47 Georgia Author of the Year Awards

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THE MAGAZINE ABOUT HOME AND COOKING THE GEORGIA AUTHOR OF THE YEAR AWARDS

47thGAYA magazine SEPTEMBER 2008 I $4.99 I

June 11, 2011

Kennesaw State University

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BRANDNEW RECIPIES

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WAYS YOU NEVER HAD BREAKFAST HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR COFFEE

THE FOOD ISSUE

Georgia’s Author Kay Georgia’sTerry Author: Terry Kay

Our Host Jessica Handler

by Rosalee Lewis

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photo copyright Beth Lilly

G

eorgia’s own Jessica Handler began writand the second is a novel based on true events that took ing when she began keeping journals—at place in North Georgia at the end of the 19th century.

8 years of age. Since then, she has worked as a She will be finishing the novel this summer while freelance magazine in residency at the journalist and as a Josef and Anni Albers magazine editor, but “I daydream about my sisters all the time. One Foundation, in Bethnow she holds the whispers in my ear as I write; another suggests any, Connecticut. She title of acclaimed teaches workshops an afternoon snack.” nonfiction writer. locally in creative Her first book, writing, memoir and -Jessica Handler, prologue to Invisible Sisters Invisible Sisters: A feature journalism.

Memoir (Public AfShe is on the faculty fairs, 2009) tells the story of how she lost her at the Art Institute of Atlanta where she teaches screenyoungest sister to a rare blood disorder that writing, media history and other courses. affects one in two million people, and her other She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens younger sister was diagnosed with leukemia University of Charlotte (N.C.) and a B.S. in Commuwhen Handler was 6 years old. As she began to nication from Emerson College in Boston. introduce herself to people as “the well sibling,” Handler said on her website that she is glad to be Handler was forced to face the notion that one the host of this year’s GAYA. day she might be the only sister left. “Invisible “The list of nominees is inspiring, and there will Sisters” portrays the toll that the two daughters’ be so many books I want to buy and authors I want illnesses took on her and her parents. to congratulate!”

Invisible Sisters has been named by the Georgia Center for the Book as one of the “Twenty-Five Books All Georgians Should Read,” and is one of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Eight Great Southern Books in 2009.” Atlanta Magazine called it the “Best Memoir of 2009.”

Her nonfiction has appeared on NPR (WABE FM), in Tin House, Brevity.com, Newsweek, The Washington Post, More Magazine, Southern Arts Journal, and Ars Medica. She received the 2009 Peter Taylor Nonfiction Fellowship for the Kenyon Review Writers’ Workshop and a special mention for a 2008 Pushcart Prize.

Between writing in her journal as a child and signing copies of her books now, Handler spent her first career as a production manager for television programs in NY, LA, Boston, and here at home, in Atlanta.

“I loved being a key part of ‘behind the scenes’ management of major television productions,” Handler said. “But after 20 some years, I wanted to be more creative, and at about the time that became really important to me, an opportunity to write made itself known. I ran with it!”

Handler is working on two new books now: the first is a craft guide to writing about loss,

To read more about Jessica Handler, visit www.jessicahandler.com.

More about Jessica Handler: • You can follow her on Twitter: @jessicahandler • Jessica is one of the nine Atlanta women singled out in the Vanity Fair spread entitled “Belles, Books, and Candor.”

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On her website profile, she lists “all of them” as her favorite books.

• Up until this year’s GAYA, she had never met Terry Kay.

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content

The 47th Annual Georgia Author of the Year Awards

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features

nominees

contributors

OUR EMCEE P.2

FIRST NOVEL P.12 FICTION P. 13 POETRY P. 18

Margaret Walters Executive Director, GWA

Learn more about this evening’s host, Jessica Handler.

SERVICE AWARD P.5 The first Georgia Writers Association Service Award will be presented to Dr. Ralph Wilson.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT P.6 Find out why Terry Kay is more interested in children than all the awards he has won.

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CREATIVE NONFICTION BIOGRAPHY P. 20 ESSAY P. 21 HISTORY P. 22 INSPIRATIONAL P. 24 MEMOIR P. 26 SPECIALTY BOOKS P. 28 CHILDREN P. 30 PICTURE BOOK MID-READER YOUNG ADULT BOOKS P. 31

Lisa M. Russell Administrator, GWA Rosalee Lewis Intern, Program Layout/Article Jack Mathis Intern, Editing Taylor Jones Intern, Editing J JoAnn LoVerde-Dropp,Board GWA/Feature Article

Service Award Winner Dr. Ralph Tejeda Wilson

By Lisa M. Russell

O

ur relief was tangible and mutual on that warm summer night in the parking lot of the KSU Center after the 42nd Georgia Author of the Year Awards. We did it! We planned it and pulled it off. We may have not done it perfectly, but we put our whole heart into it.

An academic is expected to provide service to the University and the community – especially for tenure. Dr. Wilson had tenure but gave hours to Georgia Writers Association. While other professors were scarce during academic breaks and on weekends, Dr. Wilson was on campus working for Georgia Writers Association events like monthly workshops, the Red Clay Writers Conference and Georgia Author of the Year Awards.

Dr. Wilson, with the Georgia Council of the Arts and the Margaret Mitchell House, established grant monies for authors to visit underserved counties. The Literary Event Grants of Georgia (LEGG) has given thousands of dollars to many authors to visit many counties across Georgia.

The program was recognized on the State level for reaching out to counties beyond metro Atlanta.

After the 2009 GAYA, Dr. Wilson left his position as Executive Director of the Georgia Author of the Year Awards. He left the organization with a growing membership. Dr. Wilson nurtured a healthy grant program giving monies to authors.

His leadership left Georgia Writers Association larger in scope and visibility than when he took over in 2006.

www.GeorgiaWriters.org

Dr. Wilson left GWA to spend more time with his first loves, his wife Jessica and new baby Sadie, his teaching, and his writing.

Dr. Wilson won the Georgia Author the Year Award for Poetry in 2002 for his book of poetry, A Black Bridge. He is working on several creative projects for publication.

