Kierra Duncan Wins 2026 David Ruggles Prize

Kierra Duncan has been awarded the David Ruggles Prize Grand Prize of $1,000 for her collection Translating  Blackness Across Space which gathers American, British, and Anglophone Caribbean editions  of 20th century literature by Afro-American and Anglophone Caribbean writers.

The annual David Ruggles Prize is an international book collecting prize established in 2020 to support and encourage young collectors of color. Fine Books & Collections profiled Kierra, winner of the 2025 California Young Book Collector's Prize, earlier this year in our Bright Young Collectors column.

Kierra 's collection asks what happens when these books are published in different Anglophone  countries. The judges said " "We were completely enamoured with her compelling story about the origins of  her collection as well as the impressive criticism of how the dust jackets, author's biography,  and new forewords can affect the reader’s perception of the work. Many wanted to see Kierra’s collection published as a book."

The second prize of $500 was awarded to Roman Johnson whose highly original collection charts the African-American spiritual healing and harming tradition of Hoodoo.

Roman’s quest for Hoodoo knowledge took him to Sapelo Island, and he built upon interviews with elders by collecting books, zines, oral histories, memorabilia, and visual art. Now he has turned his focus to Hoodoo histories of New Hampshire. On the diversity of his collection, one judge commented: "I was really impressed by the scope and the mix of materials that they are  being intentional about collecting."

Melanie Shi has been awarded the third prize of $250 for her collection A Dance in Motion: Re examining Tango and the Immigrant Connection Between Argentina and Europe, 1900-1980. Composed of music scores, Melanie’s collection looks at how tango has travelled across continents to become a globally recognised artform. The judges were unanimous in the feeling that the collection taught them something entirely new, with one commenting that "I felt  pulled into the world of tango, its history, importance, and transatlantic formation."

Not only do the music scores show the places tango has reached, but Melanie’s careful analysis of the cover designs revealed even more about how the dance was perceived. Melanie - also previously profiled in our Bright Young Collectors column - is the first returning prize-winner, having won second prize in 2022 for an entirely different collection focusing on Western and European attitudes toward China, especially towards communism during the Cold War.