American Book Award Winners

First presented in 1980, by the Before Columbus Foundation, “the American Book Awards Program respects and honors excellence in American literature without restriction or bias with regard to race, sex, creed, cultural origin, size of press or ad budget, or even genre. There would be no requirements, restrictions, limitations, or second places. There would be no categories. The winners would not selected by any set quota for diversity, because diversity happens naturally. Finally, there would be no losers, only winners. The only criteria would be outstanding contribution to American literature in the opinion of the judges.”

Here we present the American Book Award recipients of African descent.

Select Year20222019201820172016201520142012201120102009200820072006200520042003200220011999199819971995199419931992199119901989198819871986198519841983198219811980

1 Books Honored in 1997

Fiction

Book Description: 
? A QPB and BOMC selection ? The author?s previous novel, 1959, was nominated for the Los Angeles Times Book Award.Bird Kinkaid is an African-American woman who has recently been plagued by nightmares: It is a month after she witnessed Alex, her closest friend, plunge eight stories to her death on the sidewalk below?and her grief has turned into obsession. Was Alex killed or was it a suicide? Was it an accident or did the white art critic and sometimes lover Frank Burton push her to her death?The two women had an intense friendship, their lives intertwined by shared space, history, friends (and occasionally lovers), and a passion for art. Alex?s death shatters Bird, compelling her to search for answers to her friend?s death amidst the disparate strands of Alex?s quixotic life. When she locates a series of bizarre video tapes among Alex?s belongings?in which she discusses her friends, her artwork, and her turbulent love life?Bird has the key to solving both the mystery of her friend?s death and her own long-hidden demons.Alive with wit and sensibility, Maker of Saints is a fascinating and provocative novel about love, art, jealousy, and friendship in a funky, glitzy, New York demimonde.