The Go On Girl! Book Club Annual Author Awards
» Download the GOG Award Winners Hall of Fame
Go On Girls' mission is to encourage the literary pursuits of people of African descent. In this vein, since 1993, we have bestowed our coveted "Author of the Year" award and our "New Author of the Year" award on such talents as Octavia Butler, Gloria Naylor, Valerie Wilson Wesley and Connie Briscoe, just to name a few.
Each Author of Year receives a unique handmade plaque created by Master Potter and porcelain artist, Orah-El.
2010 Award Winners - Presented at the 2011 Award Ceremony in Washington, DC
Best Female Author and Best New Author
Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa
Daughter of the Stone
Best Male Author
Kwei Quartey
Wife of the Gods
Literary Beacon
Walter Mosley
Lifetime Achievement Award
Chinua Achebe
Samuel R. Delany
Finalists for Special 20th Anniversary Awards
To show our appreciation to all of the authors we have read over the past 20 years, awards were given in the 11 genres that make up Go On Girl! Book Club's annual reading list including, Anthology, Autobiography/Biography, Classic, Historical, International, Mystery/Suspense, New Author, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Short Story, Popular Fiction and Social Commentary/Cultural Critique. The following authors represent the top three finalists within each genre. The winner in each genre was announced at our 20th Anniversary Author Awards Gala on Saturday, May 21st at the Marriott at Metro Center in Washington, DC.
Anthology
- Maya Angelou, June Jordan, Alice Walker, Sonia Sanchez & bell hooks for Double Stitch
- Connie Briscoe, Lolita Files & Anita Bunkley for You Only Get Better
- Tracy Price-Thompson and TaRessa Stovall for Other People's Skin
Autobiography/Biography
- Maya Angelou for The Heart of a Woman
- Antwone Q. Fisher for Finding Fish
- Chris Gardner for The Pursuit of Happyness
Classic
- Maya Angelou for I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
- James Baldwin for Go Tell it On The Mountain
- Chester Himes for If He Hollers Let Him Go
Historical
- Lawrence Hill for Someone Knows My Name
- Jewell Parker Rhodes for Douglass' Women
- Barbara Chase Riboud for Sally Hemings
International
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for Purple Hibiscus and Half a Yellow Sun
- Helon Habila for Measuring Time
- Immaculee Ilibagiza for Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust
Mystery/Suspense
- Steven Barnes, Tananarive Due, Blair Underwood for Casanegra
- Walter Mosley for all the Easy Rawlins Mysteries
- Valerie Wilson Wesley for Where Evil Sleeps
New Author
- Michele Bowen for Church Folk
- Pearl Cleage for What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day
- Bernice McFadden for Sugar
Science Fiction/Fantasy
- Octavia Butler for Parable of the Sower, Wild Seed,and Kindred
- Tananarive Due for My Soul to Keep
- Brandon Massey for The Other Brother
Short Story
- Colin Channer for Passing Through
- J. California Cooper for The Matter is Life, In Search of Satisfaction
- William Henry Lewis for I Got Somebody in Staunton
Novel/Popular Fiction
- Carleen Brice for Orange Mint & Honey
- Diane McKinney-Whetstone for Tumbling
- Sister Souljah for The Coldest Winter Ever
Social Commentary/Cultural Critique
- Charisse Jones, Kumea Shorter-Gooden for Shifting: The Double Lives of Black Women
- Iyanla Vanzant for In the Meantime
- Rachel Vassel for Daughters of Men
2009 Award Winners - Presented at the 2010 Award Ceremony in Birmingham, AL
Author of the Year
Lawrence Hill
Someone Knows My Name
New Author of the Year
Jennifer Baszile
The Black Girl Next Door: A Memoir
2008 Award Winners - Presented at 2009 Award Ceremony in Houston, TX
Authors of the Year
Tananarive Due, Steven Barnes and Blair Underwood
Casenegra
New Author of the Year
Ravi Howard
