Mitchell S. Jackson, author of , is the 2014 recipient of the. Now in its eighth year, the award honors Louisiana author Ernest J, Gaines and awards an emerging African American author with a $10,000 cash prize to assist him or her in their writing careers. Previous winners of the award include Attica Locke The Cutting Season​, Jeffery Renard Allen Holding Pattern, Olympia Vernon A Killing in this Town, and Victor LaVelle Big Machine.
For more information on the award, visit the or read The Root's article "."
Photo credit: Joe Sanford Pelican Pictures