It seems fitting that the first annual Georgia Writers Association Service Award would go to Dr. Ralph Tejeda Wilson. Thank you.

Lisa M. Russell has been the Admin for GWA since 2006. She is working on a Masters of Arts in Professional Writing. She is also a freelance wrtier, graphic designer and book marketer and helps author in the publishing process.

Lifetime Achievement

H

e smiled and waved off his literary accomplishments because Terry Kay has something else on his mind: Georgia’s literary sons and daughters.

Terry Kay

By JoAnn LoVerde-Dropp

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n April 2, 2011 I had the privilege of interviewing author Terry Kay, winner of this year’s GAYA Lifetime Achievement Award, before his reception and book signing at FoxTale’s Book Shoppe in Woodstock, Georgia. I had already read Bogmeadow’s Wish and was eager for him to sign yet another book for me that evening. When I acknowledged Mr. Kay’s already long list of awards, including three Georgia Author of the Year Awards, and two honorary PhD’s; he merely smiled and gave a modest wave of his hand, because Terry Kay has something else on his mind: Georgia’s literary sons and daughters.

“I’m greatly honored to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award and I’m certainly happy that GWA and other organizations are offering individual recognition to writers,” said Kay, “but we are far, far behind our surrounding states in acknowledging our literary heritage or even celebrating the work being done today. I wish we had more cooperation from media, from libraries, from schools, and, frankly, from the

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Progress is being made, and that’s worth a very loud hoorah.

writers…however, progress is being made, and that’s worth a very loud hoorah.”

The progress that Mr. Kay is referring to is the establishment of the Georgia Writers’ Hall of Fame and the introduction of ELA8R4 (The student acquires knowledge of Georgia authors and significant text created by them) into the 8th grade performance standards in Language Arts and Reading. Although Mr. Kay was involved in the inception of both programs, he was eager only to champion their actualization through the members of the Hargrett Library at UGA in 2000 and the Georgia Council of the Teachers of English in 2006.

Of the Georgia Hall of Fame he notes, “… having a Hall should inspire young writers to write well enough to be considered a candidate for induction. Personally, it’s a grand honor.”

“The 8th grade program is perhaps even more significant in its impact on the literary standards of the state,” Kay continued.

“It forces school systems to acknowledge the past and present influence of Georgia writers and Georgia literature. Previously, I do not believe there was any program in any school system that celebrated our contributions. However, in our surrounding states — the Carolinas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, etc. -- state-related writers have long been treated with high regard by schools, libraries, and media.”

The more I talked to Terry Kay the more I understood that his efforts aren’t only geared toward honoring Georgia’s writers, but also toward instilling a sense of pride in young Georgians and providing examples of great success right in their own back yards.

After our interview I decided to find out for myself who Georgia’s literary sons and daughters are and was surprised to discover that some of my favorite authors such as Coleman Barks, James Dickey, Alice Walker, Carson McCullers, Flannery O’Connor and, of course, Terry Kay are all a part of Georgia’s rich literary lineage!

Being from New York, I gave myself a little break, but now it’s your turn, Georgia.

There are no real endings on this earth, only discoveries.

-To Dance with the White Dog Terry Kay is the author of 13 books including: The Year the Lights Came On (1976) After Eli (1981) Dark Thirty (1984) To Dance with the White Dog (1990) Shadow Song (1994) The Runaway (1997) The Kidnapping of Aaron Greene (1999) Taking Lottie Home (2000) The Valley of Light (2003) The Book of Marie (2007) He is also the recipient of countless honors and awards, including the Georgia Writer Hall of Fame and the 2011 GAYA Lifetime Achievement Award.

JoAnn LoVerde-Dropp is the Poetry Workshop Facilitator for the Georgia Writers’ Association and an instructor at the Cobb County Adult Education Center in Marietta, Georgia. She holds a B.S. in English from the State University at Brockport in New York and an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University.

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CONGRATULATIONS Kennesaw State University Press Author

Neil Wilkinson Nominated for

Georgia Author of the Year Category of Creative Nonfiction Biography

Neil’s book is available at www.kennesaw.edu/ksupress

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Georgia Author of the Year Awareds

Our Judges

RAY ATKINS First Novel Raymond Atkins resides in north Georgia with his wife. His short stories have been published in Christmas Stories from Georgia, The Lavender Mountain Anthology, and numerous other publications. His first novel, The Front Porch Prophet, was published in 2008, and he was awarded the Georgia Author of the Year Award for First Novel as well as an Independent Book Publishers Awards Gold Medal. His second novel, Sorrow Wood, was published in 2009.

His third novel, Camp Redemption, is scheduled for release in 2011.

BRIAN CORRIGAN Fiction Brian Jay Corrigan is a novelist whose work has appeared in numerous languages. He is a professor of Renaissance literature at North Georgia College and State University, where he has been the SGA Professor of the Year for four years in a row and was named Georgia Professor of the Year by the Board of Regents. He is the writer or ghost writer of seven books and has won many writing awards including the GAYA (debut fiction) in 2005.

RALPH WILSON Poetry Ralph Tejeda Wilson is a Professor of English at Kennesaw State University and a member of the graduate faculty of the Master of Arts in Professional Writing program. He was awarded the Georgia Author of the Year Award for Poetry 2002 for his first book, A Black Bridge. He has published work in such journals as The New England Review, The Georgia Review, and many others. His second book of poetry is currently under consideration at several presses.

JAMES MCGRATH MORRIS Biography James McGrath Morris is the author of “Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print, and Power” and “The Rose Man of Sing Sing”, which was selected as a Washington Post Best Book of the Year for 2004. He is the editor of the monthly Biographer’s Craft and his writing has appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Observer, and other publications. He is the Executive of Biographers International.

TODD HARPER Essay M. Todd Harper, PhD, is an Associate Professor of English at Kennesaw State University. He teaches graduate and undergraduate writing courses, including the “History of the Essay” for the MAPW program. His interests include rhetoric and composition, food and travel writing, Greek and Italian literature and culture, and study abroad.

