Margaret Cezair-Thompson‘s novel The Pirate’s Daughter, a lead BookSense pick from last fall which caused a stir when Unbridled Books got six figures for the paperback from Random House, became the first winner of the Essence Literary Award for fiction at a ceremony last night in New York City.
Other winners included children’s author Troy CLE, poet Tracy K. Smith, photographer Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, inspirational author (and Baltimore Colts coach) Tony Dungy, memoirist Edwige Danticat, and “storyteller of the year” L.A. Banks. Terry MacMillian and Bishop T.D. Jakes were both presented with awards honoring their career achivements.