Sedat PAKAY (1945-2016, recipient). - Quincy Thomas TROUPE, Jr. (b.1939, editor). Watts Poets: a Book of New Poetry & Essays Edited By Quincy Troupe. [U.S.A.]: published by the House of Respect, 1968. Octavo (9 x 6inches; 229 x 152mm). Pp. 1-90[-96, including final blank]. Stapled into original oatmeal-colored thin card wrappers, illustrated upper cover, text to both the front and back inside covers. (Small chip to foot of upper cover, very light discoloration to lower cover). Provenance: Sedat Pakay (presentation inscription ‘To Sedat Pakay / Keep on pushin ! / Quincy Troupe…’ followed by an address in California).  The ephemeral nature of this important anthology means that it is rare on the market in anywhere near acceptable condition – this copy has the additional virtue of also being inscribed by the editor (and author of a biography of Miles Davis) to photographer and film-maker Pakay, best known for his work with James Baldwin. “The Watts Writers Workshop was begun in September 1965. Founding members were: Ernest Mayhand, Leumas Sirrah, James Thomas Jackson, Birdell Chew Moore, Sonora McKeller, Jimmy Sherman, Johnie Scott, Guadelupe de Saavedra, Harley Mims, Eric Priestley, Alvin Saxon Jr. (Ojenke), Ryan Vallejo Kennedy, and Blossom Powe. On August 16, 1966, the Workshop was the subject of an hour-long NBC TV documentary, The Angry Voices of Watts, that drew press attention and support from prominent figures across the country, such as James Baldwin, John Steinbeck, Richard Burton, Steve Allen, Abbey Lincoln, Ira Gershwin, and Senator Robert F. Kennedy. In 1967 two anthologies of writing from the group appeared, both edited by Schulberg: From the Ashes: Voices of Watts, and the fall issue of The Antioch Review entitled "The Watts Writers Workshop". In 1968, Watts Poets - A Book of New Poetry & Essays was published, edited by Quincy Troupe. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) awarded a grant of $25,000 awarded to enable the group to establish a meeting space for its writing programs as well as housing for some of the Workshop's members, and a year later gave a second grant of $25,000 in support of expanding the Workshop's programs… Harry Dolan, the director of the Watts Writers Workshop,  was attempting to keep it going after the loss of federal funding by holding a fundraising dinner in April 1973,? but within months the workshop building with its 350-seat theatre was burned down...“ (wikipedia).