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PATRICIA CARDONA Inspirational Patricia B. Cardona has been teaching composition, research and literature courses at Kennesaw State University for the last ten years. She is noted for her backstage interviews at Atlanta Magazine sponsored events and a variety of fundraising events throughout the Atlanta area. She has contributed to the Philadelphia Inquirer, NewsWeek, Successful Woman and other publications. Her most recent publications involved Cobb County Schools. Patricia enjoys using her writing skills to inspire others and aid nonprofit organizations.

REBECCA COOK Memoir Rebecca Cook teaches creative writing and literature at the University of Tennesee Chattanooga. She has published chapbook of poems, The Terrible Baby. She was a Margaret Bridgman Scholar in Fiction at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. She has published poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction in journals such as Northwest Review, New England Review, and numerous others. She lives in Chattanooga, TN, but grew up on a farm in Northwest Georgia. She is currently working on a collection of linked short stories.

Our Judges

FRED ROACH History Dr. Fred Roach taught History at Kennesaw State University since 1968 and retired in 2006. He has had articles published in The Georgia Historical Quarterly, The Chronicles of Oklahoma, and numerous other publications. He has been an editor for The Proceedings and Papers of the Atlanta Historical Society and Atlanta History: A Journal of Georgia and the South. He has also published book reviews in The Journal of Southern History, The North Carolina Historical Review, and many other publications.

KEVIN CANTWELL Creative Nonfiction Specialty Book Kevin Cantwell has been published in Poetry, Commonweal, Metre, and many other publications. A former editor of Quarterly West, he teaches at Macon State College where he edits a chapbook series for Georgia poets.

He has been awarded an Academy of American Poets Prize, a River City Poetry Prize, and the Agnes Scott Poetry Award. He has authored Something Black in the Green Part of Your Eye, and One of Those Russian Novels.

KATHERINE MASON Children’s Picture Book, Mid- Reader, Young Adult Katherine Mason is an assistant professor and program chair for English Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Wichita State University. She joined the WSU faculty in 2010, after teaching for four years at Kennesaw State University. Her primary research interest is young adult literature with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning content, and she serves as co-editor of SIGNAL Journal.

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First Novel

J.P. CUNNINGHAM Sumerset J.P. Cunningham is originally from a small town in Northeastern Arkansas, where his father’s family had lived since 1873. He has worked for years in the field of international sales, traveling widely throughout Latin America. Currently, he lives in Georgia where he works writing fiction.

JOHN W. HURST Proving Ground JOHN W. HURST resides in Atlanta, Ga., with his wife, Heather, and dog, Madeline.

A native of Atlanta, Hurst is a graduate of Auburn University and Emory University School of Law. He is a practicing attorney. Proving Ground is his first novel.

R. ANTHONY MAHAN But Whether Men Do R. Anthony Mahan was born in Richmond, Virginia, and lived in Virginia and Florida before coming to Georgia. He graduated from Alpharetta High School in 2009 and currently attends Georgia Perimeter College, where he’s majoring in Library and Information Science. His goals are to eventually become a renowned novelist and to make a living as a writer, although Ryan says he is “preparing to become a librarian for a more realistic choice.” He has always been fascinated by science in general, which is why he selected science fiction as his genre of choice.

JUNE HALL McCASH Almost to Eden June Hall McCash is the author, co-author, or editor of seven books and numerous articles. She is the recipient of eight literary awards for fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. She has spoken to many historical, museum, library, book club, and university groups throughout the country and abroad. She has appeared in three film documentaries and on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Her non-fiction books have focused on the history of Jekyll Island, Georgia, and medieval literature. She is currently working on a second book of historical fiction entitled Plum Orchard and set in coastal Georgia.

NILES REDDICK Lead Me Home Hailed by Mid West Review as both an “intriguing and entertaining” novel, Lead Me Home is Niles Reddick’s first. His is also author of a collection titled Road Kill Art and Other Oddities, which was a finalist for an EPPIE award. Reddick has published in journals such as “The Arkansas Review: a Journal of Delta Studies,” “The Paumanok Review,” “Southern Reader,” among others. His work has also been anthologized in Unusual Circumstances and Southern Voices in Every Direction. Currently, Reddick is Vice President of Academic Affairs at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia.

JEFFREY STEPAKOFF Fireworks Over Toccoa Jeffrey Stepakoff has written for more than a dozen different television series including the Emmy-winning THE WONDER YEARS, SISTERS, and DAWSON’S CREEK for which he was Co-Executive Producer. He’s also developed and written major motion pictures. He holds a BA in Journalism from UNCChapel Hill and an MFA in Playwriting from Carnegie Mellon. FIREWORKS OVER TOCCOA is his debut novel.

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SHANA JOHNSON BURTON FLaws and All SHANA J. BURTON is a high school teacher at Northeast High School in Macon, Ga. She has appeared at the Decatur Book Festival, Charlotte Literary Festival, Georgia Literary Festival and hosted the 2010 Perry Public Library Literary Trunk Show in Perry, Ga.

Fiction

DANIEL BLACK Perfect Peace DANIEL BLACK is a native of Kansas City, Kansas. He was granted a full scholarship to Clark College in Atlanta, Georgia, and majored in English.

Now, as a tenured, associate professor, he now aims to provide an example to young African Americans of the importance of self-knowledge and communal commitment.

DAC CROSSLEY Escape from the Alamo A retired ecologist (University of Georgia), he began writing western fiction based on his father’s stories of bandits and Texas Rangers. Growing up in South Texas, he roamed the brush country where his grandfather fought bandits and his father fought Indians. His settings and characters are drawn from his experience.

JANICE DAUGHARTY The Little Known Joyce Carol Oates calls Janice Daugharty “a born storyteller.” She is author of eight novels, the most recent being The Little Known, and two collections of short stories. Many of her stories have appeared in literary journals around the nation including “Oxford American” and “Writer’s Digest,” and her stories have been anthologized in works including New Stories from the South and The Year’s Best. Daugharty has also been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered. Pulitzer nominee Janice Daugharty is Writer in Residence at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia.

