Hurston/Wright Legacy Award

The Hurston/Wright Legacy Award honors books by Black writers from the United States and around the world. It is presented by the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation, which novelist Marita Golden founded in 1990 to support Black writers. Announced in 2001 and first given in 2002, it was the first prize of national scope for Black authors to come from an organization of Black writers, and it reached its 25th edition in 2026.

Each fall, writers and publishers submit fiction, nonfiction and poetry published that year. Juries select nominees, finalists and winners in fiction, debut fiction, nonfiction and poetry; in tribute to Hurston, these genre prizes are now called the Zoras. Winners are celebrated at the Legacy Awards gala in Washington, D.C., each October, where the foundation also presents merit awards for lifelong service to Black literature, along with prizes for college writers and a crossover award.

Fiction, debut fiction, nonfiction and poetry books by writers of African descent, published during the award year and submitted by authors or publishers.