Kassahun Checole was one of the five recipients of The Wheatley Book Awards this year at a ceremony held in New York on July 18. Kassahun is the founder and president of the Africa World Press and Red Sea Press. 

The Trenton, New Jersey publishing companies have in their 25-year history published more than 1,500 books to provide quality books on the history, culture, politics of Africa and African Diaspora. Kassahun spoke to the Tigrigna service’s Tewelde.

The Wheatley Book Award was named after Phillis Wheatley, the first published African American poet. Past Wheatley Award honorees include Maya Angelou, Chinua Achebe, Sonia Sanchez, Walter Mosley, Octavia Butler, Ishmael Reed, Ruby Dee, Walter Dean Myers and Amiri Baraka. The annual award ceremony opens the Harlem Book Fair which is held at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Boulevard.