EMILY GIFFIN Heart of the Matter EMILY GIFFIN is the New York Times bestselling author of Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Baby Proof and Love The One You’re With. She lives in Atlanta with her husband and three young children. Ms. Giffin has been featured in Elle Magazine, The New York Times, and Glamour. Her books have been widely reviewed in newspapers and magazines coast-tocoast.

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Fiction

GERALD GILLIS Shall Never See so Much Gerald Gillis received a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia, and a Master’s degree from the University of Tampa. Gerald’s first novel, Bent, But Not Broken, was published in 1985. After its publication Gerald decided to postpone a career change from successful business manager to fledging novelist when his family raised such concerns as college educations, mortgage payments, and nightly dinners. Gerald is now a full-time novelist.

JOSHILYN JACKSON Backseat Saints Joshilyn Jackson is a New York Times Bestselling novelist who lives in Georgia with her husband, their two children, and way too many animals.

Jackson won the Georgia Author of the Year for her second novel, Between, Georgia. Her latest, Backseat Saints, was a New York Times bestseller.

SUSAN MUCHA Die Before Your Time Susan Polonus Mucha and her husband, Edgardo, of 44 years live in Augusta, Ga. and Kiawah Island, S.C., with their two rescued dogs. She is the mother of four and fun grandmother of one. Susan is a former emergency room nurse and holds a master’s degree in writing popular fiction from Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. She currently teaches English composition at Augusta State University and is working on her third novel.

BARRY REESE Rabbit Heart Barry Reese is known primarily for his pulp adventure novels and short stories but has also done work for Marvel Comics and West End Games.

A Library Director in Georgia, Reese is married to artist Cari Reese and together they have one son. Since 2006, Reese has primarily written in the pulp adventure genre. His bestselling series featuring The Rook has seen four volumes released so far with a fifth scheduled for 2010. Veteran author Ron Fortier has declared that The Rook is one of the best new pulp series currently being published.

JOSH RUSSELL My Bright Midnight Josh Russell’s novels are Yellow Jack (W.W. Norton, 1999), A True History of the Captivation, Transport to Strange Lands, & Deliverance of Hannah Guttentag (Dzanc Books, 2012). He is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship in Prose, and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Shane Stevens Fellowship in the Novel. He is Associate Professor of English and Co-Director of the Creative Writing Program at Georgia State University.

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MORRIS SMITH Above Ground Cemetery Stories Morris Smith lives in Valdosta, Georgia. She studied at Valdosta State University and Tulane University and has worked as both a teacher and a social worker. Smith has had two other story collections published: Spencer Road in 1997 by the University of Tennessee Press and Zambian Text in 2005 by Mercer University Press.

Fiction

JOSEPH SKIBELL A Curable Romantic Joseph Skibell is the author of A Blessing on the Moon, which received the Rosenthal Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Turner Prize for First Fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters. He teaches at Emory University.

PATRICIA SPRINKLE Hold Up the Sky Patricia Sprinkle was born in West Virginia. Since 1988 she has written twenty mysteries, four novels, and five non-fiction books. She has been married to her husband Bob for 40 years, who remains her entourage and faithful patron of the arts.

MELANIE SUMNER The Ghost of Milagro Creek Melanie Sumner is the author of The School of Beauty and Charm, a novel, and Polite Society, stories. Her stories have appeared in The New Yorker and Harper’s. She earned her MFA from Boston University and was the recipient of a Whiting award in fiction in 1995. She currently lives in Rome, Georgia, and teaches creative writing at Kennesaw State University.

JULIUS THOMPSON Ghost of Atlanta Julius Thompson grew up in Brooklyn. The sixties in Brooklyn was an era that had a personality, a feel, and a life-force that changed a generation. Mr. Thompson felt this energy and experienced these fires of social change. Mr. Thompson earned a degree from the City College of New York. Mr. Thompson’s journey to compose a trilogy began in 1995. The journey of character Andy Michael Pilgrim from Brooklyn, to Philadelphia and Atlanta is complete. The trilogy: A Brownstone in Brooklyn, Philly Style and Philly Profile and Ghost of Atlanta.

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Fiction

KAREN WHITE On Folly Beach Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Karen White writes what she refers to as ‘grit lit’—southern women’s fiction—as well as a mystery series set in Charleston, South Carolina. Her fifteenth novel, The Beach Trees, will be published in May, 2011 and she is currently contracted with Penguin Publishing Group for three more books.Raised all over the world, including seven years in London, England, Karen is a graduate of Tulane University and currently lives in Alpharetta, Georgia with her husband, two children, and spoiled Havanese dog, Quincy.

EMILY BLAKE VAIL The Spindleburne Spectre Emily Blake Vail lives in Morrow, Georgia, where she enjoys daily activities like reading, cooking, singing in her church choir, and volunteering at the Morrow Tourist Center where her books are displayed. Those published books now include The Ghost Shrimp, The Burlap Bag: Murder Indeed—first in the Deena Taylor mystery series, Dark Night on Mimosa Trail, Carla and the Con Man, The Grey Ghost of the Pharaoh, The Lost Equation Game, Sue and Charlie (a picture book), Mist in the Heart (for Young Adults).

The New Georgia Author of the Year Award This year the Georgia Author of the Year Award winner will recieve a handmade pen made from cocobolo wood. Dr. Joseph Ringwalt, Pastor of Rowland Springs Baptist Church in Cartersville, Georgia hand crafts these quality pens for the graduates in his congregation.

This year, this wood artist designed these pens for the 47th annual Georgia Author of the Year Award winners According to the woodbox.com, this beautiful tropical hardwood tree Dalbergia retusa comes from Central America. “Only the heartwood is used: this is typically orange or reddish-brown in color, often with a figuring of darker irregular traces weaving through the wood.” It has a durable and fruity fragrance with unusual swirl marks. The natural oils made this sturdy wood to have a glass-like texture.

The pen is encased in a matching box with the Georgia Author of the Year Awards Logo. The Winner’s name, book and genre are engraved on the inside cover of the case.

