Hurston/Wright Foundation

The Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation is an American literary nonprofit organization that supports the development and careers of Black writers. The Foundation provides classes, workshops, an annual conference, and offers the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and the North Star Award, among others. Writer Marita Golden and cultural historian Clyde McElvene founded the organization in 1990.

Hurston/Wright Foundation
Founded1990 (1990)
FounderMarita Golden and Clyde McElvene
TypeNonprofit, private foundation
52-1706969[1]
FocusLiterature, Black writers, arts education
Location
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Audrey Hipkins (board chair)
Websitehurstonwright.org

History

The Hurston/Wright Foundation was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1990 by writer Marita Golden and cultural historian Clyde McElvene.[2][3] Golden used $750 of her own money to found the organization, which she wanted in part "to address the dearth of black graduate students in literature that she found while teaching at several area universities".[4] The stated mission is to help develop the careers of Black writers and to increase the representation within the literary field.[5] The organization is named after prolific Black writers Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright.[6] Toni Morrison previously sat on the advisory board.[6] The acting executive director and board chair is Audrey Hipkins as of 2020.[6]

Activities

The Foundation provides classes, workshops, public readings, awards, and a Book Club initiative.[2] Previous writing workshop participants include Imani Perry and Jericho Brown.[5] It also holds an annual literary conference in D.C., which was moved to be virtual in 2020 due to COVID-19.[6] The Awards are announced annually at a ceremony.[3]

Awards

Ella Baker Award

The Ella Baker Award is given to writers for work that supports social justice.[7] Wil Haygood, whose reporting inspired the film The Butler, received the award in 2014.[8]

Hurston/Wright College Award

The College Awards recognize excellence in fiction and poetry written by undergraduate students.[5][2] Past winners include Natalie Baszile, author of Queen Sugar and Brit Bennett, who wrote The Mothers.[2]

Hurston/Wright Legacy Award
Main article: Hurston/Wright Legacy Award

The Legacy Awards were created in 2001 to recognize outstanding Black writers in the United States and across the diaspora.[9] The awards are offered in four categories: fiction, debut fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.[7] The 2020 winners were Jeffrey Colvin, Curdella Forbes, Ladan Osman, and Albert Woodfox.[9]

North Star Award

The Award is named in reference of the importance of the North Star for African Americans, and is given for lifetime literary achievement.[2] Chinua Achebe won in 2002.[4] Ernest J. Gaines was the 2019 winner.[7]

Crossover Award

The Crossover Award was created in 2020 in partnership with The Undefeated, to recognize emerging literary nonfiction writers.[10] The inaugural winner was Melanie Farmer for the essay "Rolling: A Ladies’ Guide to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu".[11]

References
  1. "Zora Neale Hurston Richard Wright Foundation". Guidestar. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  2. Donlon, Charlotte. "The Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation". Ploughshares at Emerson College. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  3. Reid, Calvin (2019-10-22). "Thompson-Spires Wins Hurston/Wright 2019 Award for Fiction". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  4. Hopkinson, Natalie (2002-10-07). "At the Hurston/Wright Awards, an Anthology of Talent". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  5. Patrick, Diane (2019-11-22). "Serving Writers and Readers: African-American Literary Organizations". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  6. Mitchell, Jennifer Anne (2020-08-05). "The Hurston/Wright Foundation Virtually Gathers Literary Stars for Writers Week". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  7. Wilkins, Tierra R. (2016-10-25). "15th annual Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy Awards ceremony diary". The Undefeated. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  8. Brown, DeNeen L. (2014-10-25). "Hurston/Wright Foundation awards NoViolet Bulawayo for her debut novel, 'We Need New Names'". Washington Post. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  9. Saka, Rasheeda (2020-10-19). "Here are the 2020 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award winners". Literary Hub. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  10. "Deadline Approaches for the Hurston/Wright Crossover Award". Poets & Writers. 2020-02-21. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  11. Fraser, Trevor (2020-06-09). "Local writer wins Hurston/Wright literary award". orlandosentinel.com. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
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