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.