2023 Georgia Author of the Year Awards nominees announced -

Georgia Writers, Georgia’s preeminent nonprofit writing organization, announces the 2023 Georgia Author of the Year Awards nominees.

Georgia Writers was established in 1994 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging and promoting writers throughout Georgia. With the goal of promoting diverse authors and stories, GW provides resources for writers in all stages of the writing process.

March 15 marked the announcement of the 59th Annual Georgia Author of the Year Awards nominees on our website. This year featured a record-breaking 148 nominations in 15 categories. The announcement of the winners and finalists will take place on Saturday, June 10, 2023.

Several of the nominees, such as Kim Conrey, Mayra Cuevas, Andy Plattner, and George Weinstein will be presenting at the Red Clay Writers Conference next month, April 15-16, 2023. Please see the full schedule for details.

Please find below a list of GAYA nominees in order by category:

Children’s Book

Abby the Crabby Tabby: Discovers Gratitude by Andrea Lane, Illustrated by Heather Bousquet
The Big Yawn by Robert Kenimer, Illustrated by Stacy Jordon
Drive-Thru Miracle by Dana Edwards
The Fairy Glen Adventure by Carol Bland Dolson, Illustrated by Elaine Hearn Rabon
Faith’s Freckles: A Book to Build Self-Esteem by Baylei Hinds-Perry & Shermaine Perry-Knights
Gentle with Gertie by Will Pollock, Illustrated by Aljon Inertia & Nora Inertia
Impossible Moon by Breanna J. McDaniel, Illustrated by Tonya Engel
Maizie’s Full Heart: an Adoption Story by Kate Seng, Illustrated by Cat Kahnle
Milton’s Ears by Erich Worster, Illustrated by Kristine Ramsey
Nigel and the Moon by Antwan Eady, Illustrated by Gracey Zhang
Penny, the Engineering Tail of the Fourth Pig by Kimberly Derting & Shelli R. Johannes, Illustrated by Hannah Marks
Thunder the Wonder Donkey by Antwan Eady, Illustrated by Gracey Zhang
Wombat Said Come In by Carmen Agra-Deedy, Illustrated by Brian Lies

Cookbook

Cook & Celebrate: A Collection of Southern Holiday & Party Culinary Traditions by Johnathon Scott Barrett
Eat Plants, B*tch: 91 Vegan Recipes That Will Blow Your Meat-Loving Mind by Pinky Cole
Fabulous Modern Cookies: Lessons in Better Baking for Next-Generation Treats by Paul Arguin & Chris Taylor
Our Fermented Lives: A History of How Fermented Foods Have Shaped Cultures & Communities by Julia Skinner

Detective/Mystery

Anywhere You Run: A Novel by Wanda M. Morris
Blackmail and White Lightnin’ by Paul Sinor
A Brush with Murder: A Watercolor Mystery by Gail Langer Karwoski
Cofer Woods by Frank Reddy
The Corporate Lies by Donald Reichardt
The Devil Himself: A Novel by Peter Farris
A Face to Die For by Iris Johansen
The House That Wasn’t There by Andrew Forrest Baker
Hush, Delilah by Angie Gallion
In Danger of Judgment: A Thriller by David Rabin
Killshot: A Rachel West Thriller by Lee Gimenez
Manhattan Mayhem by A. Shane Etter
Never Go Home: A Novel by Christopher Swann
Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Allen
Pets, Pens & Murder: A Cozy English Animal Mystery by Kathy Manos Penn
Sanctuary: A Thornton Mystery by C.L. Tolbert
Such a Pretty Smile: A Novel by Kristi DeMeester
The Unreliables: When The Only One You Trust Doesn’t Exist by Katherine Nichols

Essay

Better to See You With: Perspectives on Flannery O’Connor, Selected and New by Marshall Bruce Gentry
Everyday Leadership by Brian Unell
A Month of Sundays: The New Mexico Columns by Harry Musselwhite
Sifting Artifacts: Essays by Kathy A. Bradley

