WS Chronicle

Bookmarks is excited to welcome two esteemed 2025 NAACP Image Award nominees, Renée Watson and Tia Williams, back to Winston-Salem this February. Following a successful launch event in November 2024, Bookmarks continues its commitment to celebrating remarkable voices in literature with a series of events showcasing this year’s NAACP Image Award nominees. 

In November 2024, Bookmarks partnered with Delta Fine Arts Center to host the launch of “Picturing Black History: Photographs and Stories That Changed the World” with editor Damarius Johnson. Johnson, who joined Bookmarks as community outreach manager in May 2024, was instrumental in bringing this important book to the community. The book has received widespread praise from readers across the nation, including Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who called it “an astonishing work.” On Jan. 7, “Picturing Black History” was named one of the five nominees for the NAACP Image Award in the “Outstanding Literary Work – Non-Fiction” category. 

Bookmarks also recently hosted award-winning producer and debut novelist Essie Chambers, whose novel “Swift River” has become a national bestseller and a Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick. “Swift River” has earned acclaim and recognition, earning a spot as a finalist in the “Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author” category at the NAACP Image Awards. 

In February, Bookmarks will continue its celebration of these talented writers by hosting two additional NAACP Image Award nominees. 

On Feb. 5, Renée Watson will return to Winston-Salem to discuss her new novel “All the Blues in the Sky,” a poignant story in verse about a young girl coping with the sudden loss of her best friend. Watson will visit local schools during the day, followed by a free after-school meet-and-greet at the Bookmarks Bookstore from 4 to 5:30 p.m. This event is open to the public, and registration is encouraged through the Bookmarks website:  bookmarksnc.org/reneewatson. 

On Feb. 12, Tia Williams, bestselling author of “Seven Days in June,” will return to Winston-Salem for a conversation about her latest novel, “A Love Song for Ricki Wilde.” The event will be held at Reynolds Place Theatre in the Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $23 (plus taxes & fees) and include a paperback copy of “A Love Song for Ricki Wilde.” Tickets can be purchased online through the Bookmarks website: bookmarksnc.org/TiaWilliams. Additional books by Williams will be available for purchase at the event, and there will be a book signing following the seated program. 

So far, Bookmarks has had the honor of hosting ten nominees for the 2025 NAACP Image Awards, including: Kwame Alexander, Essie Chambers, Alyssa Cole, Damarius Johnson, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, Wanda Morris, O. O. Sangoyomi, Renée Watson, Carole Boston Weatherford, and Tia Williams. 

For more information and to register for events, visit the Bookmarks website at bookmarksnc.org.