Sweeping the Hurston/Wrights

The Hurston/Wright Legacy Award is "the first national award presented to published writers of African descent by the national community of Black writers" in the United States. The 2008 winners have just been announced, and the Caribbean is well represented--three of the four categories were won by Caribbean books. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz--which has already won just about every other literary prize it was eligible for--is the Legacy fiction awardee. Edwidge Danticat's Brother, I'm Dying won the non-fiction award, and Kwame Dawes's She's Gone won the debut fiction award. Lagniappe: the poetry award went to Bouquet of Hungers by Kyle Dargan--who may or may not have Caribbean roots, but who is managing editor of the journal Callaloo!