Presenting the Nominees
for the 2026
Georgia Author of the Year Awards!
Winners and finalists will be announced on our website on
Friday, June 26th, 2026.
Biography
I Am a Georgia Girl: The Life of Lucille Selig Frank, 1888-1957 by Ann Hite
Deceptive Speed: Eddie Lee Ivery’s Run Through Tech, Titletown, and Temptation by Jerry Gentry
Why Alanis Morissette Matters by Megan Volpert
The Fight of His Life: Joe Louis’s Battle for Freedom During World War II by Johnny Smith
Flagrant, Self-Destructive Gestures: A Biography of Denis Johnson by Ted Geltner
Just Follow Me: James Owens and the Integration of Southeastern Conference Football by Thom Gossom Jr. and Sam Heys
Children’s Book
The Wooblers by LG Bridges
Kaya Morgan's Crowning Achievement by Jill Tew
The Littlest Star's Wish by Kelly Young-Silverman
Holidayville's Lucky Easter Surprise by Renita Bryant
STIM-TASTIC by Leslie Clark
The Secret of the Quail by Lorenzo Hill
Earth Rover by Taylor Woolley
Francie & Fitz Booster Buddies written by Jenny Hart and illustrated by Ellie Beykzadeh
When Alexander Graced the Table by Denene Millner
Detective/Mystery
Revenge by Danielle Singleton
The Last Real Place by Mark Warren
Auburn Avenue: 1912 by Dominique Jordan
DEAD RED DINGER by Cliff Yeargin
Parrot Prose: A Coral Shores Veterinary Mystery
by D.L. Mitchell
The Dawson Pond Murders: A John Wesley O’Toole Novel by William Rawlings
First Novel
The Shop Under The Clock by K.S. Krown
The Good Bride by Jen Marie Wiggins
Our Hands Are Pale as Milk by Sara Kay Rupnik
Murder Two Doors Down by Chuck Storla
Song of the Chattahoochee by Duncan Dobie
Ibis by Justin Haynes
Rule One by Michael Lucker
Southern by Design by Grace Walz
Hot Desk by Laura Dickerman
Herstories: Twelve Generations of Women Speak
by Priscilla Wilson
History
The History of Telfair County Volume One: Land Between the Rivers by Hart Mizell
Tiny Blunders/Big Disasters Book 2: The Many Tiny Mistakes That Changed the World Forever - Premiere Edition by Jared Knott
The Cross, the Candle, and the Crown: A Narrative History of Morehouse College, 1867-2021
by Marcellus Chandler Barksdale
Politics and Memory: Civil War Monuments in Gilded Age New York by Akela Reason
The Battle for the Black Mind by Karida L. Brown
Modern Jewish Worldmaking Through Yiddish Children's Literature by Miriam Udel
Somewhere Toward Freedom: Sherman's March and the Story of America's Largest Emancipation by Bennett Parten
Civil Sights: Sweet Auburn, a Journey through Atlanta's National Treasure by Gene Kansas
A History of Sautee Nacoochee by Tommy Hart Jones
There's Lots to See in Georgia: A Guide to Georgia's State Historic Sites by Jennifer W. Dickey
More Historic Rural Churches of Georgia by Sonny Seals
Driven: A Life in Public Service and Journalism from LBJ to CNN by Tom Johnson
Horror
Doomed Girls of Jefferson by Lilah Lawson
Gothictown by Emily Carpenter
The Unsettled by John Doriot
The October Film Haunt by Michael Wehunt
Dark Sisters by Kristi DeMeester
Hermits Die on Thursday: Stories of Appalachia and the Dark Ages by Gregory Ariail
Inspirational
The Savior/Shadow Principle: A Self-Help Technique and Philosophy Using Archetypes
by Kimberly McAfee
Lessons in Hope: A New Era for Maasai Women in Tanzania by Juliet Cutler
The Five Secrets of Luck: A Tale of the Long-Lost Keys to an Extraordinary Life by Skip Johnson
More than a President: Sundays with Jimmy Carter by Andrew Greer
Literary Novel
Goddess Complex: A Novel by Mollie Reid
GOODBYE, SWEETBERRY PARK by Josh Green
King Cal by Peter McDade
Creature of Air and Still Water by Malaika Cheney-Coker
Angels at the Gate by Sheri Joseph
Stymie: A Novel in Stories by Andy Plattner
Trudy’s Awakening: A Novel by Carolyn Newton Curry
The Deliverance of Barker McRae: A Novel by Stacia Pelletier
Haircuts for the Dead: A Novel by William Walsh
A Merry Chatty Christmas: A Stella Bankwell Story by Ronda Rich
Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood
From the Valley We Rise by Elizabeth Musser
Memoir
The Making of a Doctor: The Hidden Realities of Medicine by Michelle Izmaylov
Like Water on Leaves of Taro: a Himalayan Memoir by Tulasi Acharya
Call Me Jeanne by Jeanne Cahill
Momma May Be Mad: A Memoir by Kerry Neville
Finding Joy in the West by Joy Walker
Mostly True by Janie Watts
Straight to Hell: Memoir of an Ex-Evangelical Pastor by John Wilson
Sixty by Amber Lanier Nagle
Episodes by Gucci Mane
Poetry Collection
Summer In Kosciusko: Poems by Monica Lee Weatherly
Holy Undone by Joseph Jones
How to Migrate Ghosts by Jaiden Geolingo
A POUND OF CURE by Edward Wilson
Another Place Altogether by Candice Kelsey
Chance of Lightningby Kristin Robertson
We Travel Towards It by Amy Pence
A Dog's Job of Work by Sam Prestridge
Six White Horses: Poems by Sarah Gordon
Life Without Words by John Page
All Things In Common by Rupert Fike
With Fire In Their Hands / Con el fuego en las manos by Cecilia Lee
Prayers to a Small Stone by Jo Brachman
Of Meadows and Echoes: The Yearning for Soft Spaces by Khalil Elayan
The Tears of Things: Poems by Catherine Hamrick
Romance
A Sonata for Rosa Maria by Jane Lewis
An Ocean Apart by Jill Tew
Once Upon a Time in Dollywood by Ashley Jordan
Saving the Rancher by Tanya Agler
I Think They Love You by Juchole Gaines
Science Fiction/Fantasy
North by Ann Michelle Harris
The Gryphon King by Sara Omer
Avalanche by Cody Duckworth
Part of the Stars, Tale of a Boston Mountains Midwife by Kathryn Heller
Specialty
Cutting up in the Kitchen by Duane Nutter
Georgia’s Historical Recipes: Seeking Our State's Oldest Written Foodways and the Stories behind Them by Valerie J. Frey
Objects in This Mirror: An Anthology of Legacy by Danielle Hanson
Prose to the People: A Celebration of Black Bookstores by Katie Mitchell
Lactation for the Rest of Us: A Guide for Queer and Trans Parents and Helpers by Jacob Engelsman
35 Natural Wonders of Georgia to See before You Die by Ann Litrel
Land of Everlasting Hills by Ren Davis
Young Adult
Tiger Slayer by Molly Crabapple
Needy Little Things by Channelle Desamours
Phantom Delusions by Carrigan Richards
Dear Manny by Nic Stone