Poetry: Ed Pavlic, Winners Have Yet to be Announced. Pavlic is the author of several books, including Paraph of Bone & Other Kinds of Blue (2001), winner of The American Poetry Review / Honickman First Book Award. He was the founding managing editor of the Madison Times and has taught at five universities. He now lives in Athens, Georgia, and teaches at the University of Georgia. He also directs the M.F.A. / Ph.D. program in creative writing at the University of Georgia. Judge: Kathy Fagan
First novel: Raymond L. Atkins, The Front Porch Prophet. Atkins lives in Rome, Georgia, and has been writing for thirty-five years. His stories have been published in Christmas Stories from Georgia, The Lavender Mountain Anthology, The Blood and Fire Review, and The Old Red Kimono. His columns appear regularly in the Rome News/Tribune and Memphis Downtowner Magazine. His second novel, Sorrow Wood, will be released in August, and he is working on his third novel. Judge Tom Hazuka’s comments: The Front Porch Prophet is the clear winner of the contest. It’s truly an impressive book that grabbed me on page one, kept my unflagging interest throughout, made me laugh out loud numerous times yet is also a serious, thoughtful work. Atkins is a superb writer.
Fiction: Jack Riggs, The Fireman’s Wife. Riggs’s first novel, When the Finch Rises, won the Georgia Author of the Year’s First Novel Award in 2003 and was chosen by Booklist as one of the top ten first novels of 2003. Riggs is a teacher and writer-in-residence at the Writers Institute at Georgia Perimeter College. He grew up in North Carolina and now lives in Decatur, Georgia. Judge Debra Monroe’s comments: Jack Riggs's novel, The Fireman's Wife, is the clear winner because, from the first sentence forward, its voice has so much authority I felt I wasn’t reading and was instead inhabiting another person’s body: thinking her thoughts, breathing her air. It’s a masterful use of point of view. Each detail of this invented world feels all the more real for being perceived through the consciousness of this unforgettable character. And the novel has a momentous, even cinematic sense of plot.
Children’s picture book: Gail Langer Karwoski, River Beds: Sleeping in the World’s Rivers. Karwoski is an award-winning children’s book writer. She is also the author of Water Beds: Sleeping in the Ocean (2005), for which Karwoski won Mom’s Choice Best Children’s Picture Book Author for 2005. She is also the author of Tsunami: The True Story of an April Fool’s Day Disaster (2006), Quake! Disaster in San Francisco, 1906 (2006), and Julie the Rockhound (2007). She lives near the University of Georgia. Judge: Karen Thompson
Children’s mid-reader: Pamela Bauer Mueller, Aloha Crossing. Mueller is the author of several books, including Hello, Goodbye, I Love You: The Story of Aloha, A Guide Dog for the Blind (2003), Neptune’s Honor (2005), and An Angry Drum Echoed: Mary Musgrove, Queen of the Creeks (2007). Mueller has won several awards, including two previous Georgia Author of the Year Awards. She resides on Jekyll Island, Georgia. Judge: Jennifer Dail
Young adult: Ted M. Dunagan, A Yellow Watermelon. Dunagan was born in rural southwestern Alabama. He attended Georgia State University and served in the U.S. Army as a member of the 101st Airborne Division and Special Forces Training Group. He is retired and lives in Monticello, Georgia, where he writes features and a weekly column for The Monticello News. His second young adult fiction novel, The Secret of the Satilfa, is forthcoming from NewSouth Books. Judge: Katherine Mason
Creative nonfiction biography: Frederick L. Downing, Elie Wiesel: A Religious Biography. Downing is head of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Valdosta State University. He is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the Society of Biblical Literature, the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, and the American Schools of Oriental Research. Downing is also the author of To See the Promised Land: The Faith Pilgrimage of Martin Luther King, Jr. He has traveled widely in the Middle East and worked on the supervisory staffs of several archaeological excavations. He is currently working on a biography of Clarence Jordan, whose spiritual vision inspired the founding of Habitat for Humanity. Judge: Scott Cairns
Creative nonfiction essay: Katherine McClymond, Beyond Sacred Violence: A Comparative Study of Sacrifice. McClymond received her B.A. from Harvard University and her Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is a comparative historian of religions. She has served as co-chair of the Comparative Studies in Hinduisms and Judaisms Group for the American Academy of Religion and currently sits on the steering committee for the Comparative Study of Religion Section. McClymond received the 2002 Distinguished Honors Professor Award and the 2006 Outstanding Teaching Award in the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia State University.
Creative nonfiction history: Paul A. Lombardo, Three Generations, No Imbeciles. Lombardo is a lawyer and historian. He has been instrumental in the movement to solicit apologies and legislative denunciations of past state eugenic laws. These efforts have been successful in seven states, so far. Lombardo has also published numerous articles on topics in health law, medical and legal history, and bioethics. He is a professor of law at Georgia State University’s College of Law. Judge Senator George Hooks’s comments: Although this subject has been well covered and studied in law schools, it has never been fully explored by general publication. The author does credit to the legal and historic research in an interesting and readable fashion.
Creative nonfiction memoir: Benyamin Cohen, My Jesus Year. Cohen is the son of an Orthodox rabbi who married the converted daughter of a former Christian minister. He was the founder and editor of the award-winning national magazine American Jewish Life and the online magazine Jewsweek. Prior to that, he edited Torah from Dixie, which later became a book. Cohen is now the content director for the environmental news and information website Mother Nature Network. He lives in Atlanta. Judge: Phyllis Barber
Creative nonfiction specialty: Doug Janousek, Home Cookin’ Illustrated. Janousek has been cooking since his childhood in Nebraska and credits his mother as his first and, in many ways, best teacher. He earned his B.S. degree in journalism and English, with a minor in political science. In 2004, he attended Le Cordon Bleu program at Orlando Culinary Academy in Orlando, Florida. For the last several years, Janousek has worked as a freelance food/recipes columnist as well as a personal chef in Florida and Georgia. Judge Patricia B. Cardona’s comments: This book blends story, art, and wonderful recipes to create more than just a collection of home cooking moments. It merges art, story, and inspiration to create a most entertaining and visually appealing book. The organization of the recipes, stories and art told a multi-dimensional story of life lived well, life lived long, and life lived deeply. As for the recipes, Vidalia onion & prosciutto bruschetta sounds like the perfect appetizer for any meal. And I am eager to make sweet potato pone.
Lifetime achievement: Furman Bisher. Bisher is a legendary sports editor, columnist, and author. He has been sports editor of the Charlotte News and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and has written countless articles for many national publications, including Sports Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and The Saturday Evening Post. He was granted the only post-1919 interview with Shoeless Joe Jackson concerning Jackson’s involvement in the 1919 World Series “Black Sox” scandal. Bisher has covered every Kentucky Derby and Masters Tournament since 1950 and attended the first NASCAR race. He has also covered every Super Bowl but the first. Bisher is also the author of several books, including Strange But True Baseball Stories (1966), Aaron, RF (1968), The Masters:Augusta Revisited, an Intimate View (1976), The Furman Bisher Collection (1989), Thankful (2001), and Face to Face (2005). In 1961, Time magazine named Bisher one of the nation’s top five columnists, and he was bestowed the PGA Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award in 1996. Bisher has been inducted into five Halls of Fame, including the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame in 1989. At the age of ninety, Bisher still writes a sports column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
