19th annual
Ernest J. Gaines
Award for Literary Excellence
Presented by Baton Rouge Area Foundation
When and where: Wednesday, October 28, 6:30 p.m. in Manship Theatre
Doors open at 6:00 p.m.
Free to attend - please RSVP
ABOUT THE award
The Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence honors Louisiana’s revered storyteller, Ernest J. Gaines, and serves to inspire and recognize rising African-American fiction writers of excellence at a national level. The book award, initiated by donors of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, is now in its 18th year and has become nationally recognized in its role of enhancing visibility of emerging African-American fiction writers while also expanding the audience for this literature. The annual award of a $15,000 cash prize is to support and enable the writer to focus on writing.
The Baton Rouge Area Foundation sponsors the winner’s travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to receive the prize at a ceremony, where the author reads an excerpt from the selected work of fiction. A reception follows. The evening is free, open to the public and attracts a diverse audience.
The literary award winner also participates in educational activities at selected area schools and after-school programs in keeping with the Gaines Award's interest in emphasizing the role of literature and arts in education. Through small creative writing workshops with the winning author, students are encouraged to pursue reading, delve into their own creativity, and to consider becoming an author.
About Rob Franklin
Rob Franklin’s novel Great Black Hope has won the 19th Annual Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence
Great Black Hope tells the story of Smith, an upwardly mobile and downwardly spiraling Black man caught between worlds of race and class, glamourous parties and sudden consequences, a friend’s mysterious death and his own arrest. A national bestseller, the novel was also nominated for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the Barnes and Noble Discover Prize, the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence — it was named a “Best Book of the Year” by TIME, Vogue, NPR, and Vanity Fair, among others.
Franklin is a writer and professor. He has written cover stories for Cultured Magazine, The Cut, and Document Journal. A co-founder of Art for Black Lives, Franklin holds a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from NYU’s Creative Writing program. He teaches writing at School of Visual Arts and edits fiction for Joyland. He lives in New York.
Donate to the fund for the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence
You can help Baton Rouge Area Foundation underwrite the Gaines Award by donating at the link below or by 225-387-6126. Donations to the Gaines Fund are tax deductible.
Check out our theatre!
Take a 3D tour of Manship Theatre! No matter where you sit, you'll feel close to the action. The first and second mezzanines are positioned over the orchestra ring, so every seat offers an intimate, exciting view of the stage.
Manship Theatre does not authorize third party ticket sellers. Any ticket purchased outside the Manship Theatre Website may not be valid. All patrons, regardless of age, must have a ticket to attend performances. Please carefully consider whether a performance is appropriate for children before planning to attend.