Mitchell S. Jackson Receives Ernest J. Gaines Literary Award

Mitchell S. Jackson, author of The Residue Years, is the 2014 recipient of the Ernest J. Gaines Literary Award. 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 Ernest J. Gaines Literary Award or read The Root's article "Ernest J. Gaines: A Great American Author Pays It Forward to A New Generation of Black Writers."

Photo credit: Joe Sanford Pelican Pictures