Taylor Byas is the winner of the third annual Maya Angelou Book Award for her acclaimed debut poetry collection, I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times. She was named Thursday, October 5, 2023, during the Writers for Readers literary event co-sponsored by the Kansas City Public Library and the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s MFA Program in Creative Writing.

The new national award, established by the Kansas City Public Library, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and five other Missouri universities, celebrates contemporary writers of poetry and fiction whose works reflect a commitment to social justice and inclusion.

I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times by Taylor Byas explores a Black woman’s journey out of the South Side of Chicago and into adulthood, inspired by the film The Wiz. Byas is a Chicago native currently living in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she is an assistant features editor for The Rumpus and acquisitions poetry editor for Variant Literature.

The award, named for Missouri-born memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, is accompanied by a $10,000 stipend. Byas will conduct a speaking tour in Spring 2024 of the six participating universities: UMKC, the University of Missouri-Columbia, Truman State, Missouri State, Southeast Missouri State, and Northwest Missouri State.