Ladies and gentleman it has been a wild weekend for me that started with the Phillis Wheatley award ceremony on Friday. 

For those of you who regularly follow The Neophyte Author, you know that I was nominated for a 2015 Phillis Wheatley Award for First Fiction for my debut novel Born at Dawn. In June I became one of three finalists and I am pleased to announce that my God is faithful and as His word says He has blessed the work of my hands. Born at Dawn took home the 2015 Wheatley Award for First Fiction. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! 

There are not enough words to describe the level of emotions that washed over me when Omar Tyree (yes, the Omar Tyree, author of Flyy Girl) called my name. It was a wonderful night and I have some pictures of the other winners and I would like to congratulate all of the finalists and winners. 

Categories and Finalist (Winners in Bold)

YOUNG READERS

Granny’s Helper by Selma Jackson

Midnight and the Man Who Had No Tears by Tiffany Golden

Tate and His Historic Dream by Bernard C. Turner

YOUNG ADULT

Dear Diary, The Bullying Won’t Stop by Delicia B. Davis

The Madman of Piney Woods by Christopher Paul Curtis

Willow by Tonya Cherie Hegamin

FIRST NON-FICTION

Daffodil: A Mother’s Journey by Demetria Hayes

No Doubt: The Murder(s) of Oscar Grant by Thandisizwe Chimurenga

Regina Anderson, Harlem Renaissance Librarian by Ethelene Whitmire

NONFICTION

A Light Shines in Harlem: New York’s First Charter School by Mary C. Bounds

Breaking Grounds: My Life in Medicine by Dr. Louis W. Sullivan

Businessman First, Remembering Henry G. Parks, Jr… by Maurice W. Dorsey

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POETRY

Brief Evidence of Heaven: Poems from the Life of Anna Murray Douglass by M. Nzadi Keita

City of Eternal Spring by Afaa Micheal Weaver

Tears for My Ancestors by Malik Canty

FIRST FICTION

Adinkrahene: Fear of a Black Planet by Jeffrey A. Faulkerson (Check him out, please :)) 

Born at Dawn Nigeria Lockley

Shifting Allegiances: A Nigerian’s Story of Nigeria, America & Culture by Amaka Lily

FICTION

Every Day is for the Theif by Teju Cole

Glorious Sunset by Ava Bleu

Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique