Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence

The Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence is an annual national literary award designed to recognize rising African-American fiction writers. First awarded in 2007, the prize is underwritten by donors of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation in honor of the literary heritage provided by author Ernest J. Gaines, with the winner receiving a cash award ($15,000 as of 2020) "to support and enable the writer to focus on writing." It has been described as "the nation's biggest prize for African-American writers".

Past winners

Ernest J. Gaines Award winners
Year Author Title
2007 Olympia Vernon A Killing in This Town
2008 Ravi Howard Like Trees, Walking
2009 Jeffrey R. Allen Holding Pattern: Stories
2010 Victor LaValle Big Machine
2011 Dinaw Mengestu How to Read the Air
2012 Stephanie Powell Watts We Are Taking Only What We Need
2013 Attica Locke The Cutting Season
2014 Mitchell S. Jackson The Residue Years
2015 T. Geronimo Johnson Welcome to Braggsville
2016 Crystal Wilkinson The Birds of Opulence
2017 Ladee Hubbard The Talented Ribkins
2018 Jamel Brinkley A Lucky Man
2019 Bryan Washington Lot
2020 Gabriel Bump Everywhere You Don't Belong
2021 Nathan Harris The Sweetness of Water
2022 Jacinda Townsend Mother Country

Panel of judges