About the Awards
The Georgia Author of the Year Awards celebrates the best literature by Georgia writers.
Georgia Writers Association assumed responsibility for the Georgia Author of the Year Awards (GAYA) shortly after its founding in 1994. The awards were first given in 1964 by the Dixie Council of Authors and Journalists. Published authors from Georgia are eligible for nomination. Awards in a variety of categories are announced and presented in June at the GAYA ceremony.
Prominent winners of the GAYA include Malcolm Tariq for his poetry collection Heed the Hollow (2019); Ruby Lal, for her biography Empress (2018); Nic Stone for her novels Dear Justyce (2020) and Jackpot (2019); Natasha Trethewey for her memoir Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir (2020); Judith Ortiz Cofer, for her essay collection Woman in Front of the Sun (2000); Kaitlin B. Curtice for her inspirational book Native: Identity Belonging, and Rediscovering God (2020); John Lewis for his graphic memoir March: Book Three (2016); poet Sharan Strange won a lifetime achievement award from the organization in 2018.
Celebrating Georgia Writers
2024 Georgia Author of the Year Awards Announcement
Live on Friday, June 21 at 12PM ET
Alt. Text: The book cover for The Ballad of Karla Faye Tucker, which depicts a mirrored image of two women each praying in front of a cross.
Alt. Text: The book cover for You So Black, which depicts two black individuals looking up at the stars in the night sky.
Alt. Text: The book cover for Murder in Drury Lane, which reads the title in white text and a gold fence barricading a gray building.
Alt. Text: The book cover for Red Clay Suzie, which shows a black tractor and painted green grass with pink, red, and yellow flowers.
Alt. Text: The book cover for Oconaluftee: The History of a Smoky Mountain Valley, which depicts a golden sunset cascading over a dark green mountain range.
Alt. Text: The book cover for Captured by Love, which depicts a red heart-shaped lock against a light blue and white background.
The book cover for Bengal Hound, with the title in yellow letters with a teal shadow and an orange background.
Alt. Text: The book cover for More Than I Imagined, with a photo of a boy on the orange side, and a photo of a woman on the turquoise side.
Alt. Text: The book cover for LIFE OF THE MIND, which displays tan, brown, and red paint swatches against a beige background.
Alt. Text: The book cover for Tender Headed, in which the book’s title is in white text, and is surrounded by brown designs of various men’s heads and bordered by a blue and orange frame.
Alt. Text: The book cover for A Laird without a Past, which shows a man and a woman embracing one another on a shore.
Alt. Text: The book cover for Black on Black, in which the title is emphasized in black, brown, peach, and tan text.
Alt. Text: The book cover for Into the Light, which depicts orange flowers, yellow mushrooms, and green leaves blooming from a green head silhouette, which also has a black silhouette of a person inside.
2023 Georgia Writers Association’s 59th Annual Georgia Author of the Year Awards Ceremony
