An epic novel about the Haitian Revolution of 1791. A gothic tale about a piano prodigy who confronts death, madness and the supernatural in 1956 Georgia. The true account of four decorated heroes and their acts of bravery during World War II. A collection of poetry that captures the essence of a sister’s life and death.
Those are among the books recognized by the 2023 Georgia Author of the Year Awards (GAYA) presented on YouTube by the Georgia Writers Association (GWA) June 17. The awards recognized winning authors and finalists in 15 categories. Each winner was selected by the previous year’s winner in the same category.
Vanessa Riley won for Literary Fiction for her novel “Sister Mother Warrior,” which Leah Tyler, book critic for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, described as “an impeccably researched, powerfully reimagined tale of sacrifice and success, love and selfishness, and war and independence as experienced by the women behind the man who liberated Haiti from slavery.”
The award for First Novel went to Robert Gwaltney for “The Cicada Tree,” a coming-of-age story centered on 11-year-old Analiese, a gifted pianist who longs to live the privileged life of the Mayfields, a wealthy family that lives high on a hill overlooking her hometown of Providence, Georgia. Only there is a darkness brewing behind that refined facade.
“Gwaltney knows how to build suspense, with foreshadowing as dark as a plague of locusts,” wrote Candice Dyer for the AJC.
Alex Kershaw won the History category for “Against All Odds: A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” a New York Times bestseller about four veterans in the U.S. Army’s 3rd Division, who fought in the 1942 invasion of North Africa and received the Medal of Honor.
In the category of Poetry Full Length Book, Ed Pavlic won for “Call It in the Air,” which explores the life and death of his sister. Monica Lee Weatherly won for Poetry Chapbook for “It Felt Like Mississippi.”
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Additional winners are: “Odyssey: Young Charles Darwin, The Beagle, and the Voyage That Changed the World” by Tom Chaffin for Memoir/Biography; “Penny, The Engineering Tail of the Fourth Little Pi” by Kimberly Derting and Shelli R. Johannes, illustrated by Hannah Marks, for Children’s Book; “Eat Plants, B*tch” by Slutty Vegan owner Pinky Cole for Cookbook; “Anywhere You Run” by Wanda M. Morris for Detective/Mystery; “Sifting Artifacts” by Kathy A. Bradley for Essays; “The Self Delusion: The New Neuroscience of How We Invent — and Reinvent — Our Identities” by Gregory Berns for Inspirational; “Stealing Ares” by Kim Conrey for Romance; “Does My Body Offend You?” by Mayra Cuevas and Marie Marquardt for Young Adult; “Tower: Stories” by Andy Plattner for Short Story Collection; and “Bigger Than Bravery: Black Resilience and Reclamation in a Time of Pandemic,” an anthology edited by Valerie Boyd, for Specialty Book.
Boyd, who was the author of “Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston” and editor of “Gathering Blossoms Under Fire: The Journals of Alice Walker, 1965-2000,″ also received the Posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award.
Credit: THRASHERphoto
Credit: THRASHERphoto
This year marked the first GAYA for new executive director Garrard Conley, who is a big champion of self-published authors. Under his leadership, the program opened nominations to self-published authors for the first time since 2019.
“I’m very pleased to see two well-deserving self-published authors among the winners,” he said in a statement about the 2023 awards.
According to Conley, the Poetry Chapbook winner, Weatherly’s “It Felt Like Mississippi,” and Romance finalist “Racing to You” by Susan Carlisle were self-published.
“We believe that this important award should be open to any and all Georgia writers who produce great work, regardless of publication status. We can’t wait to see what next year will bring.”
For a full list of winners and finalists, go to authoroftheyear.org.
Suzanne Van Atten is a book critic and contributing editor to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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