between 1982 and 1992, she received two goodman city college awards and a macdowell fellowship. in 1983, she was recipient of a northstar grant and a new york caps poetry fellowship. in 1990, henderson-holmes received the william carlos williams award for her first collection of poems, titled "madness and a bit of hope". the collection, like much of henderson-holmes' work, focused on exploring "the political realities in the lives of women". she published her second book of poetry in 1994, called "daily bread."