s Reading List
- Hurston/Wright Honored Book (2019)
Penguin Books (Jun 19, 2018)
Poetry, Paperback, 112 pages
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Finalist - Fiction
A Lucky Man: Stories
by Jamel Brinkley
- 1 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 1 Book Club’s Reading List
- Hurston/Wright Honored Book (2019)
Graywolf Press (May 08, 2018)
Fiction, Hardcover, 264 pages
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Finalist - Nonfiction
Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower
by Brittney Cooper
- 1 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 1 Book Club’s Reading List
- Hurston/Wright Honored Book (2019)
St. Martin’s Press (Feb 20, 2018)
Nonfiction, Hardcover, 320 pages
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Finalist - Nonfiction
Invisible: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America’s Most Powerful Mobster
by Stephen L. Carter
- 1 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 1 Book Club’s Reading List
- Hurston/Wright Honored Book (2019)
Henry Holt & Company (Oct 09, 2018)
Nonfiction, Hardcover, 384 pages
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Finalist - Poetry
Crosslight for Youngbird
by Asiya Wadud
- 1 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 1 Book Club’s Reading List
- Hurston/Wright Honored Book (2019)
Nightboat Books (Oct 02, 2018)
Poetry, Paperback, 88 pages
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Finalist - Poetry
Mend: Poems
by Kwoya Fagin Maples
- 1 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 1 Book Club’s Reading List
- Hurston/Wright Honored Book (2019)
University Press of Kentucky (Sep 26, 2018)
Poetry, Paperback, 96 pages
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Nominee - Fiction
Washington Black
by Esi Edugyan
- 1 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 1 Book Club’s Reading List
- Hurston/Wright Honored Book (2019)
Knopf Publishing Group (Sep 18, 2018)
Fiction, Hardcover, 352 pages
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Nominee - Fiction
Friday Black
by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
- 1 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 1 Book Club’s Reading List
- Hurston/Wright Honored Book (2019)
Mariner Books (Oct 23, 2018)
Fiction, Paperback, 208 pages
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Nominee - Fiction
Brother
by David Chariandy
- 1 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 1 Book Club’s Reading List
- Hurston/Wright Honored Book (2019)
Bloomsbury Publishing (Jul 31, 2018)
Fiction, Hardcover, 192 pages
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Nominee - Nonfiction
The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke
by Jeffrey C. Stewart
- 1 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 1 Book Club’s Reading List
- Hurston/Wright Honored Book (2019)
- An NAACP Image Award Honored Book
- 2019 BCALA Literary Award
- 2019 American Book Award
Oxford University Press (Feb 01, 2018)
Nonfiction, Hardcover, 944 pages
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Nominee - Nonfiction
Heavy: An American Memoir
by Kiese Laymon
- NYT Best Book of the 21st Century
- 1 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 1 Book Club’s Reading List
- Hurston/Wright Honored Book (2019)
- Kirkus Prize Finalist/Winner 2018
Scribner Book Company (Jan 01, 2019)
Nonfiction, Hardcover, 288 pages
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Nominee - Nonfiction
Tigerland: The Miracle on East Broad Street
by Wil Haygood
- 1 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 1 Book Club’s Reading List
- Hurston/Wright Honored Book (2019)
Knopf (Oct 16, 2018)
Nonfiction, Hardcover, 400 pages
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Nominee - Poetry
Approaching the Fields: Poems
by Chanda Feldman
- 1 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 1 Book Club’s Reading List
- Hurston/Wright Honored Book (2019)
LSU Press (Feb 05, 2018)
Poetry, Paperback, 64 pages
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Nominee - Poetry
Pardon My Heart: Poems
by Marcus Jackson
- 1 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 1 Book Club’s Reading List
- Hurston/Wright Honored Book (2019)
TriQuarterly Books (Apr 15, 2018)
Poetry, Paperback, 80 pages
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Nominee - Poetry
Divida
by Monica Hand
- 1 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 1 Book Club’s Reading List
- Hurston/Wright Honored Book (2019)
Alice James Books (Apr 17, 2018)
Poetry, Paperback, 100 pages
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