Submissions for the 2014 Ernest J. Gaines $10,000 Award for Literary Excellence Being Accepted

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Submissions are still open for the 2014 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, a $10,000 award that honors Louisiana’s revered storyteller, Ernest J. Gaines, and serves to inspire and recognize rising African-American fiction writers of excellence at a national level. The book award was initiated by donors of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and is in its eighth year.

 

The national panel of distinguished literary judges includes Thomas Beller, Anthony Grooms, Francine Prose, Elizabeth Nunez and Patricia Towers. The 2014 winner will be announced in November. The Baton Rouge Area Foundation sponsors the winner’s travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he/she will receive the $10,000 prize at a ceremony and reception in his/her honor. The award aims to allow the writer the flexibility and wherewithal to remain focused creating of excellent literature. The author will also participate in educational activities during his/her time in Louisiana. The Gaines Award emphasizes the role of literature and the arts in education, and through small creative writing workshops or a reading with Q&A, it encourages youth to pursue reading and creative forms of expression.

 

Previous Gaines Award Winners:

• Attica Locke
• Dinaw Mengestu
• Victor LaValle
• Stephanie Powell Watts
• Ravi Howard
• Jeffrey Allen
• Olympia Vernon

 

The deadline to submit eligible books for consideration of the 2014 Gaines Award is October 1, 2014. There is no fee to enter. Entries must be works of fiction (novels or short story collections) published in 2013 or 2014; Galleys for books that will be published by December 31, 2014 are accepted. The award ceremony will be Thursday, January 22, 2015 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

 

Jessica A. Boone| Senior Donor Services Officer

 

Baton Rouge Area Foundation

402 N. Fourth Street

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802

225-387-6126

www.braf.org

www.ernestjgainesaward.org

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Here is more information about all the previous award winning titles

 

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Just updated the new site to include these awards: http://aalbc.org/books/gaines-award-winning-books.php