PRH & WNDB Announce the Winners of the 2024 Black Creatives Fund Revisions Workshop
We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) and Penguin Random House (PRH) are excited to announce the two winners of the third cycle of the Revisions Workshop program. The Revisions Workshop is a joint initiative with PRH and WNDB that launched as part of the Black Creatives Fund (BCF) in early 2021 to support Black fiction writers.
A committee of PRH editors reviewed BCF’s 12 manuscripts—six in the Adult Novel category and six in the Middle Grade/Young Adult category. Participating editors received the Toni Morrison Stipend for Editors from Knopf to compensate them for their valuable time and expertise in reviewing the manuscripts and providing detailed feedback.
Penguin Random House editors selected the two winners, which include:
Lucius A. Jackson III (The House of Seven Gates), Middle Grade and Young Adult Category
Angela Lankford (Love Advice from the Loveless), Adult Category
Both winners’ manuscripts will be considered for publication at Penguin Random House.
The committee of editors included:
- Adult: Ibrahim Ahmad, Porscha Burke, Angela Kim, Mae Martinez
- Middle Grade: Tyiana Combs, Tiffany Liao, Polo Orozco, Alison Romig, Sara Sargent, Elizabeth Stranahan
WNDB sincerely thanks the editors for their time and insights that they provided to the Revisions Workshop attendees.
“Our editors were incredibly impressed by the exceptional talent in all the manuscripts from the Revision Workshop—it was challenging to pick just two winners because all these writers deserve to be celebrated,” said Claire von Schilling, EVP, Director, Corporate Communications & Social Responsibility, Penguin Random House. “We are honored to work alongside our partners at We Need Diverse Books to champion the Black Creatives Fund. BCF has become a key initiative for us to discover new voices and make the publishing industry more accessible. We can’t wait to see what these remarkable writers achieve next!”
“We extend our warmest congratulations to Lucius and Angela, along with all of the incredible writers who participated in this cycle of the Revisions Workshop. Your stories matter, and we can’t wait to follow your careers,” said Caroline Richmond, Executive Director of WNDB. “We’re also very thankful to Penguin Random House for making this initiative possible and for continuing to uplift Black voices.”
The Revisions Workshop was established to offer manuscript development and programming for Black writers who have completed a draft of a middle grade, young adult, or adult novel. Over a six-month period, participants receive mentorship and critique from a faculty of esteemed Black authors, along with the opportunity to build a writing community and connect with publishing professionals.
Since its inception, the BCF has celebrated the accomplishments of its alumni, from signing with literary agents to securing book deals and gaining admission into MFA programs. Notably, two participants of the Black Creatives Fund Revisions Workshop have successfully published their books. Ashton Lattimore, a participant in 2021, published her first novel, ALL WE WERE PROMISED, with Ballantine, a PRH imprint. Hayley Dennings, who participated in the workshop in 2022, recently published her debut novel, THIS RAVENOUS FATE, with Sourcebooks. The book has already become a New York Times and National Indie Bestseller.
We congratulate the winners of the 2024 Revisions Workshop, and we are eager to follow their careers.
For more information about the Black Creatives Fund click here.