LEGACY AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED TODAY  | Samiya Bashir |
Aquarius Press/Willow Books is proud to announce that the 2011 Aquarius Press Legacy Award will be presented toSamiya Bashirand Parneshia Jones as co-winners. Both women received multiple nominations extolling their vast contributions to our field. We were extremely impressed with the caliber of all the nominees, and many thanks go out to those who submitted nominations.  | | Parneshia Jones |
The Legacy Award honors a woman writer of color from the American Midwest actively involved in providing opportunities for other writers. The award recognizes the anniversary of the founding of Aquarius Press and the ongoing mission of its founder, Heather Buchanan. The 2011 prize consists of a tribute section in the 2012 edition of the acclaimed journal Reverie: Midwest African American Literature and a feature at the 2012 Willow Books Celebration during AWP in Chicago, IL.
About Samiya Bashir Ann Arbor, Michigan native Samiya Bashir's work includes Gospel, Where the Apple Falls, and Role Call: A Generational Anthology of Social & Political Black Literature & Art. Bashir's poetry, stories, articles and editorial work have been featured in numerous publications and she is the recipient of awards, grants, and fellowships from the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley, the University of Michigan, the University of California, Soul Mountain Writers Colony, The Austin Project, Alma de Mujer, the James Dick Foundation for the Performing Arts, the Astraea Foundation, the National Association of Pen Women, and Cave Canem, among others. For over a decade, Bashir worked as a social justice communications professional and was owner and principal consultant of Lead Time Consulting, specializing in communications for non-profits and arts organizations. Currently, she is back home among the Ann Arbor trees, teaching writing at the University of Michigan.
To read an earlier feature interview with Samiya by Aquarius Press, visit www.WillowLit.com .
About Parneshia Jones Parneshia Jones is a member of the Affrilachian Poets. Her awards include the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Award and the Margaret Walker Short Story Award. She has been published in several anthologies includingThe Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South and America! What's My Name? Her work at the Chicago-based TriQuarterly/NU Press includes securing a home for the Cave Canem Second Book Prize, publishing the new collection of poems by Nikky Finney and helping to ensure that there was a proper celebration of the recent anniversary of Chicago playwright Lorraine Hansberry's Broadway debut of A Raisin in the Sun. Ms. Jones has an MFA from Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky.
Details for the 2012 Willow Books reading in Chicago during AWP (Feb. 29-March 3, 2012) are forthcoming, but plan on a blockbuster event--watch our Willow Books Facebook page for announcements. |
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