Toi Derricotte, A.M. Homes, and Peter Straub are the recipients of the 2008 Barnes & Noble Writers For Writers Awards, it was announced today by Elliot Figman, executive director of Poets & Writers, Inc. Poets & Writers established the award in 1996 to recognize authors who have given generously to other writers or to the broader literary community. The title of the awards has been given to Barnes & Noble in appreciation of their sponsorship of Poets & Writers. The awards will be presented at Poets & Writers’ annual gala benefit, In Celebration of Writers, on March 18, 2008 in New York City. Humorist John Hodgman will serve as the master of ceremonies.

Toi Derricotte co-founded the nonprofit organization Cave Canem in 1996 to counter the under-representation of African American poets in writers” workshops and literary programs. She has published four books of poems, and her memoir, The Black Notebooks (W.W. Norton, 1997), was a recipient of the 1998 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.

A.M. Homes chairs the PEN Emergency Writers Fund, which assists writers in need. She also serves on the Boards of PEN, The Writers Room, and Yaddo, and is on the advisory board of Poets & Writers, Inc. Homes has published several novels and short story collections. Her book, The Safety of Objects (HarperCollins, 1999), was released as a feature film in 2003. Her most recent book, The Mistress’ Daughter, was published in 2007 by Viking.

Peter Straub is a long-time supporter of many small literary organizations dedicated to emerging writers and poets. He is a prolific author and his fiction has received numerous awards, including the Bram Stoker Award and the International Horror Guild Award. His latest book, 5 Stories, will be published by Borderlands Press in January 2008.

Past recipients of the Barnes & Noble Writers For Writers Award include Edward Albee, Judy Blume, Mary Higgins Clark, Stephen King, Barbara Kingsolver, Wally Lamb, Walter Mosley, Susan Sontag, and Amy Tan.

About Poets & Writers

Poets & Writers is the nation’s largest nonprofit organization serving creative writers. Since its founding in 1970, Poets & Writers’ mission has been to foster the professional development of poets and writers, to promote communication throughout the U.S. literary community, and to help create an environment in which literature can be appreciated by the widest possible public. Poets & Writers accomplishes this by publishing Poets & Writers Magazine, maintaining Poets & Writers Online, offering publishing advice to writers, producing an on-line database of more than 7,500 authors, introducing emerging writers outside of New York City to the New York City literary community, and providing direct financial support to writers participating in public literary events.