book award – Prolific Pulse Blog

Cover of 'Sisters Roc'N'Rhyme Presents Unsung Canaan Ballads: A Collection of Poems' by Chyrel J. Jackson, featuring a stylized illustration of a woman playing an acoustic guitar with a colorful background of buildings and trees.

Poet Chyrel J. Jackson Wins 2026 POTY Book Award for Unsung Canaan Ballads

Chicago-area poet and bestselling author Chyrel J. Jackson has been named the 2026 POTY Book Awards Winner in the Non-Fiction–Poetry category for Unsung Canaan Ballads: A Collection of Poems, the first solo release in her Sisters Roc ’N’ Rhyme series.

Poet Chyrel J. Jackson has been selected as a Winner in the 2026 POTY Book Awards, presented by PersonsOfTheYear.com. Her collection, Unsung Canaan Ballads: A Collection of Poems – Sisters Roc ’N’ Rhyme Solos, Part One, took top honors in the Non-Fiction–Poetry category.

The POTY Book Awards recognize outstanding work among each year’s field of entries, honoring books for their quality and accomplishment. In announcing the award, organizers congratulated Jackson on the achievement and encouraged her to celebrate the honor with her readers, publisher, and supporters.

Unsung Canaan Ballads marks Jackson’s first solo collection under the Sisters Roc ’N’ Rhyme banner, the creative partnership she shares with her sister, poet Lyris D. Wallace. Published by Prolific Pulse Press LLC, the book gathers poems rooted in the African American literary tradition that has shaped Jackson’s voice since childhood.

“I’m deeply grateful to the POTY Book Awards for this recognition. These poems carry the voices of people whose stories too often go unsung, and I’m honored that they’ve found their audience.” said Jackson.

Raised in the South Suburbs of Chicago, Jackson writes in the spirit of the literary ancestors she admires. She earned her first literary nomination in 2021, when her poem “Love Unspoken,” published in the Heart Beats Anthology, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. In 2022 she contributed to the #1 bestselling anthology Not Just Anybody Can Be Dad. With Wallace, she has co-authored SistersRoc’N’Rhyme Presents Poems in the Key of Life, Mirrored Images, and Different Sides of the Same Coin, and the duo’s work appears in numerous anthologies, literary journals, and international magazines. Jackson is also a 2025 poet laureate of the Garden of Neuro and a #1-ranked Amazon bestselling author.

“We could not be more pleased with this outcome. Chyrel J. Jackson is an excellent poet and writer, and we are thrilled for her success. Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld, Prolific Pulse Press LLC.”

Unsung Canaan Ballads (ISBN 978-1-962374-68-2) is available in paperback from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Bookshop.org, and Walmart.

About Chyrel J. Jackson

Chyrel J. Jackson is an award-winning poet, Pushcart Prize nominee, and #1 bestselling Amazon author from the South Suburbs of Chicago. Together with her sister Lyris D. Wallace, she writes as part of Sisters Roc ’N’ Rhyme, creating written legacies one book at a time. Learn more at sistersrocnrhyme.blogspot.com and linktr.ee/ChyrelJ_Jackson66.

About Prolific Pulse Press LLC

Prolific Pulse Press LLC is an independent publisher of poetry and literary works. Visit www.prolificpulse.com.

Author page: prolificpulse.com/chyreljjackson