Thinking deeply, dreaming imaginatively, reading critically, reflecting incisively and then writing compellingly is the very essence of what it means to give power to voice. Prairie View A&M University aims to educate its students to become change leaders in an increasingly more diverse, globally interconnected world. Students will be inspired to uncover their hidden talents and to hone their skills as they learn to craft the unique characteristics of various literary genres, comprehend the expectations of the publishing process and benefit from the resources available in a competitive yet supportive writers’ world.

Led by Provost Emerita and Professor E. Joahanne Thomas-Smith and organizationally housed in the College of Arts and Sciences, the Program features an annual Writer-in-Residence who will offer public readings, master classes, lectures, class visitations and critiques of students’ works. There will come summer writing workshops, informal book discussions with prominent authors, a scholarship program, contests and, eventually, a full curriculum supporting a degree program in creative writing and other linguistic expression. In keeping with the University’s land grant mission, the University will include an outreach component wherein area high schools and elementary schools will become Toni Morrison Writing Program partners. A most prominent partner to the Toni Morrison Writing Program is the Ruth J. Simmons Center for Race and Justice, thus fostering exploration of social justice from the perspective of literature, public policy, entertainment, environmental science, athletics, health and other areas.

The Toni Morrison Writing Program was made possible via a substantial gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott in early 2021. Scott was Morrison’s student during her time at Princeton and attributes much of her development as an author to Morrison’s mentorship.

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Daniel Black, Ph.D.Writer-in-Residence

Dr. Daniel Black is a 30-year professor of African American Studies at Clark Atlanta University. He is also an award-winning novelist, activist, mentor and public speaker. His published works include They Tell Me of A Home, The Sacred Place, Perfect Peace, Twelve Gates to the City, The Coming, Listen to the Lambs, Don’t Cry for Me, Black on Black, and Isaac’s Song. In 2014, he won the Distinguished Writer’s Award from the Mid-Atlantic Writer’s Association. The Go On Girl! National Book Club named him “Author of the Year” in 2011 for his best-selling novel Perfect Peace. Perfect Peace was also chosen as the 2014 selection for “If All Arkansas Read the Same Book” by the Arkansas Center for the Book at the Arkansas State Library. The novel has been reprinted more than ten times and is being heralded as an American literary classic. Dr. Black has been nominated (three times) for the Townsend Literary Prize, the Ernest J. Gaines Award, the Ferro-Grumbley Literary Prize, the Lambda Literary Award, he Georgia Author of the Year Prize, and the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award.

In 2015, Dr. Black’s The Coming was published to broad critical acclaim. The novel is a first-hand account of the trauma and triumph of Africans aboard a slave ship in the 16^th century. Reviewers call this work “brilliant”, “poetic”, and “a literary homage to the lives of those Africans tossed into the sea.” National Book Award winner Charles Johnson says, “The Coming is powerful and brilliant.” He goes on to state, “This is a work to be proud of!” In 2016, Dr. Black’s long-awaited novel Listen to the Lambs was released. This novel explores the lives and agency of unhoused people who find each other on the street and create lives of meaning without material substance.

Dr. Black’s work has been justly celebrated. Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker says this about Perfect Peace: “It is a spellbinding novel that kept me reading late into several nights. A young boy raised as a girl until ‘she’ was eight years old…. and then? Forced to be a ‘boy.’ It is a gift to have so much passion, so much love, so much beautiful writing so flawlessly faithful to the language of ancestors who grappled as best they could with more than they could ever understand. This novel will one day be a film of much benefit to us, if done well. The visuals of it will help us see what we are so often blind to: the great fluidity inherent in all things, including ‘race’ and sexuality. Thank you, Daniel Black.”

Dr. Black’s newest novel, Don’t Cry For Me, was released by HarperCollins on February 1^st, 2022. About this novel, National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward says, “Don’t Cry for Me is a perfect song: the epistolary dirge of a man singing to his son as he faces death by cancer. At turns intense and funny, tender and brutally honest, Jacob’s letter to his son, Isaac, is revelatory. It’s a beautiful book. Read it.” Black’s newest work is his first essay collection titled BLACK ON BLACK, which was released on January 30^th, 2023. In response to this work, renowned Baldwin scholar Dr. Eddie Glaude says, “Black on Black is a tour de force. Brilliant. Passionate. Deeply caring. One reads these essays and feels immediately enveloped in Daniel Black’s love—even when he challenges you or when you might disagree. I really needed to read this book in these trying times.” Black also won the 2024 “Georgia Author of the Year Award” for Black on Black.

Dr. Black also works as a diversity consultant, having spoken at top-tier companies in America such as Google, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, AT&T, and Global Payments. He assists corporations with creating work environments in which all employees, of every level and difference, feel supported and valued.

A native of Kansas City, Kansas, Black spent his formative years in rural Blackwell, Arkansas. He graduated from Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University) where he earned the prestigious Oxford Modern British Studies fellowship and studied abroad at Oxford University. He was then awarded a full fellowship to Temple University where he studied with Black Arts Movement poet laureate Sonia Sanchez and, in 1992, earned a Ph.D. in African American Studies. Dr. Black has spent the majority of his 30 academic years as a professor of African American Studies at his beloved alma mater, Clark Atlanta University.

Dr. Black lives in Atlanta and is the founder of the Ndugu-Nzinga Rites of Passage Nation, an initiation society for people of African descent who seek to love themselves and build a world of character for their people.

In January of 2025, Dr. Black’s 8^th novel will drop, a literary sequel to Don’t Cry for Me, titled Isaac’s Song. His 9^th, Simon Says, is finished and forthcoming. He is currently at work on part II of The Coming titled The Second Coming and a black scripture titled The Good Book.