In addition to a new award, this year the Board of Directors has decided to award a “finalist” designation to the judge’s second choice of books in each genre. The GAYA finalist will receive a roll of the newly designed bronze finalist labels.

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Poetry

LISA CANDELARIA BARTLETT You Could Have Been an Orchard Lisa Bartlett is an award-winning writer originally born in California. She is a full-time law enforcement dispatcher in her transplanted home state of Georgia, and a retired singer and former management associate of a large well-known retailer. She lives at home with her husband Forrest and their son, Adam. .

THOM BRUCIE Moments Around the Campfire with Vietnam Vet Thom Brucie earned his M.A. in English at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, and his Ph.D. at Binghamton University. He teaches American Literature and Creative Writing at Brewton-Parker College. He and his wife Carol have six children.

DAVID FILLINGHAM Georgia Cowboy Poets DAVID FILLINGIM serves as associate professor of Philosophy at Shorter University in Rome, Georgia. A native Georgian, he was born and raised in Savannah, the son of a family physician. Fillingim received his Ph.D. in Christian Ethics at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

ELEANOR WOLFE HOOMES Eye of the Beholder Dr. Eleanor Wolfe Hoomes has written eighteen educational books, published by Educational Impressions. She was an antiques and travel writer for several years.

EYE OF THE BEHOLDER is her second volume of poetry.

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ANYA K. SILVER The Ninety-Third Name of God Anya Silver is an associate professor of English at Mercer University. Her first book of poetry, The Ninety-Third Name of God, was published by the Louisiana State University Press. She has published poetry in numerous literary magazines, including Image, Prairie Schooner, New Ohio Review, Witness, and The Christian Century. She lives with her husband and son in downtown Macon.

Poetry

MEKAEL SHANE Simeon Soul Poems by Mekael Mekael began writing and collecting his poetry in 1996 and has written five collections of poetry. Mekael’s work expresses his views on race, love, justice, spirituality, war and the human condition. Currently, Mekael is working on his memoir which will culminate with him standing at the top of Mt. Everest.

PHILIP LEE WILLIAMS The Flower Seeker Philip Lee Williams is the author of fifteen published works, including novels, essays and poetry. He is the winner of numerous literary awards, including the national Michael Shaara Prize for his 2004 novel, A Distant Flame. Williams was named a member of the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame in 2010. His books published from Mercer University Press are Flower Seeker: An Epic Poem of William Bartram, In the Morning: Reflections from First Light (essays), The Campfire Boys (novel), and a collection of poetry, Elegies for the Water. Williams has been published by such presses as W. W. Norton, Random House, Grove Press, Ballantine, Dell, Viking/Penguin, and University of Georgia Press. Williams has written about the natural world most of his career and taught nature writing at the University of Georgia, from which he retired in March 2010.

Join Georgia Writers Association get our next workshop free: How Low Profile and Debut Authors Can Sell More Books J. Steve Miller Saturday, August 13, 2011 J. Steve Miller author of the new book: Sell Your Book!

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Creative NonFiction Biography

NEIL WILKINSON Running on Full Neil Wilkinson is a practicing attorney and holds a Master’s Degree in Professional Writing from Kennesaw State University (KSU) in Kennesaw, Georgia, and Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Georgia School of Law. Neil is also an adjunct professor of Intellectual Property Law in the MBA program at the KSU Michael Coles School of Business. He has published articles in legal and general interest publications, as well as poetry and short fiction in regional publications.

LARRY L. McSWAIN Loving Beyond Your Theology: The Life and Ministry of Jimmy Raymond Allen Larry McSwain is Associate Dean, Doctor of Ministry Degree Program, Professor of Leadership, and Watkins Christian Foundation Chair of Ministry at McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University in Atlanta, Georgia. He works as a long-time educator serving as teacher, administrator, researcher in congregational life, and consultant to local congregations.

Many Thanks:

Grady Thrasher and Co.

Dean Richard Vengroff

Wally Eberhardt and the Athen’s crew

College of Humanities & Social Sciences

Joann Dropp

Dr. William Rice, English Chair

Sue King, KSU Center

Our Judges

Becca Gill, KSU Bookstore

Mercer University Press

Ashley, Rhonda, Taylor, Terri, and Jonathan - English Dept Staff

Peachtree Publishing Harper Collins Jack Mathis, GWA Intern Taylor Jones, GWA Intern Rosalee Lewis, Graphics/Contributor Kathleen Lewis, Volunteer Ella Landrum, Volunteer GWA Board of Directors

20 Georgia Author of the Year Awards June 11, 2011

John, Mike, Sam Russell TC Pics Endive Catering Promoentertainment Dr. Joe Ringwalt - the craftsman who made the GAYA pen awards by hand for tonight’s winners.

Creative Book Printing Gail Henry, Pianist

DAVID P. GUSHEE Religious Faith, Torture, and Our National Soul David P. Gushee ----serves as Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University. Gushee has written or co-written, edited or co-edited twelve books, and has published many hundreds of scholarly and popular articles, book chapters, and reviews in the most important publishers of his field.

PETER AUGUSTINE LAWLER Modern and American Dignity: Who We Are as Person, and What that Means for our Future Peter Augustine Lawler is Dana Professor of Government at Berry College. He served on President Bush’s Council on Bioethics and is editor of the acclaimed scholarly quarterly Perspectives on Political Science. He’s author or editor of 15 books, including Modern and American Dignity.

He’s also published over 200 articles and chapters and lectured at over 80 colleges and universities.

DANA WILDSMITH Back to Abnormal: Surviving with an Old Farm in the New South Dana Wildsmith is the author of this collection of essays and four collections of poetry including, One Good Hand which was a SIBA Poetry Book of the Year nominee.

Creative NonFiction Essay

DORINDA DALLMEYER Bartram’s Living Legacy: The Travels and the Nature of the South Dorinda Dallmeyer is director of the Environmental Ethics Certificate Program at the University of Georgia. She has earned three degrees from UGA. In 2005 the Southern Environmental Law Center presented her with two Phillip Reed Memorial Awards for Outstanding Writing about the Southern Environment.