Like Trees Walking
Lifetime Achievement Award
J. California Cooper
2007 Award Winners - Presented at the 2008 Award Ceremony, Toronto, Canada
Author of the Year
Brandon Massey
The Other Brother
New Author of the Year
Chris Gardner
The Pursuit of Happyness
2006 Award Winners - Presented at the 2007 Award Ceremony in Cleveland, OH
Author of the Year
Pearl Cleage
Babylon Sisters
New Author of the Year
Immaculee Ilibagiza
Left to Tell
Lifetime Achievement Award
Toni Morrison
Unpublished Writer Award
Robin Wilson
2005 Award Winners - Presented at the 2006 Award Ceremony in Tempe, AZ
Author of the Year
Diane Mckinney-Whetstone
Leaving Cecil Street
New Author of the Year
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Purple Hibiscus
Lifetime Achievement Award
Ruby Dee, Activist/Actor/Writer
Ossie Davis, Activist/Actor/Writer
John Hope Franklin, Historian/Writer/Activist
Precious Gift Award
Terry McMillan, Best-Selling Author
2004 Award Winners - Presented at the 2005 Award Ceremony in Montego Bay, Jamaica
Author of the Year
Stephen L. Carter
The Emperor of Ocean Park
New Author of the Year
Bridgett M. Davis
Shifting Through Neutral
2003 Award Winners - Presented at the 2004 Award Ceremony, Charleston, SC
Author of the Year
Jewell Parker Rhodes Douglass' Women
New Author of the Year
Sheila Williams
Dancing on the Edge of the Roof
Special Recognition for Outstanding Service
Tracy Mitchell-Brown
Co-Founder, Go On Girl!
2002 Award Winners - Presented at the 2003 Award Ceremony in Brooklyn, NY
Author of the Year
Persia Walker
Harlem Redux
New Author of the Year
Antwone Fisher Finding Fish
Lifetime Achievement
Maya Angelou
2001 Award Winners - Presented at the 2002 Award Ceremony in Indianapolis, IN
Author of the Year
Elizabeth Nunez
Bruised Hibiscus
New Authors of the Year
Lalita Tademy
Cane River
Michele Andrea Bowen
Church Folk
Past Award Winners
2000 - Presented at the 2001 Award Ceremony in Richmond, VA
- Author of the Year: Sister Souljah, The Coldest Winter Ever
- New Author of the Year: Bernice McFadden, Sugar
- Lifetime Achievement: Paule Marshall
1999 - Prsesented at the 2000 Award Ceremony in Chicago, IL
- Author of the Year: Sam Greenlee, The Spook Who Sat By the Door
- New Author of the Year: Pearl Cleage, What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day
- Lifetime Achievement: Gwendolyn Brooks, Poet Laureate of Illinois
1998 - Presented at the 1999 Award Ceremony in Seattle, WA
- Author of the Year: Tananarive Due, My Soul to Keep
- New Author of the Year: Akousua Busia, The Seasons of Beento Blackbird
1997 - Presented at the 1998 Award Ceremony in Largo, MD
- Author of the Year: Diane McKinney-Whetstone, Tumbling
- New Author of the Year: Virginia DeBerry & Donna Grant, Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made
- Lifetime Achievement: Dorothy West Distinguished Writer/Poet
1996 - Presented at the 1997 Award Ceremony in Newark, NJ
- Author of the Year: Valerie Wilson Wesley, Where Evil Sleeps
- New Author of the Year: Benilde Little, Good Hair
1995 - Presented at the 1996 Award Ceremony in St. Louis, MO
- Author of the Year: Brenda Lane Richardson, Chesapeake Song
- New Author of the Year: Connie Briscoe, Sisters & Lovers
1994 - Presented at the 1995 Award Ceremony in Philadelphia, PA
- Author of the Year: Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower
- New Authors of the Year: April Sinclair, Coffee will Make You Black and Nathan McCall, Makes You Wanna Holler
1993 - Presented at the 1994 Award Ceremony in Washington, DC
- Author of the Year: Bebe Moore Campbell, Your Blues Ain't Like Mine
- New Author of the Year: Jill Nelson, Volunteer Slavery
1992 - Presented at the 1993 Award Ceremony in Brooklyn, NY
- Author of the Year: Gloria Naylor, Bailey's Café
- New Authors of the Year: Barbara Neely, Blanche on the Lam and Barbara Summers, Nouvelle Soul