Lane College News December 2011 Noted Lane College Professor Honored With Coveted Award Lane College Assistant Professor of English Unoma Azuah, has been selected the 2011 Aidoo-Snyder Book Prize Winner for her extraordinary literary works that prioritize African women's experiences. She is the author of The Length of Light, a book that reflects the predicament of everyday choices in life; and Sky High Flames, the story of a vivacious, naive, young girl who morphs into an unforgettable, strong woman. The Aidoo-Snyder book prize is awarded by the Women's Caucus of the African Studies Association. The Caucus was established in 1975 to promote the study of gender, to ensure an active and representative role for women scholars and members of the Association within and outside the African continent, and to develop scholarly and activist links between the Association and women in Africa. Named in honor of Ama Ata Aidoo, the celebrated Ghanaian novelist and short-story writer, and Margaret Snyder, the founding Director of UNIFEM, this prize seeks to acknowledge the excellence of contemporary scholarship being produced by women about African women. In alternate years, the prize is awarded for the best scholarly book, or for the best creative work. Professor Azuah is a Nigerian writer considered to be one of the focal voices of the third generation of Nigerian writers because of her award winning works and pioneer essays and research on sexuality issues in Nigeria. A graduate of the MFA program at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia; she also has a Masters degree in English from Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio. The University of Nigeria at Nsukka, is where she earned her Bachelor's degree in English. The award-winning writer has conducted writing workshops and seminars in major cities in Nigeria and the United States which included workshops for incarcerated mothers and women in prison as a way of creating outlets for their expressions. Part of her focus in such workshops is to assist women in channeling their energy into literary expressions as a way of freeing their spirits in spite of their physical imprisonment. Professor Azuah is also involved with "The Griot Collective," a poetry group that organizes workshops and readings for adults and high school students in the West Tennessee area. Her contributions to this group earned her the "Griot Hero" award in 2006. In the same year, she received "The Best Faculty," award at Lane College for her outstanding teaching, research and service to the College community. Some of her affiliations include the International Resource Network (IRN Africa), a research and network group that focuses on sexuality issues in Africa of which she is a board member; co-editor: "Sentinel Annual Literature Anthology"; co-editor "Outliers" a creative writing and scholarly journal about sexual minority issues in Africa; and Poetry editor of Sentinelnigeria.org. She is also the faculty sponsor of the Delta Sigma Tau English Honors Society at Lane College. ________________________________ SANDRA M. PHOENIX Program Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 Skype:sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.