ABIOLA ABRAMS TO HOST THE 6TH ANNUAL AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERARY AWARDS
Press release:
The Show Goes On…
6th Annual African American Literary Awards Boasts Stellar Lineup of Literary Luminaries –including honorees Dr. Cornel West, Sonia Sanchez, Hill Harper and Terrie Williams; Hosted by Author and TV Personality Abiola Abrams
New York- The African American Literary Awards are scheduled for Thursday, September 23rd at Landmark on the Park. Getting to year 6 has been no easy feat. Founder and Executive Producer, Yvette Hayward says, “Similar awards programs have come and gone yet we prevail and continue to grow the Awards as a brand. We get bigger and better each year!” The 2010 honorees include Dr. Cornel West, Sonia Sanchez, Hill Harper, and Terrie Williams. Reader favorites are nominated across 29 categories from Fiction to Comedy to Self-Help, with authors ranging from Bernice McFadden to Blair Underwood and Tananerive Due to Pearl Cleage. This is also the first year that the Awards will recognize a charitable partner, Everybody Wins!, which is an organization dedicated to improving literacy among low income children (www.everybodywinsny.org).
After working with authors for several years, Yvette Hayward noticed that there was a conspicuous absence as it related African American authors. They had been historically and habitually un- or under-recognized when it came to their literary accomplishments. Books penned by African Americans as well as African American readership were and are an ever growing segment in the marketplace, having mushroomed into a multi-dimensional, commercially viable segment where readers spend over $375 million on books by black and non-black writers. In light of these facts, she decided to take action. And, in 2004, The African American Literary Awards Show was conceived and produced. It was the first awards show of its kind, filling a large vacuum in the literary community. Six years after its debut, the Awards are still one of the only consistent vehicles in existence that recognizes African American authors.
The Awards has seen its fair share of literary (and other) celebrities, having hosted the likes of Walter Mosley, Eric Jerome Dickey, Victoria Rowell, Zane, Victoria Christopher Murray, Hill Harper and many others. Past celebrity presenters/attendees include Zane, Gossip Girl’s Nicole Fiscella, Day 26, Power 105’s morning show host Free, G. Garvin, Finesse Mitchell and Broadway star Chester Gregory.
2010 sponsors include Barnes & Noble, The New York Daily News, TheGrio.com, Soft & Beautiful, WBLS, and Omerge Alliances. The show will be hosted by Author and TV Personality Abiola Abrams. For more info contact Joy Doss at LiteraryAwardShow.com.
