Maya Angelou Book Award Winners

Black Bell

Alison C. Rollins’s Black Bell is the winner of the fifth annual Maya Angelou Book Award (MABA). Named for acclaimed, Missouri-born memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, the prize celebrates contemporary writers whose work demonstrates their commitment to social justice. It alternates annually between poetry and fiction, going this year to the author of a work of poetry.

Black Bell (Copper Canyon Press, April 23, 2024) is a collection that ruminates on themes of history, resistance, and liberation with ambitious, inventive imagery and sound. The collection’s title refers to the 18th and 19th century practice of enslavers connecting the enslaved to bells to prevent escape. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Rollins is now an assistant professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“I never got to meet Maya Angelou in person, but I was always trying to look for ways to be in community with her lineage and her journey through her writing experiences. It is such an honor to be in dialogue in this way, especially work being celebrated in relationship to social justice,” said Rollins. “I am a strong supporter and advocate for public library workers, so to be aligned with the Kansas City Public Library is absolutely fantastic.”

Guest judge, previous MABA winner for poetry Taylor Byas, selected Rollins from five finalists who emerged from a field of 200 submissions. Joining Rollins as finalists were Kenzie Allen for Cloud Missives, Cindy Junyoung Ok for Ward Toward, Yalie Saweda Kamara for Besaydoo, and Mai Der Vang for Primordial.

“I had my work cut out for me as I judged this year's cycle, but I ultimately selected Alison C. Rollins' Black Bell due to its exceptional blend of formal craft, lyricism, music, and humor,” said Byas. “Rollins confronts a dark history but does so with a ferocity that kept me glued to the pages. I gasped, I cried, I laughed, I read the poems aloud and danced along with their music. Black Bell is a work of rare brilliance, and I'm so excited for it to be celebrated and to reach new audiences with this award.”

The Kansas City Public Library, University of Missouri-Kansas City, the University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri State University, and Northwest Missouri State, Truman State, and Southeast Missouri State universities established MABA in 2020. The award includes a $10,000 stipend, and Rollins will conduct a book tour with stops at the Library and the six Missouri universities that participate in the award.