2021 Winners & Finalists

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Pearl Cleage

POSTHUMOUS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Molly Brodak

CHILDREN’S BOOK
Winner: Malcolm Mitchell, illustrated by Michael Robertson, My Very Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World
Finalist: Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Pete Oswald, Rita and Ralph’s Rotten Day

DETECTIVE/MYSTERY 
Winner: Kimberly Belle, Stranger in the Lake
Finalist: Christopher Swann, Never Turn Back

FIRST NOVEL
Winner: Ginger Eager, The Nature of Remains
Finalist: Veena Rao, Purple Lotus

HISTORY
Winner: Claudio Saunt, Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory
Finalist: Jaclyn Weldon White, Pure Evil: The Machetti Murders of Macon, Georgia

INSPIRATIONAL
Winner: Kaitlin B. Curtice, Native: Identity, Belonging, and Rediscovering God
Finalist: André and Jeff Shinabarger, Love or Work: Is It Possible to Change the World, Stay in Love, and Raise a Healthy Family?

LITERARY FICTION 
Winner: Taylor Brown, Pride of Eden
Finalist: Elizabeth Musser, The Promised Land

MEMOIR
Winner: Natasha Trethewey, Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir
Finalist: Kristie Robin Johnson, High Cotton
Honorable Mention: Ann Hite, Roll the Stone Away: A Family’s Legacy of Racism and Abuse

POETRY FULL-LENGTH BOOK
Winner: Carlos Andrés Gómez, Fractures
Finalist: Julie E. Bloemeke, Slide to Unlock

ROMANCE
Winner: Colleen Oakley, You Were There Too
Finalist: Sharina Harris, (Im)perfectly Happy

SPECIALTY
Winner: Stephen Doster, photographs by Benjamin Galland, Cumberland Island: Footsteps in Time
Finalist: Asha Gomez and Martha Hall Foose, I Cook in Color: Bright Flavors from My Kitchen and Around the World

YOUNG ADULT
Winner: Nic Stone, Dear Justyce
Finalist: Chris Negron, Dan Unmasked