Gala Celebrates Writers’ Superpowers
Top left: Terry Finley thanks gala donors for their support. Top right: From left: LeVar Burton, Reyna Grande, Colin Channer, and Jennifer Hershey. Bottom left: Esther Cajahuaringa (center) and Kandace Coston, recipients of publishing internships funded by Celeste Ng, accept the Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award on Ng’s behalf. Bottom right: Author Jodi Picoult presents the Editor’s Award to Jennifer Hershey. (Photos by: Margarita Corporan)
“Although this has turned out to be my dream job, eight-year-old me might have said I wanted to be an explorer, or maybe a doctor. I mean, doctors save peoples’ lives—what job contributes more to the world? But now I know that authors save lives too,” said Jennifer Hershey, senior vice president, publisher, and editor in chief of Ballantine Books, at the Poets & Writers gala, “In Celebration of Writers,” which took place on March 27 in New York City. “To be the person who stands at the author’s side and works to amplify those lifesaving and life-changing voices is a precious gift.” Hershey was among the evening’s honorees, receiving the 2023 Editor’s Award. Under the inspired leadership of Books-A-Million CEO and gala chair Terry Finley, the event raised $1,067,000 to support Poets & Writers’ services for creative writers nationwide.
In addition to Hershey, Colin Channer, Reyna Grande, and Celeste Ng were each honored with the Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, which recognizes a writer who has given generously to other writers or to the broader literary community. In unique and creative ways these authors have advocated for increased representation within the writing community and across the publishing industry.
Touching on both the celebratory and serious aspects of the event, host LeVar Burton brought the audience together in song as he led a joyous rendition of the theme song from Reading Rainbow—the award-winning public television series for which he served as longtime host—and also emphasized the crucial role books play in the lives of readers at a time when book-banning has reached an alarming pitch. Hershey sounded similar notes in her remarks: “The empathy and inspiration that authors pour into the world every day is a miracle. I’ve worked with the incomparable Isabel Allende on a novel that allows readers to imagine what it is like to be a refugee persecuted by the country they once saw as a haven. I’ve worked with Daoud Hari, who escaped Sudan when his entire village was slaughtered but faced his terror to return as a translator, so journalists could report on the genocide.” Hershey, who has edited a wide variety of books across genres, also commented: “I’m so proud of novels that make lives better simply by letting someone escape for an hour when life is too much…. To make someone laugh when they haven’t in a long time—or feel hopeful about the possibility of love when they feel unloved—it’s a superpower.”
Funds raised will enable Poets & Writers to provide broad access to information about publishing and help writers from all backgrounds build community, navigate the literary marketplace, and advance their careers.
To learn more about this year’s gala, visit pw.org/gala.