First Novel

The Cicada Tree by Robert Gwaltney
Dynasties by Anju Gattani
The Freedom Chronicles by John Yow
A Good Mourning by Brian DeLaney
Hands of Gold: One Man’s Quest to Find the Silver Lining in Misfortune by Roni Robbins
Lakewood by William Walsh
A Lineage of Deception: A Southern Novel by Maryann Hopper
The Maine Caper by John Frisbie
Mama Tried by Kathy Des Jardins
Rough Draft: An Alabaster Cash Novel by Alex McRae
Salou by Morenike McFaal
Sudden Death: A Novel by Carolyn Newton Curry
Summer Solstice by Lynn Weathington
Tell It True: A Novel by John Pruitt
Wingwalkers: A Novel by Taylor Brown

History

Against All Odds: A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II by Alex Kershaw
The Colombus Stocking Strangler by William Rawlings
Ghosts of Athens and Beyond: History and Haunting of North Georgia by Tracy L. Adkins
Legacy of Honor: The Patriarch by Larry Freeland
The Long Haul: Solving the Puzzle of the Pandemic’s Long Haulers and How They Are Changing Healthcare Forever by Ryan Prior
Oceans of Grain: How American Wheat Remade the World by Scott Reynolds Nelson
Proving Pregnancy: Gender, Law, and Medical Knowledge in Nineteenth-Century America by Felicity M. Turner
The Pursuit of the Atlanta Child Killer: Facts, Fibers, and Forensics by Joseph Drolet
The North of the South: The Natural World and the National Imaginary in the Literature of the Upper South by Barbara Ladd
A Road Running Southward: Following John Muir’s Journey through an Endangered Land by Dan Chapman
Shakespeare’s Sceptered Isle: Finding English National Identity in the Plays by Brian Carroll
The Three Death Sentences of Clarence Henderson: A Battle for Racial Justice at the Dawn of the Civil Rights Era by Chris Joyner
Twenty-Two Cents an Hour: Disability Rights and the Fight to End Subminimum Wages by Doug Crandell

Inspirational

Awakening Dignity: A Guide to Living a Life of Deep Fulfillment by Phakchok Rinpoche and Sophie Wu
Be Unexpected: Resetting Routines to Revolutionize the Future of Work by Marva Bailer
Bloom Where You Are by Deborah Malone
Daily Inspirations from the Unflappable Substitute by Susan May
Develop Skills to Effectively Manage Money: A Practical Guide to Financial Self-Development by Myke Marshall
Do the Best You Can’t! by Bud Stumbaugh
Hometown Victory: A Coach’s Story of Football, Fate, and Coming Home by Keanon Lowe with Justin Spizman
The Self Delusion: The New Neuroscience of How We Invent—and Reinvent—Our Identities by Gregory Berns
The Simple Guide to a Successful You: Navigating Your Career After Life Gets Messy by Sarah Lebel
Thank You Bodie!: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion In Spaces Beyond Workplaces by Tracey Fisher
You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design and Why That’s Good News by Kelly M. Kapic

Literary Fiction

The Best Version of Alice by Merrill J. Davies
The Editor: How the Brewster Gazette Became the World’s First Metaphysical Newspaper by Thomas A. Williams PhD
A Fair In August by Mandy L Cantrell
The Gospel of Rot by Gregory Ariail
The Hollow Kind: A Novel by Andy Davidson
The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare by Kimberly Brock
The Lottery Winner’s Greatest Ride: A Millionaire, A Young Reporter . . . And A Journey To Find What Matters Most by Skip Johnson
Obsidian Mirth by Thom Brucie
Return to Hardscrabble Road by George Weinstein
Sister Mother Warrior: A Novel by Vanessa Riley
Songs By Honeybird by Peter McDade
The Truth Keepers: A Novel by June Hall McCash
By Way of Moonlight by Elizabeth Musser
Wildwood Flower: A Novel by Anne Lovett

