Prof. D. Watkins Receives 2024 James Beard Media Award
June 11, 2024
Contact: Office of Advancement and External Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
D. Watkins, MFA, '14, assistant professor in The University of Baltimore's Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences and an internationally acclaimed memoirist and essayist, received the 2024 James Beard Media Award in the Beverage category for his essay, published in Salon, "Navigating the New Sober Boom: Where a Person's Sobriety is as Unique as Their Fingerprint." The award is Watkins's third distinction announced in the past three months. In April, he received the 2023 Vernon Jarrett Medal for Journalistic Excellence from Morgan State University’s School of Global Journalism and Communication. Last month, he was named the recipient of the 2024 Gordon Parks Foundation's Genevieve Young Fellowship in Writing.
According to the James Beard Foundation, "This notable accomplishment is a prestigious honor uniquely bestowed upon outstanding talent for their achievements in the culinary arts, hospitality, media, and the broader food system. The James Beard Award was established in 1990 and consists of several recognition programs, including the media awards—featuring book, broadcast media, and journalism categories—restaurant and chef awards, and three achievement awards [for] Lifetime Achievement, Humanitarian of the Year, and Leadership."
The James Beard Journalism Awards honor works in English that cover food or drink-related content. According to the foundation, the beverage category recognizes a unique style, comprehensive knowledge, straightforward prose, and an innovative approach in a single article about alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages.
D. Watkins is an internationally recognized writer and the New York Times bestselling author of The Beast Side, The Cook Up, We Speak for Ourselves, Black Boy Smile, and The Wire: The Complete Visual History. He has also co-written Where Tomorrows Aren't Promised with retired NBA star Carmelo Anthony and On A Move with Mike Africa, Jr., which details the notorious 1985 bombing in Philadelphia ordered by city leadership that claimed the lives of 11 civilians, and which is set to be released in August.
Watkins earned an MFA in Creative Writing and Publishing Arts in 2014 from UBalt, and also holds a Master of Education degree from Johns Hopkins University. At Salon, Watkins serves as editor-at-large. He is a writer on the HBO mini-series We Own This City and hosts the show's companion podcast. Additionally, he was featured in the HBO documentary The Slow Hustle. Additionally, his work has been published in The New York Times, Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, and other publications.
Some of D. Watkins' other awards include the Johns Hopkins Distinguished Alumnus Award, the BMe Genius Grant for Dynamic Black Leaders, the City Lit Dambach Award for Service to the Literary Arts, the Maryland Library Association's William Wilson Maryland Author Award, and Ford's Men of Courage Award for Black Male Storytellers. In 2020, his book We Speak for Ourselves was selected for One Book Baltimore by Enoch Pratt Free Library. He was also a finalist for the Hurston Wright Legacy Awards in 2016 and 2023, and The Cook Up was a 2017 Books for a Better Life finalist.
Read about Watkins's Beard Award in The Baltimore Sun.
Learn more about Prof. D. Watkins.
Learn more about the James Beard Foundation.