Tananarive Due and Jordan Peele won in their categories at the Bram Stoker Awards 2024 in San Diego, California, USA, on June 3, 2024.
Abraham “Bram” Stoker (1847 – 1912) was an Irish author best known for writing the 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. In 1987, the Horror Writers Association of the USA set up the Bram Stoker Award in recognition of “superior achievement” in dark fantasy and horror writing. Some previous winners have been George R. R. Martin, J. K. Rowling, Joyce Carol Oates, Ray Bradbury, and Christopher Lee.
The winners for the 2024 edition were announced at the StokerCon in San Diego last weekend with the following writers of African descent making the list;
Superior Achievement in an Anthology
- Out There Screaming, Jordan Peele & John Joseph Adams, eds. (Random House)
Superior Achievement in a Novel
- The Reformatory, Tananarive Due (Saga)
“First, thank you to the @HorrorWriters and all of the wonderful readers who have shared how much they love the story of Robert and Gloria Stephens – inspired by family history. I am so inspired by your feedback!!! It took SEVEN YEARS. I had so many doubts along the way – but I was determined to write the ending I imagined for Robert, and that image spurred me on. Hubby Steven Barnes was also there to remind me when I was avoiding working on my book, unwilling to hear my excuses THE REFORMATORY has been my most extraordinary publishing journey: it was named a New York Times Notable Book, it won an L.A. Times Book Prize, and it also just won the 2024 Chautauqua Prize. And I came so close to walking away from it,” said Due on Twitter. “And then there were the survivors of the Dozier School, which traumatized children in Florida for more than a century. I had reasons to write it beyond myself. And I am beyond grateful that readers have embraced this story with so much love. Thx @SagaPressBooks and @joemonti !!!”
You can listen to Tananarive Due speak about her win on the podcast she runs with her partner here.
