Jewell Parker Rhodes, the Piper Endowed Chair of the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University, was awarded the 2026 Correta Scott King Book Award from the American Library Association. The annual award recognizes outstanding books for young adults and children by African American authors and illustrators that reflect the African American experience.
Dr. Rhodes’ award-winning book, Will’s Race for Home (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2025), tells the story of a Black father and his 12-year old son as they set out to win land in the Oklahoma land rush is the late nineteenth-century.
An Arizona State faculty member for over two decades, Dr. Rhodes is the author of more than a dozen adult novels and children’s books, two writing guides, and her memoir, Porch Stories: A Grandmother’s Guide to Happiness (Atria, 2006). Throughout her career, her publications have earned numerous prestigious awards, including the 2003 American Book Award for Douglass’ Women (Atria, 2002).
Dr. Rhodes is an honors graduate of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in drama criticism, a master’s degree in English, and doctor of arts degree in English and creative writing. Before coming to Arizona State University, she served as director of the English honors program and of the creative writing program at California State University, Northridge.