Solid gold: the Black Writers Alliance, formerly the African American Online Writers Guild, presented their 2001 Gold Pen Awards at a banquet held during the 2001 Black Writers Reunion and Conference in Dallas, Texas.

"This year's winners represent a diverse
array of the best African American
literature has to offer. We are pleased
that this merit-based award is held in such
high regard by the literary community."

--Tia Shabazz, Executive Director
Black Writers Alliance

Best New Author
Bernice L. McFadden

Best Mainstream Fiction
The Warmest December
(see BIBR March-April 2001)
by Bernice L. McFadden
E.P. Dutton, February 2001, $22.95
ISBN 0-525-94564-4

Best Mystery/Thriller
Paradise Interrupted
(see BIBR March-April 2001)
by Penny Mickelbury
Simon & Schuster, February 2001, $23.00
ISBN 0-684-85991-2

Best Christian Fiction
Ain't No River
(see BIBR May-June 2001)
by Sharon Ewell Foster
Multnomah, February 2001, $11.99
ISBN 1-576-73628-8

Best Romantic Fiction
Beyond Desire
by Gwynne Forster
BET Books, July 2001, $5.99
ISBN -583-14201-0

Best Romantic Fiction Collection
Welcome to Leo's
by Rochelle Alers, Donna Hill,
Francis Ray and Brenda Jackson
St. Martin's Press, December 2000
ISBN 0-312-97588-0

Best Novella/Short Story Collection
Brown Sugar: A Collection of Erotic Black
Fiction (see BIBR March-April 2001)
edited by Carol Taylor
Plume, January 2001, $13.00
ISBN 0-452-28224-1

Best Poetry Collection
Passion, Pride, and Politickin': Homegrown
Poetry and Essays
by Jamal Sharif
IUniverse, October 2000, $12.95
ISBN 0-595-13075

Best Anthology
Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative
Fiction from the African Diaspora
(see BIBR September/October 2000)
by Sheree Thomas
Aspect, July 2000, $24.95
ISBN 0-446-52583-9

Best Self-Help/Motivation Nonfiction
Souls of My Sisters: Black Women Break
Their Silence, Tell Their Stories, and Heal
Their Spirits (see BIBR November-December
2000)
edited by Dawn Marie Daniels
and Candace Sandy
Kensington, October 2000, $15.00
ISBN 1-575-66653-7

Best Business/Finance Nonfiction
The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks
(see BIBR May-June 2000)
by Randall Robinson
E.P. Dutton, January 2000, $23.95
ISBN 0-525-94524-6

2001 Lifetime Achievement Award
Louise Meriwether

2001 Vanguard Award
Manie Barron
Literary Agent
William Morris Agency