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38th Annual Georgia Author of the Year Awards
Group Announces Official Nominations List
Sponsored by the Georgia Writers Association, the annual Georgia Author of the Year Awards (GAYA) recognize and acknowledge Georgia's wealth of outstanding writers and to acquaint them with the public and one another, thus continuing the State's rich literary heritage.GAYA is unique in that there is no discrimination between self-published authors and those whose books have been published by traditional publishers. The standards and the evaluation process adhered to by judges is the same for all books, regardless of publisher:
40 points - Distinctive voice/creativity/originality/style/content
30 points - Technical/craft/clarity/focused/enduring value/editing
30 points - Execution/imaginative/emotionally evocative/satisfactory resolution
"It is hoped that this causes self-published authors to give greater regard to both the art and the skill required to produce works of lasting value and to pay serious attention to the editing process. This is more important than ever in these days of deteriorating language skills and sloppily written materials," say the Award guidelines.
Eligibility is based on the calendar year books were published, and any Georgia-resident author may enter the competition. Nominations officially open on September 1 each year and close December 31. This year's awards will be presented on March 16, 2002 at Mercer University in Macon. Anyone may attend but paid reservations are required for the dinner. For complete information, go to GAYA webpage.
...and the nominees are:
Creative Nonfiction
Judge: Dr. Jim Bynum
Essays
E. Jean Alexander - Bloody Monday: Fibroid Tumors... My Ordeal
Thomas Carl Austenfeld - American Women Writers and the Nazis
Jim Brown - Sports Talent: How to Identify and Develop Outstanding Athletes
Jackie K. Cooper - Chances and Choices: Further Tales of a Gentle Southern Man
Rosemary Daniell - Confessions of a (Female) Chauvinist
Chuck Leavell - Forever Green: The History and Hope of the American Forest
Jack Llewellyn, Ph.D. - Let 'Em Play: What Parents, Coaches & Kids Need to Know About Youth Baseball
James Nagel - The Contemporary American Short-Story Cycle
Kathleen Neal - A Primer of Nonprofit PR
Randolph Loney - A Dream of the Tattered Man
Alan Rauch, Ph.D. - Useful Knowledge: The Victorians, Morality and the March of Intellect
Biographies
Betty Jean Craige - Eugene Odum: Ecosystem Ecologist and Environmentalist
Richard L. Eldredge - Celestine Sibley, Reporter
Noel Griese - Arthur W. Page: Publisher, Public Realtions Pioneer, Patriot
F. Stuart Gulley - The Academic President as Moral Leader: James T. Laney
at Emory University, 1977-1993
Hubert H. McAlexander - Peter Taylor: A Writer's Life
Leonard Ray Teel - Ralph Emerson McGill: Voice of the Southern Conscience
Memoirs
Rabbi Isaac Goodfriend - By Fate or By Faith: The Saga of a Survivor
Donna T. Green - Best Reunion
Christi Hai - In the Arms of Grace
Mary N. Johnson - Tar Heels, Red Clay and Antidotes
J. Gordon Long, Ph.D. - Livin' PO in Sandbed Hell
Nanchu Li - Red Sorrow: A Memoir
Henry Dozier Russell (posthumous) - Pearl Harbor Story
Sally Russell - Shatter Me with Dawn
History
Wilbur W. "Pete" Caldwell - The Courthouse and Depot in Georgia, 1833-1910:
The Architecture of Hope in an Age of Despair
Edward J. Cashin - Beloved Bethesda: A History of George Whitefield's Home for Boys, 1740-2000
Jaclyn Weldon White - The Empty Nursery: The Disappearance of Haley Hardwick
Self-Help
Jennifer Babbit & Samantha Bank - A Girl's Guide to a Guy's World
Daniel H. Johnston, Ph.D. - Lessons for Living: Simple Solutions of Life's Problems
Arline S. Kerman, J.D., Ph.D.- Do You REALLY Want to Be a Stepparent?
Barbara LeBey - Family Estrangements: How they Begin, How to Mend Them, How to Cope With Them
Cindy R. Mogil - Swallowing a Bitter Pill:How Prescription and Over-the-Counter Drug
Abuse is Ruining Lives-My Story
Roger Scovil - Get Ahead: Scovil's 7 Rules for Success in Management
Robyn Spizman - The Thank You Book
Bruce Wilkinson - Secrets of The Vine: Breaking Through to Abundance
Inspiration
Judy P. Davis - Discipling A Community
Bruce Feiler - Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses
Gloria Langford - Living Water of the 3rd Dimension
Robert Mack - I Believe in Miracles
Consuella C. Newton - The Inner Quest
Cathy Lee Phillips - Gutsy Little Flowers
Marjorie Simon - Now That the Storm is Over
Cookbooks
Tammie Clarke Gibbs - Recipes for Romance
Ted Hafer & Jessica Greene - The Grit Cookbook
Melissa Libby, Editor - Atlanta Cooks
Specialty Books
Al Dixon - The Quotable South
Steve Penley - Penley
Carol Nourse & Hugh Nourse - The State Botanical Garden of Georgia
Gerald Sweitzer & Kathy Fields - 50 Best Small Southern Towns
Poetry
Judge: Dr. Cecilia Woloch
Dr. Ted Ary - Grace Freely Given
David Bottoms - Oglethorpe's Dream
Steven Croft - Coastal Scenes
H. Michael Henderson - People Make My World Go Around
Sandra Meek - The Circumference of Arrival
Robin G. White - Resurrection: A Collection of Work
Ralph Tejeda Wilson - A Black Bridge
Stephen Wing - Crossing the Expressway
Fiction
Judge: Jim Grimsley
Pearl Cleage - I Wish I Had a Red Dress
Brian Egeston - Granddaddy's Dirt
Teri Holbrook - The Mother Tongue
Greg Johnson - Sticky Kisses
Milam Propst - It May Not Leave a Scar
Augusta Trobaugh - Sophie and the Rising Sun
Short Stories
Thomas Jeffrey Vasseur - Discovering the World: Collected Stories
First Novel
Judge: Angela Harrington Rice
Jeanne Braselton - A False Sense of Well Being
Julie Cannon - Truelove and Homegrown Tomatoes
Trish Carter - Linger: Lust is Surface
Steven Cowan - GOTHICA: Romance of the Immortals
Estelle Ford-Williamson - Abbeville Farewell
Anthony Grooms - Bombingham
Larry Hand - Whiskers on Pine
J. L. Miles - Roseflower Creek
Deardria Nesbitt - Dreams: Where It All Begins
Betty Oglseby Payne - Shine Annie
Karin Slaughter - Blindsighted
Rick Turnbull - Gum's Story
Bill York - Fatal Encounters
Children's and Young Adult Literature
Judge: Dr. Brad Strickland
Picture Book Division
Joan Anson-Weber - Snuffles Goes to Scotland Yard
Cathy Goldberg Fishman - On Shabbat
Kay Helgerson - Crinkles the Cricket
Danny Schnitzlein - The Monster Who Ate My Peas
Nonfiction
Judy Cutchins & Ginny Johnson - Giant Predators of the Ancient Seas
Rabbi Arnold Goodman - Sweet Words to God: A Child's Book of Jewish Prayers
Dr. Donald A. Harp, Jr. - Small Blessings: A Book of Prayers for Children
Mid-Reader/Young Adult Division
Teri Abrams - Girls Like Me
Evelyn Coleman - Born in Sin
Evelyn Coleman - Circle of Fire
Gail Karwoski - Surviving Jamestown
RenČ SaldaŅa, Jr. - The Jumping Tree
Ali Spizman - The Thank You Book for Kids