Hello
A native New Yorker, Gloria Naylor’s first novel won an American Book Award in 1983.
A. A native New Yorker, Gloria Naylor’s first novel
B. A native New Yorker, the first novel by Gloria Naylor
C. The first novel by native New Yorker Gloria Naylor
D. Gloria Naylor, a native New Yorker, wrote her first novel thus having
E. Gloria Naylor wrote her first novel and the native New Yorker

The answer here is C but then I don’t understand how the novel would win an award?
Thank you

Novels win awards, just like movies and other works of art do. You can also say that the author won an award, but it’s not wrong to say that the work itself won the award.

What you can’t say, of course, is that the novel is a native New Yorker, which is why A and B are dangling modifiers.