The National Book Award Winners were recently announced of the four winners three were female authors of color.
Jesymn Ward for Salvage the Bones (Fiction)
Nikkey Finney for Head off & Spilt (Poetry)
Thanhha Lai for Inside Out & Back Again (Young People's Lit)
Esi Edugyan, was the winner of the 2011
Giller Prize (a distinguished Canadian literary award) for
Half Blood Blues. The novel was also shorlisted for Man Booker Prize. Unfortunately it won't be available in the States until
March though if you can't wait you buy it now via
amazon uk.
Much congratulations to Ward, Finney, Lai and Edugyan This congratulatory post is a tad late and I'd to look at it as more of a strategic delay as opposed to being too busy. I am anxiously awaiting the release of all the best of list for this year. If they are lacking in female authors of color I will be very dissappointed and will revisit this post to cheer me up and this
one.