Set in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia in 1918, Barbara Tucker’s novel “Lying In” (Colorful Crow Publishing, $25.99) tells the story of a disfigured loner who makes a meager living traveling from home to home caring for families whose mothers are recovering — or “lying in” — after childbirth.
Despite her circumstances, Telly Barlow aspires to be a trained nurse and to marry and have children and a home of her own one day.
Telly lives in a small, isolated town and knows little of the world outside her small community. So it comes as a shock when she encounters the Spanish flu, a pandemic that’s raging around the world, killing 50 million people. The virus has sickened Telly’s new charge, a pregnant woman whose husband is gone and whose four children are hungry and afraid.
Written in a spare, straightforward tone and filled with vivid depictions of Appalachian life, “Lying In” delivers a memorable character in Telly Barlow, a noble hero with an indomitable spirit. And it’s a finalist for the Townsend Prize, one of the highest accolades for literature in Georgia. The awards will take place at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center on April 16.
Named after the late Atlanta magazine editor Jim Townsend, the biennial literary prize established in 1982 is bestowed on Georgia-based authors or those who wrote their books while living in the state.
The Townsend Prize is something of an equalizer in the world of traditional publishing. Its 10 finalists tend to include well-known or established authors and lesser-known or emerging writers published by presses ranging from big to middling to micro.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Among the higher-profile finalists for this year’s prize are Kimberly Brock for her historical novel set on Cumberland Island, “The Fabled Earth”; Denene Millner for her tale of mothers, daughters and adoption, “One Blood”; Anissa Gray for her family saga that sprawls from Detroit to Alabama, “Life and Other Love Songs”; previous Townsend Prize winner Julia Franks for her look at reproductive rights, “The Say So”; and Gordon Johnston for his loosely connected short story collection, “Seven Islands of the Ocmulgee: River Stories.”
“Lying In” author Tucker, chair of the communications department at Dalton State College and author of 10 books, most of them self-published, falls in the under-the-radar or small press category.
So does finalist Ra’Niqua Lee, nominated for her slim volume of flash fiction, “For What Ails You” (ELJ Editions, $18). The inaugural winner of the Georgia Writers Association’s John Lewis Writing Grant for fiction and a National Endowment for the Arts fellow, Lee wields a powerful voice that paints an evocative picture of the Black femme experience in the South.
Also steeped in the Southern experience is finalist John Williams’ novel “End Times” (Sartoris Literary Group, $50), from a small press in Mississippi. His Southern gothic tale combines humor and pathos as it follows the exploits of twin orphans and a cast of quirky characters in small-town Georgia.
Credit: Sartoris Literary Group
Credit: Sartoris Literary Group
Finalist Chika Unigwe might not have been on my radar, but internationally, she’s a big deal. She won the Nigeria Prize for Literature in 2012, and in 2023, she was knighted by the Order of the Crown of the Kingdom of Belgium. An assistant professor of English at Georgia College, the Nigerian-born author’s novel “The Middle Daughter” (Dzanc Books, $26.95) is a retelling of the Greek myths of Persephone and Hades from the perspective of a Nigerian family.
Also a professor at Georgia College is finalist Peter Selgin, winner of the 2007 Flannery O’Connor Award for Fiction. His coming-of-age novel, “A Boy’s Guide to Outer Space” (Regal House Publishing, $19.95), follows the adventures of a boy dealing with grief who befriends the mysterious Blue Man, a curious character who roams their small Connecticut town at night collecting items to fill his rucksack.
Presented by the Atlanta Writers Club and the Georgia Writers Museum, the Townsend Prize is awarded every two years. More than 50 novels and short story collections were submitted for consideration this year. Finalists were selected by members of the Georgia literary community, and the winner will be chosen by a panel of literary fiction scholars from outside Georgia. Past winners include Alice Walker, Ha Jin, Judson Mitcham, Thomas Mullen, Mary Hood and Sanjena Sathian. For details go to atlantawritersclub.org
Suzanne Van Atten is a book critic and contributing editor to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She may be reached at Suzanne.VanAtten@ajc.com.
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