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🏆 Announcing the 2025 BCALA EBook Literary Award Winners

We’re thrilled to share the results of this year’s BCALA Self-Publishing EBook Awards, a collaborative program from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, Inc. (BCALA) and Lyrasis (formerly BiblioLabs). Now in its tenth year, this groundbreaking awards program celebrates excellence in independently published fiction and poetry by African American authors in the U.S.

These awards are part of BCALA’s long-standing commitment to recognizing the literary contributions of Black writers, and we’re proud to help shine a spotlight on this year’s powerful and unforgettable winning titles.

Each winner receives a $2500.00 award, and this year’s award recipients were honored during the American Library Association Conference in Philadelphia in June 2025.

Camp Lanier

Fiction Winner: Camp Lanier by Sylvester Barzey

After getting caught shoplifting, teen Taylor Johnson is sentenced to a summer work-release program at Camp Lanier—rumored to sit atop a once-thriving all-Black town, violently displaced and cursed ever since. What begins as a chance to lay low quickly turns into a chilling unraveling of camp legends, missing workers, and a terrifying past that refuses to stay buried.

Blending supernatural suspense with historical truths, Camp Lanier is a gripping horror novel rooted in survival, trust, and legacy. Author Sylvester Barzey writes with the mission of transforming horror to reflect survivors who look like him—making space for Black protagonists in stories that demand courage, justice, and truth.

Black Body Radiation

Poetry Winner: Black Body Radiation by Deb Forte

In Black Body Radiation, Deb Forte delivers a deeply spiritual and grounded collection of poems honoring both ancestral and present-day Black life. Through vivid, earthy language and reverent reflection, Forte explores the intersection of healing, heritage, and nature—finding renewal in the quiet power of the forest and the collective wisdom of the Black experience.

With standout pieces like DOTE!, CP Time, and Black Museum, this collection invites readers into a space where truth and gratitude coexist. It is both a call to community and an ode to survival.

Meet the 2025 BCALA EBook Literary Awards Jury

We’re grateful for the thoughtfulness and care brought by this year’s selection committee:

  • Tiffany A. Duck, LitDext LLC (Chair)

  • Gladys Smiley Bell, Hampton University

  • Annie Payton, Southern University

  • Eddie Hughes, Southern University

  • Brenda Spencer Robertson, University of North Texas at Dallas

  • Vanissa Ely, Southern University

Celebrating 10 Years of Literary Excellence

This year marks the 10th time BCALA and Lyrasis have partnered to elevate and honor Black independent authors through the Ebook Literary Awards. As part of our shared mission to amplify diverse voices and create more inclusive literary spaces, we are proud to support initiatives like this, where recognition and representation meet.

Submissions are open now through February 28, 2026. If you’re interested in participating, you can submit your ebook here: https://bcala.librariesshare.com/bcala-ebook-contest/.

Congratulations again to Sylvester Barzey and Deb Forte, and thank you to everyone who submitted work this year!