2020 Winners & Finalists
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Lynn Cullen
POSTHUMOUS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Leon Stokesbury
BIOGRAPHY
Winner: John D. Duncan & Sandra L. Underwood, The Showy Town of Savannah: The Story of the Architect William Jay
Finalist: David Cady, Religion of Fear: The True Story of the Church of God of the Union Assembly
CHILDREN’S BOOK
Winner: Tanya Valentine, Illustrated by Jorge Martin, Little Taco Truck
Finalist: Denene Millner, Illustrated by Gladys Jose, Fresh Princess
COOKBOOK
Winner: Whitney Otawka, The Saltwater Table: Recipes from The Coastal South
Finalist: Chris Taylor & Paul Arguin, The New Pie: Modern Techniques for the Classic American Dessert
DETECTIVE/MYSTERY
Winner: Brian Panowich, Like Lions
Finalist: Joshilyn Jackson, Never Have I Ever
ESSAY COLLECTION
Winner: Megan Volpert, Boss Broad
Finalist: LaRue Cook, Man in the (Rearview) Mirror: That Time I Left Corporate America, Became an Uber Driver, and Lived to Write About It
FIRST NOVEL
Winner: Anissa Gray, The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls
Finalist: Jessica Handler, The Magnetic Girl
HISTORY
Winner: G. Wayne Clough, Things New & Strange: A Southerner’s Journey Through the Smithsonian Collections
Finalist: Akila Sankar McConnell, A Culinary History of Atlanta
INSPIRATIONAL
Winner: Barbara Brown Taylor, Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others
Finalist: Carl McColman, Unteachable Lessons: Why Wisdom Can’t Be Taught (And Why That’s Okay)
LITERARY FICTION
Winner: Zoe Fishman, Invisible as Air
Finalist: Susan Rebecca White, We Are All Good People Here
MEMOIR
Winner: Heather Christle, The Crying Book
Finalist: Jared Yates Sexton, The Man They Wanted Me to Be: Toxic Masculinity and a Crisis of Our Own Making
POETRY CHAPBOOK
Winner: Clela Reed, Silk
Finalist: Diana Anhalt, Walking Backward
POETRY FULL-LENGTH BOOK
Winner: Malcolm Tariq, Heed the Hollow
Finalist: Edward Wilson, In a Rich Country
ROMANCE
Winner: Tracy Solheim, Shot in the Dark
Finalist: Wendy Wax, My Ex-Best Friend’s Wedding
YOUNG ADULT
Winner: Nic Stone, Jackpot
Finalist: Laura Silverman, You Asked for Perfect