Award: Naomie Harris Alfre Woodard 2014 Breakthrough Performance Award: Lupita Nyong'o Trailblazer Award: Cheryl Boone Isaacs Visionary Award: Ava DuVernay 2015 Breakthrough Performance Award: Gugu Mbatha-Raw Fierce and Fearless Award: Regina King Visionary Award: Ruth E. Carter 2016 Fierce and Fearless Award: Tracee Ellis Ross Power Award: Nina Shaw Legend Award: Debbie Allen 2018 Honorees: Tiffany Haddish, Lena Waithe, Danai Gurira, Tessa Thompson 2019 Theme: The Power of our Presence: Art and Activism Honorees: Amandla Steinberg, Jenifer Lewis, KiKi Layne, Regina Hall 2020 Honorees: Niecy Nash, Melina Matsoukas, Lashana Lynch, and the cast of Pose, along with its executive producer Janet Mock Essence Literary Awards The first and only Essence Literary Awards ceremony was held in New York City on February 7, 2008, to celebrate both emerging and established African-American authors in nine categories: Fiction, Memoir, Inspiration, Non-fiction, Current Affairs, Photography, Children's Books, Poetry and Storyteller of the Year. The honorees were as follows: Children's Books: Marvelous World by Troy Cle/Simon & Schuster's Children's Publishing Current Affairs: An Unbroken Agony by Randall Robinson/ Basic Civitas Fiction: The Pirate's Daughter by Margaret Cezair-Thompson/Unbridled Books Inspiration: Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy/Tyndale Lifetime Achievement: Terry McMillan Memoir: Brother, I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat/Knopf Non-fiction: Supreme Discomfort by Michael Fletcher and Kevin Merida/Doubleday Poetry: Duende by Tracy K. Smith/Graywolf Press Photography: Daufuskie Island by Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe/University of South Carolina Press President's Award: Reposition Yourself by T.D. Jakes/Atria Storyteller of the Year: L.A. Banks Save Our Libraries: Countee Cullen Regional Library in Harlem Awards received by Essence 1970: National Magazine Award for Fiction for Hortense Spillers' "Isom" 2008: AdAge American Magazine Vanguard Award for "magazines that are innovating smartly beyond print." 2008: 12 New York Association of Black Journalists awards in the Investigative, General Feature, International, Business/Technology, Science/Health, Arts and Entertainment, Personal Commentary, Public Affairs and Online categories. NABJ Magazine Specialty Award – This award was received for their two part series "The Story of AIDS in Black America" NABJ Magazine Award for Business – This award was received for their Essence Home Ownership Campaign. 2010: NABJ Award for Investigative writing for Angela Burt-Murray, Jeannine Amber, Rosemarie Robotham's "Lost Girl"; Single Topic Series for "Realizing the Dream" Controversy The 2005 purchase of Essence Communications Inc. marked the first time an African-American magazine would be owned by a white man, sparking controversy because of the company's 34 years under African-American ownership. In 2011, the magazine engaged