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Creative NonFiction History

TONI P. ANDERSON Tell Them We are Singing for Jesus: The Original Fisk Jubilee Singers and Christian Reconstruction, 1871-1878 Toni P. Anderson is chair and professor of Vocal Studies at LaGrange College. A mezzo-soprano, she has performed in concerts, operatic productions and solo recitals in the U.S. and abroad, and is the governor of the Southeastern Region of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

BARRY L. BROWN Crossroads of Conflict: A Guide to Civil War Sites in Georgia Barry L. Brown is the Heritage Tourism Specialist for the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

GORDON R. ELWELL Crossroads of Conflict: A Guide to Civil War Sites in Georgia Gordon R. Elwell is a former program coordinator and administrator for the Georgia Civil War Commission, retired command historian for the Georgia Army National Guard, and is currently historian for the Georgia State Defense Force.

JOHN D. FAIR The Tifts of Georgia: Connecticut Yankees in King Cotton’s Court John D. Fair earned his B.A. at Juniata Collage, his M.A. at Wake Forest University and his Ph.D. at Duke University. He has taught in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maine and Alabama. He is currently a professor of History and graduate school coordinator at Georgia College and State University.

SUSAN HERBST Rude Democracy: Civility and Incivility in American Politics Susan Herbst is President-Elect of the University of Connecticut. From 2007 to present, she has served as Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer for the University System of Georgia, and Professor of Public Policy at Georgia Tech. Her research focuses on public opinion, mass media, and the nature of the policy-making process in the United States. She is author of many books and articles, including the awardwinning Numbered Voices: How Opinion Polls Have Shaped American Politics, and she has held faculty posts at Northwestern University, Temple University and the University at Albany (SUNY).

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MELVIN KONNER The Evolution of Childhood: Relationships, Emotion, Mind Melvin Konner attended Brooklyn College, CUNY (‘66) and received his Ph.D. (‘73) and M.D. (‘85) at Harvard. He taught at Harvard from 1975-80 and has taught at Emory since 1983. He has testified twice at the United States Senate Committee hearings on health care reform and on the care of the dying.

MARGARET KEILEY-LISTERMANN Sinn Feinn Women: Footnoted Foot Soldiers and Women of No Importance Meg Keiley-Listermann is an Assistant Professor at Georgia Gwinnett College, where she created the new political science program. She is a native, generational Atlantan and the mother of four children. She also serves on the board of directors for the Georgia Political Science Association.

PAMELA BAUER MUELLER Splendid Isolation: The Jekyll Island Millionaires’ Club 1888-1942 Pamela Bauer Mueller is an award-winning author of books for children and adults who makes her home on Jekyll Island on the Southeast Georgia coast. Over the last decade, she has written and published eight books of fiction and won three Georgia Author of the Year Awards. She won Georgia Author of the Year Awards in 2006, 2008 and 2009. She also is the recipient of three “Mom’s Choice Awards” and is a silver medal winner of the Independent Publisher Book Awards.

CHARLES A. MISULIA Columbus, Georgia, 1865 Charles A. Misulia is a Florida attorney and the president of Veteran Arms, LLC, a Georgia-based company that specializes in reproductions of historical firearms.

ZACK WATERS A Small but Spartan Band Zack C. Waters, a fifth generation Floridian, was born in Ocala in 1946.

He received a B.A. (English) from the University of Florida and a Juris Doctor (Law) from Memphis State University. Waters is a retired public school educator and is an adjunct professor at Georgia Highlands College.

He has written Blood Moon Rider, a young adult novel about growing up in Florida cattle country during the opening weeks of World War II, and numerous articles on Civil War history. Waters and his wife have two children – Luke (26) and Lauren Rose (22).

Creative NonFiction History

RICK HUTTO A Peculiar Tribe of People Richard Jay Hutto formerly served as White House Appointments Secretary to the Carter Family and was Chairman of the Georgia Council for the Arts.

He travels widely to speak to conferences and groups about his areas of expertise and is an elected member of the City Council of Macon, Georgia.

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Creative NonFiction Inspirational

CARMEN BUTCHER Following Christ: A Lenten Reader to Stretch Your Soul CARMEN BUTCHER is a professor of English and Scholar-in-Residence at Shorter University in Rome, Georgia. In 2010, she received the Georgia Author of the Year Award for The Cloud of Unknowing With the Book of Privy Counsel (Shambhala Publications, 2009), in the category of Inspiration.

CYNTHIA L. HALE I’m a Piece of Work: Sisters Shaped by God CYNTHIA L. HALE is founder and senior pastor of the 5,000-member Ray of Hope Christian Church in Decatur, Georgia. She serves on various boards in her denomination and in the Atlanta area, as well as being cochair of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference.

JOEY HANCOCK Stories He Can Tell JOEY HANCOCK now travels full-time, speaking, writing and performing his message of encouragement and success. For twenty-eight years he was a full time career pastor. Since then, Joey has been on stages all across America. He has been asked to speak for high schools, colleges, seminaries, civic clubs, churches and corporations.

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CHERIE K. MILLER Writing Conversations: Spend 365 Days with your Favorite Authors, Learning the Craft of Writing Cherie lives on a lake in Georgia with her author husband, J. Steve Miller, and a blended family of seven sons. She graduated from Kennesaw State with a MA in Professional Writing. Cherie is the author of two books and has written many articles and columns. She is the editor of a blog called www.Pet-Peeves.org and works as a graduate student advocate in the MA for American Studies Program at Kennesaw State. She also volunteers feeding the homeless, rescuing dogs, and as the President of the Board of the Georgia Writers Association.

ROBYN SPIZMAN Don’t Give Up...Don’t Ever Give Up .A prolific writer, Robyn has authored dozens of books including The GIFTionary, Make It Memorable: An A-Z Guide to Making Any Event, Gift or Occasion...Dazzling!, The Thank You Book, When Words Matter Most, and co-author with Tory Johnson of Take This Book To Work and the Women For Hire Series as well as the Author 101 book series with Rick Frishman on book writing and getting published. She also recently coauthored her first work of fiction with Mark Johnston titled Secret Agent.

