On Saturday I was awarded the 2016 Phillis Wheatley
Award for First Fiction. This is a national literary award presented annually during
the Harlem Book Fair, which is “the
United States' largest African American book fair and the nation’s flagship black literary event” (Wikipedia). Much of the event is
televised on C-Span’s Book TV. Past Wheatley Award honorees have included Maya
Angelou, Terry McMillan, Tiphanie Yanique, and Gordon Parks.
This year’s ceremony began with the organizers explaining
that hundreds of books had been considered in each category. These included
books from both large and small publishers. The judging panel was comprised of
librarians and critics from across the country who decided on the finalists and
the ultimate winners. When the announcer, Max Rodriguez, reached my category—First
Fiction—he informed the crowd that this was one of the most difficult
categories for the panel. Apparently the competition was so fierce that the
judges had been deadlocked and unable to decide on only three finalists and
chose five instead. Imagine hearing this intimidating bit of news while sitting
there awaiting the announcement.
As he read off the names
of the finalists and our books, I actually didn’t think I’d be the winner. I
had read some of the work of the other finalists, and they were excellent. In
fact, a lot of fuss had been made about another finalist’s book, and so I
figured she would win. So when Max Rodriguez said, “And the winner for First
Fiction is…The Garden of Unfortunate
Souls, Eddie Mark” I was humbled. I didn’t jump up and celebrate or
anything. I just felt grateful for the honor. Who would have thought a kid from
the Kenfield projects in Buffalo would one day win a national literary award? I didn’t.
With the applause
going, I mounted the stage and whispered to Max Rodriguez, “I’m surprised.”
He seemed playfully puzzled as he handed me the engraved plaque. “You’re
surprised?” he said. He later asked me, “Why are you surprised? Didn’t you
think it was good?” I didn’t have an answer. The truth is I’ve always felt “Garden”
is a good enough story. I certainly worked hard enough on it (five years). But I
suppose I never thought it was that
good or that others would think it was.
In any case, I didn’t
give a speech. I just said “Thank you.” Maybe I should have said more, but I’m
simply not good with public speaking. I always feel like I’m getting
tongue-tied, and then I start forgetting what I want to say. Also, I’m not the
kind of person who likes to bask in public accolades. So the words “Thank you”
had to suffice.
Present at the event was my good friend, fellow author
Tracey Fagan-Danzey (Jasper’s Café on the Boulevard), who drove all the way
from Connecticut with her son, Tanner, to show their support. That meant a lot
to me. Thabitha and I met Tracey in Baltimore last year. Since then she has
given me so much good advice about the publishing industry and has encouraged
me to be proactive about promoting my work and make the best of every
opportunity. Tanner was even kind enough to snap some pictures. Normally Thabitha
would do this, but she wasn’t able to make the trip this time (I missed her). Thank
you Tracey and Tanner!! I’ll never forget it.
At the conclusion of
the event people swarmed to all the winners, posing for pictures and offering
congratulations. I could see people browsing my website (eddiemark.com) and googling the book on their
phones. Hey, that’s perfectly fine with me!! Lol.
Afterward, I quietly strapped
on my backpack and left with my plaque, heading down 138th Street thinking
that I have so much to be grateful for. I’ve had a lot of struggles in my life.
But I’m still here, still kicking. People will look at a moment such as this and think of how gratified the individual must be. But what they don't realize is that sometimes such a moment is the one thing that that individual needed to stay encouraged and hopeful.
Nevertheless, in the end, the
importance of this honor is not in what it might mean for me personally as an
author but what it will do to amplify the message of the novel—the message that
the use of corporal punishment against our children is domestic violence and leads to a larger culture of violence in
our urban communities. In other words, when we beat, smack, pinch, punch, and
whip our children with weapons that bruise their bodies we are unfortunately teaching
them that the way to handle conflict is to somehow hurt or inflict pain on the
offending person. So we must first end the violence in our homes to begin to stop
the violence in our streets. Indeed, that is what The Garden of Unfortunate Souls is all about.
