“I don't plan on selling any of my
books,” says junior Alana Benoit. “I'm trying to build up my
library.”
Besides adding to her book collection, the aspiring
writer is adding to the list of authors she has met.
Recently, she had the chance to meet some of the stars
of contemporary literature when she received the Fuller-Turner-Kent-Gail
Award for Literary Criticism at the ninth annual Gwendolyn Brooks Writing
Conference for Black Literature and Creative Writing in Chicago.
Among those at the Chicago conference were Brooks, Nikki
Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Marie Evans and Atallah Shabazz.
“I was overwhelmed being in the presence of so many
prominent black writers,” she said.
Benoit won the award based on her essay “Binary
Oppositions: The 'Divide' Between the Talented Tenth and the Ninety
Percent.” In the essay she wrote originally for Prof. Carolyn
Mitchell's class on Black Critical Thought, she argues that the
so-called divide between black intellectuals and “the other 90
percent of black society” is more perceived than real since a number
of the “talented tenth” overlap both groups.
Benoit, who is pursuing a double major in English and
philosophy and a minor in Africana studies, is a graduate of A. Philip
Randolph High School in New York City. Among her extracurricular
“I don't plan on selling any of my
books,” says junior Alana Benoit. “I'm trying to build up my
library.”
Besides adding to her book collection, the aspiring
writer is adding to the list of authors she has met.
Recently, she had the chance to meet some of the stars
of contemporary literature when she received the Fuller-Turner-Kent-Gail
Award for Literary Criticism at the ninth annual Gwendolyn Brooks Writing
Conference for Black Literature and Creative Writing in Chicago.
Among those at the Chicago conference were Brooks, Nikki
Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Marie Evans and Atallah Shabazz.
“I was overwhelmed being in the presence of so many
prominent black writers,” she said.
Benoit won the award based on her essay “Binary
Oppositions: The 'Divide' Between the Talented Tenth and the Ninety
Percent.” In the essay she wrote originally for Prof. Carolyn
Mitchell's class on Black Critical Thought, she argues that the
so-called divide between black intellectuals and “the other 90
percent of black society” is more perceived than real since a number
of the “talented tenth” overlap both groups.
Benoit, who is pursuing a double major in English and
philosophy and a minor in Africana studies, is a graduate of A. Philip
Randolph High School in New York City. Among her extracurricular
activities, she is co-chair of the African-Latino Alliance of Students.
She plans to enter graduate school in Africana studies
and then pursue a career in writing and teaching at the college level.
She plans to enter graduate school in Africana studies
and then pursue a career in writing and teaching at the college level.