CAROL WARD WILSON A Handful of Rain Carol Ward Wilson was born in 1953 in Whitewater, Wisconsin, one of five children. She has lived in Ohio and North Carolina and has resided for the past twenty years in Peachtree City, Georgia with her husband Mick. She attended Texas Christian University-Harris College of Nursing in Fort Worth, Texas from 1971-1973. Legally blind since the age of twenty-four, she began her writing career in 2003. A Handful of Rain is her first book.

Creative NonFiction Inspirational

JUSTIN SPIZMAN Don’t Give Up...Don’t Ever Give Up Justin Spizman is a former prosecutor and currently practices criminal defense and DUI law for a private law firm in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the author of The Insider’s Guide to Your First Year of Law School. A die-hard sports fan and dedicated fan of Jim Valvano, Justin has lived by Jim’s words of wisdom in The Speech. Justin spends his free time with his wife Jaime, playing basketball, and watching sports with their trusted dog Guinness by their side.

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Creative NonFiction Memoir

BETTY CRAIGE Betty Jean Craige is University Professor of Comparative Literature and Director of the Wilson Center for Humanities and Arts at the University of Georgia. She has published books in the fields of literature, history of ideas, politics, ecology, and art. Two of her translations of Marjorie Agosín’s poetry were published by Sherman Asher: Poems for Josefina and Mother, Speak to Us of War / Madre, háblanos de la guerra.

Sister Anna.

SUSAN GILBERT HARVEY Postmarks: The Summers of ‘98 Susan Gilbert Harvey was born in Rome, Georgia. She graduated from Hollins College and studied Advanced Design at Shorter College. During her thirty-year sculpture career, Harvey exhibited her work nationally and received a Georgia Women in the Arts Award. The Rome Area Council for the Arts awarded Harvey a Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in visual, performance, and literary arts. In 2005, Harvey founded Golden Apple Press and published Tea with Sister Anna: a Paris journal. Postmarks: The Summers of ‘98is the prequel to Tea with

LINDA NIEMANN Railroad Noir: The American West at the End of the Twentieth Century Linda Grant Niemann teaches creative nonfiction atKennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia. She is author of Boomer: Railroad Memoirs and Railroad Voices. After obtaining her Ph.D. in English Dr. Niemann spent years working on the railroad before coming to the University to teach creative writing.

D. CRAIG RIKARD Hidden Epidemic CRAIG RIKARD and his wife Gail have led busy lives together. Craig has been a United Methodist Clergyman for over thirty-two years.

Craig has earned three post-graduate degrees in theology and marriage and family therapy. Their shared faith and love, enlivened by their differences, have led to 36 years of marriage.

DAVID SCHAEFFER Five Big Mountains: A Regular Guy’s Guide to Climbing Orbiza, Elbrus, Kilimanjor, Aconcaqua and Vinson David Schaeffer was born in Augusta, Georgia. David worked his way through Duke University for his undergraduate studies, graduating magna cum laude, and then attended the University of Virginia School of Law, graduating in 1981. David Schaeffer has been happily married to his wife Kim for 26 years.

WILLIAM W. STARR Whisky, Kilts, and the Loch Ness Monster: Traveling through Scotland with Boswell and Johnson William W. Starr is the author of three books, a prize-winning journalist for many years, and has been the executive director of the Georgia Center for the Book since 2003. He was from an early age attracted to journalism; as an 8-year-old, he produced a series of “newspapers” with stories written by himself and distributed them to neighbors.

RENEA WINCHESTER In the Garden with Billy: Lessons about Life, Love, and Tomatoes Renea Winchester is an award-winning writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications including A Cup of Comfort for Families Touched By Alzheimer’s, Appalachian Heritage, Georgia Backroads, Blue Ridge Country, Longleaf Style and Chicken Soup Teens Talk High School. She is also a frequent contributor to http://Southernauthorsblogspot.com , http://blogthefarm.wordpress. com and www.grit.com. Additionally, her work has aired on Georgia’s WABE 90.1 FM. Renea is a recipient of the Appalachian Writers Association Award (2006 and 2008.) She is passionate about human interest stories and teaches creative writing at assisted living facilities in Atlanta Georgia.

Creative NonFiction Memoir

FERROL SAMS Christmas Gift!

Ferrol Sams is a physician, humorist, storyteller, and best-selling novelist and is the author of seven books. Most notable is his trilogy of novels in which an eccentric and quixotic hero, Porter Osborne, Jr., mirrors Sams’ own Georgia boyhood in Fayette County.

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Creative NonFiction Specialty Book

E. JEAN ALEXANDER Displaced: The Loss of a Job. E. Jean Alexander is the author of three books. Bloody Monday, published in 2001, was nominated for best book by Georgia Writers Association in 2002.

Chicken Five, a cookbook for hot wings was published in 2004. Her latest book, Displaced The Loss of Job, was published in 2010 and highlights the emotional and financial stress people experience when they lose their job.

Jean has a B.S. in Business Information Systems and lives with her family in Fairburn, GA.

LAURA BEIRING The Risk a Day Journal: 28 Days to Begin You Out Loud with Courage, Creativity, and Confidence Laura Beiring is a professional certified coach and works with individuals, partners and teams who are ready for radical, authentic success – success their way! Her clients learn to take risks from the heart – both big and small – in order to reach their goals and dreams, and create realities that rock.

JOHN A. BURRISON From Mud to Jug: The Folk Potters and Potter of Northeast Georgia JOHN A. BURRISON is a professor of English and director of the folklore curriculum at Georgia State University. In addition to From Mud to Jug, he is the author of Brothers in Clay: The Story of Georgia Folk Pottery and Shaping Traditions: Folk Arts in a Changing South.

