The Oklahoma
Center for the Book

Joyce Carol Thomas will be the recipient of the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award for 2001. From September 2000 to May 2001, the Center and its partners (the Oklahoma Department of Libraries, the Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers, the Friends of Libraries in Oklahoma, Friends of the Metropolitan Library System, and HarperCollins) are encouraging readers to discover (or rediscover) Thomas and her books. The campaign is called "All Oklahoma Reads Joyce Carol Thomas."

Joyce Carol Thomas was born in Ponca City, Oklahoma. At ten years of age the family moved to California, but she never forgot her Oklahoma background and many of her works capture the imagery, language, and rhythms of Oklahoma.

Thomas is known for her poetry, playwriting, and novels—especially for children and young adults. She received the National Book Award for her first novel, Marked by Fire. Her first illustrated book Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea won a Coretta Scott King Award. She was a finalist for the 1996 Oklahoma Book Award for Gingerbread Days, and the 1999 Oklahoma Book Award for I Have Heard of a Land. Thomas is the poet laureate for the Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers, at Oklahoma State University—Tulsa.

Oklahoma is the setting for Joyce Carol Thomas' novels:
Marked By FireBright Shadow
The Golden Pasture
House of Light (Jan. 2001).

Her poetry is infused with Oklahoma:
I Have Heard of a Land
Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea
Gingerbread Days.

Thomas touches the whole family with her books for toddlers:
Cherish Me
You Are My Perfect Baby
Hush Songs.

Back to Book Award Page
Back to ODL Home Page

Copyright ©   -  All Rights Reserved
Oklahoma Department of Libraries