3 Works of Poetry Nominated for NAACP Images Awards
Olivia Drake
Three titles affiliated with Wesleyan were nominated for the 2021 NAACP Images Awards in the Outstanding Literary Work — Poetry category.
According to the NAACP, Image Awards celebrate “the outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in the arts and those who promote social justice through their creative work.”
Among the five nominees is Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry (Four Way Books, 2020) written by John Murillo, assistant professor of English; The Age of Phillis (Wesleyan University Press, 2020) by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers; and Un-American (Wesleyan University Press, 2020) by Hafizah Geter.
The collections by Murillo, Jeffers, and Geter also are longlisted for the PEN Open Book Award. The PEN Open Book Award honors a work of fiction, literary nonfiction, biography/memoir, or poetry written by an author of color. The award was created by PEN America’s Open Book Committee, a group committed to racial and ethnic diversity within the literary and publishing communities.
The 52nd NAACP Image Awards will air at 8 p.m. March 27 on BET. Non-televised award categories will livestream over five nights March 22–26.
The virtual ceremonies will recognize winners in more than 60 non-televised award categories in the fields of television and streaming, music, literature, film, and activism.
Mike Mavredakis
Jeff Harder