NAIBA Legacy Award

NAIBA is proud to present the 2024 Legacy Award to Ellen Oh and Dhonielle Clayton

"We are incredibly honored to receive the NAIBA Legacy Award and to be included with the likes of past winners like NK Jemisin, Laurie Halse Anderson, and Judy Blume. 2024 marks the 10th anniversary of We Need Diverse Books, and we couldn't have reached this milestone without the support of independent booksellers who continue to champion diverse voices to their patrons and in their communities. We thank NAIBA for this recognition, and we look forward to working together to build more empathy and connection in our world, one diverse book at a time."

Ellen Oh is a founding member, President, and CEO of We Need Diverse Books. She is also the author of the middle grade novels Finding Junie Kim, The Dragon Egg Princess, and The Spirit Hunters trilogy (Spirit Hunters, Island of Monsters, and Something Wicked), and the YA fantasy trilogy The Prophecy Series (Prophecy, Warrior, and King). She is the editor of the middle grade anthology Flying Lessons and Other Stories, and the YA anthology A Thousand Beginnings and Endings.

Dhonielle Clayton is a New York Times bestselling author of The Conjureverse series, The Belles series, Shattered Midnight, co-author of Blackout, Whiteout, The Rumor Game, and of the Tiny Pretty Things duology, a Netflix original series. She hails from the Washington, D.C. suburbs on the Maryland side. She taught secondary school for several years, and is a former elementary and middle school librarian. She is COO of the non-profit We Need Diverse Books. She is the President and founder of Cake Creative and Electric Postcard Entertainment, IP story companies creating diverse books for all ages where she’s concepted and sold over 55 books, including the Tristan Strong series, Promise Boys, Love Radio, the Love Sugar Magic series, and more. She’s an avid traveler, and always on the hunt for magic and mischief.

In 2004, the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association established a Legacy Award in recognition of those individuals whose body of work contributed significantly to the realm of American arts and letters. Candidates for this award were to either reside in the region served by the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association, or who created work that reflected the character of the geographical area so represented, and the spirit of the independent bookselling community found therein.