Advertisments
WRITERS FOR WRITERS AWARD RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED
BOB HOLMAN, ISHMAEL REED, & AMY TANTO RECEIVE RECOGNITION
The 2003 Barnes & Noble Writers For Writers Award will be presented to Bob Holman, Ishamel Reed, and Amy Tan. Poets & Writers established the award in 1996 to recognize authors who have given generously to other writers or to the broader literary community. Title of the award has been given to Barnes & Noble in appreciation of their sponsorship of Poets & Writers.“Our three winners this year exemplify the mission of Poets & Writers to provide opportunities for writers and assist them in their careers,” said Figman. “Each in his or her own way has made lasting contributions to the well-being of their fellow writers.” The awards will be presented at Poets & Writers’ annual gala benefit, In Celebration of Writers, on March 4, 2003 in New York City. Billy Collins, U.S. Poet Laureate will emcee the event.
Poet Bob Holman is a tireless advocate for poets and poetry. For more than two decades, Holman has created opportunities for young writers to publish or perform their poetry. He is chief curator for the biennial People’s Poetry Gathering in New York City, a celebration of poetry from different countries and genres. Holman was founding editor of the NYC Poetry Calendar in 1977. He produced The United States of Poetry for PBS and is the guide for Poetry on About.com. The NEA has granted major preproduction support for his new poetry media project, The World of Poetry, the world’s first digital poetry anthology. From 1978 through 1984, he worked at the St. Marks Poetry Project, and from 1988 through 1994, he worked at the Nuyorican Poets Café. He is the author of The Collect Call of the Wild (Henry Holt), and is currently collaborating on a book of poems and photos with artist Chuck Close. Holman is the proprietor of the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City.
Ishmael Reed is the founder of the Before Columbus Foundation, a service organization for writers, PEN Oakland, and a former chairman of the Coordinating Council of Literary Magazines. He is the author of nine novels, five plays, five books of essays, and five books of poetry. He has been nominated for two National Book Awards, and was a recipient of a Lila Wallace Foundation fellowship and a MacArthur Fellowship. He is also a Guggenheim fellow, a Yale Calhoun fellow, and a Harvard Signet fellow. In 2001 he received the Chancellor's award for community service from the University of California at Berkeley and the Integrity award from the Oakland Women's Chamber of Commerce. Three new books will be published in 2003: Another Day at the Front (essays), From Totems to Hip Hop (an anthology of poetry), and Blues City From '49ers to '99ers.
Amy Tan performs in the literary garage band, The Rock Bottom Remainders to raise money for literacy and First Amendment Rights. Ms. Tan is an advocate for new writers and a quiet supporter of writers in need. She is the best-selling author of The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, and The Bonesetter's Daughter. Ms. Tan serves on the Board of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers and co-chairs the annual National Kidney Foundation literary luncheon in San Francisco. She supports the PEN Writers Fund, Yaddo, and the UC Berkeley School of Journalism.
The honorees were nominated by a committee comprised of past winners, other prominent writers, and the Board of Directors of Poets & Writers. Final selection was made by a four-member committee drawn from the Poets & Writers Board. Past winners have been: in 1996, Mary Higgins Clark, James A. Michener, Arthur Miller, Walter Mosley, and William Styron; in 1997, Rita Dove, Stephen King, and Hilma Wolitzer; in 1998, Edward Albee, E.L. Doctorow, and Susan Sontag; in 1999, Terry McMillan, Barbara Goldsmith, and Stanley Kunitz; in 2000, Cornelius Eady, Marita Golden, and Scott Turow, and in 2002 Wally Lamb, E. Lynn Harris, and June Jordan.
Since its founding in 1970, Poets & Writers, Inc. has been the authoritative source of practical information for creative writers in the United States. As the nation’s largest nonprofit organization for writers, P&W offers an unparalleled range of grassroots support, information, and fellowship to poets and fiction writers throughout the United States.