Read more Writer-in-Residence Archives

Writer-In-Residence Master Class by Dr. Daniel Black

Established in 2020, the Toni Morrison Writing Program invites prominent writers of poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, play writing,  hip hop, screen writing, et cetera to Prairie View A&M University to share their craft with students.  This rich  opportunity gives students a chance to develop their most powerful selves and voices through the  intelligent, skillful, and impactful use of the word—namely, the written word. Master classes taught by the writer-in-residence hone students’  skills and nurture their creativity.

Theree Master Classes are set for  this academic year: Oct.2, 2025, Feb.19, 2026, and April 9, 2026. Each one is a non-credit bearing session of approximately an hour and a half, including instruction and time for individual and small group engagement. A  writer-in-residence  reviews and responds to students’ original writing, discusses publishing strategies, and offers advice on entering careers as writers.

The first Master Class with  Daniel Black , the 2025-2026 Toni Morrison Writer-In-Residence , will be held  at 3:30 P.M. , Thursday, October 2 , 2025 in the Panther Collaboration and Innovation Commons – Training Room 307Q (3^rd Floor – John B. Coleman Library). The session will also be available via Zoom.

Dr. Daniel Black is an award-winning novelist, professor, activist, mentor and public speaker. His published works include They Tell Me of Home, The Sacred Place, Perfect Peace, Twelve Gates to the City, The Coming, Listen to the Lambs, Don’t Cry for Me, and Black on Black.

Interested?  Very interested?  Space is limited, so apply immediately so your application can be reviewed without delay. Applications are due by September 23 , 5:00 p.m..  You will be notified of your acceptance and the logistics for the Master Class session by email  by  September 26.

Complete the Application for the Writer-in-Residence Master Class by Tayari Jones below. If you need assistance, please contact Dr. Teta Banks at tvbanks@pvamu.edu, Dr.Joanna Sanders Mann at jsmann@pvamu.edu, or Dr. Glenn Shaheen at glshaheen@pvamu.edu.

Best wishes!

Writing Contest Application

3rd Annual Creative Writing Contest

This contest is open to graduating high school seniors only!

Write your original poetry, fiction, or creative non-fiction. Write at least four (4) pages and no more than eight (8) pages. Poetry may be single- spaced. Fiction and creative non-fiction must be double-spaced. Be sure the writing is your own. You may enter in one, two, or three categories. However, if you win in more than one, you will be awarded for the category which carries the highest prize.

What about college scholarships?

One- half of the scholarship amount won will be disbursed in the Fall Semester of 2024 and one-half will be disbursed in the Spring Semester 2025.

PVAMU CONTACTS

Dr. Glenn Shaheen : glshaheen@pvamu.edu
Dr. E. Joahanne Thomas-Smith : ejthomas-smith@pvamu.edu
All entries must be submitted online

Writing Contest Application

About Toni Morrison

Reading what the late Toni Morrison wrote whether it is her first novel, The Bluest Eye, published in her thirties or her phenomenal Beloved which affirmed her artistry and led to her winning the Pulitzer Prize reveals the power of writing as documentation of life in all of its dimensions. Having produced a treasure trove of notable works and explored various literary genres, Toni Morrison became the first Black woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. She also was the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and numerous other awards. Her discipline, persistence and creativity seem to have been influenced by a constellation of factors among which were her years engaging with civil rights activists, working as an editor, forming lifelong friendships, being a mother to two sons, teaching at Princeton University and influencing generations of future writers.

In Toni Morrison: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations, Nikki Giovanni reflects on a long telephone conversation she had with Ms. Morrison about some profound challenges in her life. She said Toni’s words were, “Write. That’s all you can do. Write.” Ms. Giovanni goes on to say that despite the title of that book, there will never be a last interview with Toni Morrison for “Her books live and talk to us. She could have said Read. But she said Write. And she is Right.”

As Oprah Winfrey once stated about Toni Morrison, “She was our conscience. Our seer. Our truth-teller. She was a magician with language, who understood the power of words. She used them to roil us, to wake us, to educate us and help us grapple with our deepest wounds and try to comprehend them.”

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Emma Joahanne Thomas-Smith
Program Director

Dr. Emma Joahanne Thomas-Smith, provost emerita and professor of higher education, serves as the program director of the Toni Morrison Writing Program. Prior to serving as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Prairie View A&M University for nearly two decades, she gained extensive experience in teaching English, coaching debate and training students in forensic competition. She has inspired generations of high school and college students with a love for literature and language. Her administrative roles included service as Head, Department of English and Foreign Languages, Associate Provost, and Director of Title III. It was during her tenure as provost that the decade spanning the mid-nineties to mid-2000s became the decade of the most extensive program development at PVAMU including the advancement to doctoral level program offerings. For more than four decades, Dr. Thomas-Smith has led the University in planning and accreditation which are areas aligned with her specialties acquired at Washington State University where she earned her doctorate. She has held leadership roles in state and national commissions such as the national Voluntary System of Accountability and the Texas Assessment of Skills Program. She is on the executive editorial board of the 155 year-old Negro Educational Review journal and is a sought after speaker and mentor in the K-12 arena and in area community service entities. Dr. Thomas-Smith has received prestigious awards for her active University and community service and support. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Tuskegee University and her masters at New Mexico Highlands University. In 1999, the latter recognized her as a distinguished alumna.

Dr. Emma Joahanne Thomas-Smith
Provost Emerita and Professor
Director, Toni Morrison Writing Program
Prairie View A&M University
P.O. Box 519; Mail Stop 1040
Prairie View, Texas 77446

Email: ejthomas-smith@pvamu.edu

Phone: (936) 261-2217