Memoir

Be Home by Dark: How I Earned my Dime Store MBA by Dale K. Phenicie
Bodies Out of Place: Theorizing Anti-blackness in U.S. Society by Barbara Harris Combs
Feathers at my Feet by Barbara Pearson
The Flight by Cammie Wolf Rice
Justice in the Age of Judgment: From Amanda Knox to Kyle Rittenhouse and the Battle for Due Process in the Digital Age by Anne Bremner JD and Doug Bremner MD
Making It Home: I Set Out to See the World and Made It All the Way to Cleveland by R. Mark Giuliano
Ocean of Stars and Dreams by Maday Martinez de Osaba
Odyssey: Young Charles Darwin, The Beagle, and The Voyage that Changed the World by Tom Chaffin
Operation Tailwind: Memoirs of a Secret Battle in a Secret War by Barry Pencek
Samuel Elbert and the Age of Revolution in Georgia, 1740-1788 by Clay Ouzts
Seeing Eye Girl: A Memoir of Madness, Resilience, and Hope by Beverly J. Armento

Poetry Full-Length Collection

All the Blood Involved in Love by Maya Marshall
Black Swim by Nicholas Goodly
Call it in the Air by Ed Pavlić
Climbing an Unnamed Mountain by Michael Walls
The Color of Truth by Laura Anella Johnson
Eden’s Last Horizon: Poems for the Earth by Philip Lee Williams
Face Cut Out for Locket by Jenn Blair
A Girl / Woman / Teacher / Poet by Candice Kelsey
The Lost Thing: Poems by Sarah Gordon
Magicicada & Other Marvels by Kathleen Brewin Lewis
Mother Medusa by Lucas Carpenter
Palabras que respiran / Words that Breathe by Cecilia Lee
Straw Hat Stanzas by Mark Bromberg
Thrash by Michael Diebert
unbridled by Shay Alexi
A Woman Somehow Dead by Amy Locklin
The Woman Who Lives Without Money by Rebecca Baggett

Poetry Chapbook

Amo e Canto by JC Reilly
It Felt Like Mississippi: Poems by Monica Lee Weatherly
Poem at the Edge of the World by Julia Caroline Knowlton
Some Kind Of Black by Amber Moss

Romance

The Case of the Missing Botticelli by Marilyn Baron
Eloping with the Laird by Jeanine Englert
Fire Magic & Ice Cream by Lauren Connolly
Hyde and Zeke: Cutie and the Beast by Josh Langston
Racing to You by Susan May
Stealing Ares by Kim Conrey

Short Story Collection

Haints on Black Mountain: A Haunted Short Story Collection by Ann Hite
Shadows in the South by Caroline Smith
Tower: Stories by Andy Plattner
We’ll Talk Some More: A Collection Of Southern Short Stories by Ed Nichols
The Westering Trail Travesties: Five little-known tales of the Old West that probably ought to a’ stayed that way by Mark Warren

Specialty Book

Bigger Than Bravery: Black Resilience and Reclamation in a Time of Pandemic Edited by Valerie Boyd
Coach: The Greatest Teachers in Sports and Their Lessons for Us All by Justin Spizman
The Conversation Turns to Wide-Mouth Jars by Beth Gylys, Cathy Carlisi, and Jennifer Wheelock
The Encyclopedia of Self-Publishing by Thomas Williams
Following the Tabby Trail: Where Coastal History Is Captured in Unique Oyster-Shell Structures by Jingle Davis, photographer Benjamin Galland
Frankie Welch’s Americana: Fashion, Scarves, and Politics by Ashley Callahan
Ghostland America Stories and Photographs by James Calemine
Perfume (Object Lessons) by Megan Volpert

Young Adult

Black Dove by Crystal Wilkins
Does My Body Offend You? by Mayra Cuevas and Marie Marquardt
Omar Rising by Aisha Saeed
The Summer We Forgot by Caroline George
A Tale Twice Told by Mark Warren

For more information, visit the Georgia Author of the Year Awards website, or connect with Georgia Writers on social media:
Website: https://www.georgiawriters.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gawriters
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/georgiawriters/

Georgia Writers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is dedicated to encouraging and promoting writers throughout Georgia.