ROBERT CHAMBERS Parody: The Art that Plays with Art ROBERT CHAMBERS is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Kennesaw State University. He has been the Georgia correspondent for The Economist (1978-83; 1999- 2000), and he was twice a reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

JAMES R. COTHRAN Charleston Gardens and the Landscape Legacy of Loutrel Briggs James R. Cothran is a practicing landscape architect, urban planner, and garden historian in Atlanta. He holds degrees from Clemson University, the University of Georgia, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. A fellow in the American Society of Landscape Architects, Cothran is past president of the Southern Garden History Society and currently serves on the boards of the Alliance for Historic Landscape Preservation, Trees Atlanta, and the Cherokee Garden Library–Center for the Study of Southern Garden History. He is the author of Gardens of Historic Charleston and Gardens and Historic Plants of the Antebellum South, which has been honored with awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects, the National Garden Clubs, the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries, the Georgia Historical Society, and other organizations.

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JEFF GALLOWAY Cross-Country Running Jeff Galloway, 1972 Olympian, competed in the International CrossCountry Championships and was a member of the US National Championship team. He is the author of the bestselling running book in North America, Galloway’s Book on Running and is a Runner’s World columnist in addition to being an inspirational speaker for more that 200 running and fitness sessions each year.

H.E. “DOC” HOLLIDAY Boys Transitioning from Athletic Aggression to Academic Affirmation Dr. Holliday was a classroom teacher for five years and high school principal as well as assistant superintendent for school improvement and Chief of Staff of the Atlanta City Public Schools. He earned his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. He joined the Kennesaw State University Department of Educational Leadership in 2005 Dr. Holliday launched a gender Based educational initiative while serving as principal of academically underperforming Campbell Middle School (Cobb County Georgia) in 2003.

BRAD JOHNSON The Edutainer: Connection the Art and Science of Teaching TAMMY MAXON MCELROY The Edutainer: Connection the Art and Science of Teaching Tammy Maxson McElroy and Dr. Brad Johnson are co authors of The Edutainer: Connecting the Art and Science of Teaching. Together they have quantified and developed the strategies that will improve the effectiveness of teachers in the 21st Century Classroom.

Tammy Maxson McElroy (M.Ed.) has over 20 years experience in the educational field. This experience includes teaching in public and independent schools. She has developed school curriculum, a formal mentoring program, and has mentored many teachers.

Dr. Brad Johnson has over 15 years experience in the educational field as a teacher and administrator. This includes experience in public schools, independent schools, and at the collegiate level. He has developed curriculum, served on accreditation committees and board level committees. His scholarly research is in pop culture.

Creative NonFiction Specialty Book

ANN DEWITT and KEVIN WEEKS Entangled in Freedom: A Civil War Story Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the American Civil War, first time novelist Ann DeWitt, a native of South Carolina, teams with veteran author Kevin M. Weeks, a native of Philadelphia, to fuse their southern and northern perspectives on why African Americans served with the Confederacy during the war. Becoming known as a literary bridge builder, Kevin M. Weeks has also penned crime and urban fiction novels for which he received an AfricanAmerican Pavilion at BookExpo America 2009 Urban Book Series of the Year Award, 2008 London Book Festival Award, 2007 New York Book Festival Award as well as named a National Best Book Awards 2008 Finalist.

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Children’s

KATHI HARPER HILL The Crow and the Wind Kathi Harper Hill was born in the Appalachian Mountains of North Georgia, where her family goes back as far as nine generations. Her husband, David, illustrated her children’s book “The Crow and the Wind.” She lives in Ellijay with her husband, and their twenty year old daughter, Anna Kate.

CAROLE MARSH Mary America: The First Girl President of the United States Carole Marsh is the founder and CEO of award-winning publisher Gallopade International and is the creative force behind more than 15,000 children’s books and supplemental educational materials. Gallopade is also a leader in the production of curriculum-related resources and supplementary educational materials.

PEGGY MERCER Peach: When the Well Run Dry Peggy Mercerwas born in Douglas, Georgia, and received a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Valdosta State College and a master’s from Florida State University. A newspaper columnist, a poet, and past contributor to various publications, Peggy has been a teacher and librarian. Her fourth book, Peach: When the Well Run Dry, is her first mid-reader.

GRADY THRASHER Tim and Sally’s Year in Poems Grady Thrasher’s newest children’s book is Tim and Sally’s Year in Poems (Jonquil Books, Miglior Press 2010), which won a Moonbeam Children’s Book Award for “celebrating youthful curiosity, discovery and learning through books and reading.” Among his many awards, Thrasher received the 2008 Georgia Author of the Year for Picture Books for the first Tim and Sally book, Tim and Sally’s Vegetable Garden.

You can order photos from this event from TCPics by visiting this website and looking for the Georgia Author Event: www.tcpicsonline.com

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NICOLE IZMAYLOV The Dracian Dance Nichole Izmaylov is 13 years old and was born in Atlanta, Ga. Nicole won the Reflections contest several years in a row in the categories of literature and musical composition, including multiple first places at the state level. She also received national recognition for her poetry.

ELIZABETH THOMPSON The Thirteenth Summer Elizabeth Laing Thompson is author of the YA novel The Thirteenth Summer. She writes for teens because she loves this magical time of life, when the world beckons and everything seems possible. The Thirteenth Summer is currently “on tour” around the country—50 books are traveling the nation, being passed from teen to teen every seven days. When Elizabeth is not chasing after three small children, she writes to stay sane, and volunteers with students at the University of Georgia. She has also authored/co-authored several Christian inspiration books, including The Tender Years: Parenting Preschoolers, (DPI, 2009).

Young Adult Fiction

TED DUNAGAN Secrets of the Satilfa Ted M. Dunagan was born in 1943 in rural southwestern Alabama. He attended Georgia State University and served for three years in the Army as a member of the 101st Airborne Division and Special Forces Training Group. Dunagan is now retired after a career in the cosmetics and fragrance industry. He writes features and columns for The Monticello News in Monticello, Georgia, where he lives with his wife.

Dunagan was named Georgia Author of the Year 2009 in the Young Adult category for his debut novel “A Yellow Watermelon.”

Nominations for 2011 Books opens November 1, 2011

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