Essie Chambers has been named the recipient of the 18th annual Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence for her debut novel Swift River. Set in 1987 Massachusetts, Swift River follows Diamond Newberry, the only Black teenager in her rural town, as she unravels family secrets that reshape her identity and connection to generations of African American women. A coming-of-age story that explores themes of belonging, loss, and generational memory. The novel has been hailed as “poetic and propulsive” (NPR) and “funny and poignant” (The New Yorker).

 Chambers is an award-winning author and producer whose work has garnered national recognition for its lyrical storytelling and emotional depth. Swift River, a Today Show “Read with Jenna” Book Club pick, was named one of the best books of the year by NPR, The Washington Post, Elle, The Boston Globe, and others. The novel also won the 2024 Barnes & Noble Discover Prize and was longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. In addition to her literary achievements, Chambers produced the Oscar-shortlisted Netflix documentary Descendant, released by the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions.

Chambers will be honored during a public ceremony on October 21, 2025, at 6 p.m. at the Manship Theater in the Shaw Center for the Arts, located at 100 Lafayette Street in Downtown Baton Rouge. The evening will celebrate her remarkable debut and pay tribute to the legacy of Ernest J. Gaines, whose body of work helped shape the landscape of American literature.