Eddie Mark wins the 2016 Phillis Wheatley Award for First Fiction

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 138^th 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.