The Women’s National Book Association (WNBA) announces that the 2021 WNBA Award winner is Hannah Oliver Depp, owner of Loyalty Bookstores in Petworth, DC and downtown Silver Spring, MD.
“Nominations for this year’s award ran the gamut from publisher to children’s book author to biographer,” said NC Weil, WNBA Award chair. “What distinguishes Oliver Depp is her meritorious work in amplifying the efforts of social justice movements, particularly Black Lives Matter, while using her bookstores to create community spaces.”
Every other year, the award is presented to a “living American woman who derives part or all of her income from books and the allied arts, and who has done meritorious work in the world of books beyond the duties and responsibilities of her profession or occupation.”
Oliver Depp is a career bookseller who previously managed WORD bookstores (Brooklyn, NY and Jersey City, NJ) as well as Politics & Prose (Washington, DC). She founded Loyalty Bookstores to serve all readers as an intersectional feminist bookstore and programming space. Oliver Depp is a founding member of the American Bookselling Association Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and has served on its Educational Task Force. She also serves as a board member for Bookshop.org and the New Atlantic Independent Bookseller’s Association.
In addition to her commitment to and advocacy for bookstores and booksellers, Oliver Depp has a Masters in English from American University and has taught genre fiction, medieval literature and communications for the last 12 years.
The WNBA Award (previously known as the Constance Lindsay Skinner Award)
has been continuously awarded since 1940. Recent recipients include Lisa Lucas, Carla Hayden, Louise Erdrich, Amy King and Ann Patchett. The full list of recipients includes former First Ladies, authors, activists, booksellers, librarians, and publishing professionals—all dedicated literary women whose achievements have enhanced the book world.
“I am constantly amazed by the women who have received the WNBA Award. Hannah is a beacon for her community and for the book world,” said Natalie Obando, president of the WNBA. “We hope that shining a light and honoring her will bring even more attention to the good she does.”
Oliver Depp can be found on social media @oliverdepp and hopes you are prepared for many pictures of her dog.
There will be a virtual awards ceremony hosted by the WNBA to honor Oliver Depp on June 6 at 5 p.m. ET.
About the Women’s National Book Association (WNBA): The Women’s National Book Association is a professional organization dedicated to promoting books and literacy and to supporting women in the book world. Formed in 1917 by a group of female booksellers in New York City who were not allowed to join the all-male booksellers’ organizations, the WNBA continues to advocate for equality and representation in the book world. The WNBA welcomes members of all genders and professions.
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