2018 Winners & Finalists

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Sharan Strange

POSTHUMOUS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Thomas Lux

CHILDREN’S BOOK
Winner: Vickie McEntire, Little Bird & Myrtle Turtle
Finalist: Dan Carlton, Ollie and the Wise Old Owl

DETECTIVE/MYSTERY
Winner: Roger Johns, Dark River Rising
Finalist: Maggie Toussaint, Dadgummit

FIRST NOVEL
Winner: Peter McDade, The Weight of Sound
Finalist: Christopher Swann, Shadow of the Lions 

HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY
Winner: Dawn Peterson, Indians in the Family: Adoption and the Politics of Antebellum Expansion
Finalist: Mehrsa Baradaran, The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap 

INSPIRATIONAL
Winner: Deborah Malone, Blooming in Broken Places
Finalist: Candace L. Long, The Ancient Path to Creativity and Innovation: Where Left and Right Brains Meet 

LITERARY FICTION
Winner: Man Martin, The Lemon Jell-O Syndrome
Finalist: Anna Schachner, You and I and Someone Else
Honorable Mention: Daren Wang, The Hidden Light of Northern Fires

MEMOIR
Winner: Christopher Martin, This Gladdening Light: An Ecology of Fatherhood and Faith
Finalist: Stephen Corey, Startled at the Big Sound: Essays Personal, Cultural, and Literary 

POETRY CHAPBOOK
Winner: Jane Simpson, On the Porch, Under the Eave
Finalist: K. B. Kincer, After the Transplant 

POETRY FULL-LENGTH BOOK
Winner: Andrea Jurjević, Small Crimes
Finalist: Danielle Hanson, Ambushing Water 

ROMANCE
Winner: Sally Kilpatrick, Bless Her Heart
Finalist: Marilyn Baron, The Alibi 

SHORT STORY COLLECTION
Winner: Michael Bishop, Other Arms Reach Out to Me: Georgia Stories
Finalist: D. B. Martin, Terror Tales Vol. 1 

SPECIALTY BOOK
Winner: Jason Thrasher, Athens Potluck
Finalist: Jimmy Carter, The Craftsmanship of Jimmy Carter

YOUNG ADULT
Winner: Aaron Levy, Blood Don’t Lie
Finalist: McCall Hoyle, The Thing with Feathers