Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora was named the winner of the 2022 Firecracker Award for Independently Published Literature from the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) in the category of General Excellence.
The judges of the literary magazine category described Obsidian as a “brilliant, self-possessed masterpiece of a literary journal.”
Editor Duriel E. Harris said in her acceptance, “YES! Come on now! In gratitude for all that is—the tremendous bounty of being. For this moment now, this movement that dwells within and in which we are graced to dwell.”
The finalists for the award included the American Poetry Review, Bellevue Literary Review, Chicago Review, and the Evergreen Review.
Judges for the award included Lana Barkawi (executive and artistic director, Mizna), Rob Greene (publisher, Raleigh Review), and Miah Jeffra (cofounder, Foglifter Journal). They called Obsidian “a magazine with a critical legacy that continues to convene new ideas and fearless writing from the African Diaspora. Each issue thrills in form and content, at once brand new and rooted—a testament to the editorial vision. The magazine is a singular, spectacular cultural treasure.”
Find more about the award winners and finalists here.
