2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006
55th GAYA (2019)
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Janisse Ray
POSTHUMOUS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Anya Krugovoy Silver
BIOGRAPHY
Winner: Ruby Lal, Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan
Finalist: Mary Schmidt Campbell, An American Odyssey: The Life and Work of Romare Bearden
CHILDREN’S BOOK
Winner: Deborah Wiles, A Long Line of Cakes
Finalist: Shanda McCloskey, Doll-E 1.0
DETECTIVE/MYSTERY
Winner: Karin Slaughter, Pieces of Her
Finalist: Roger Johns, River of Secrets
ESSAY COLLECTION
Winner: André Joseph Gallant, A High Low Tide: The Revival of a Southern Oyster
Finalist: Megan Volpert, Straight into Darkness: One Tom Petty Redemption Song
FIRST NOVEL
Winner: Xhenet Aliu, Brass
Finalist: Spencer Wise, The Emperor of Shoes
HISTORY
Winner: Joseph Crespino, Atticus Finch: The Biography
Finalist: Phil Hudgins and Jessica Phillips, Travels with Foxfire: Stories of People, Passions, and Practices from Southern Appalachia
LITERARY FICTION
Winner: Roberta George, The Day’s Heat
Finalist: Tayari Jones, An American Marriage
MEMOIR
Winner: Kelly Beard, An Imperfect Rapture
Finalist: James C. Abbot, Jr. The Burdens of Aeneas
POETRY CHAPBOOK
Winner: Julia Caroline Knowlton, The Café of Unintelligible Desire
Finalist: Cynthia Robinson Young, Migration
POETRY FULL-LENGTH BOOK
Winner: Mario Chard, Land of Fire
Finalist: Travis Denton, My Stunt Double
ROMANCE
Winner: Sally Kilpatrick, Oh My Stars
Finalist: Ricki Schultz, Switch and Bait
SHORT STORY COLLECTION
Winner: Sabrina Orah Mark, Wild Milk
Finalist: Andy Plattner, Dixie Luck
SPECIALTY BOOK
Winner: Todd Richards, Soul: A Chef’s Culinary Evolution in 150 Recipes
Finalist: Jimmy Carter, The Paintings of Jimmy Carter
YOUNG ADULT
Winner: Rachael Allen, A Taxonomy of Love
Finalist: Will Walton, I Felt A Funeral, In My Brain
54th GAYA (2018)
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Sharan Strange
POSTHUMOUS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Thomas Lux
CHILDREN’S BOOK
Winner: Vickie McEntire, Little Bird & Myrtle Turtle
Finalist: Dan Carlton, Ollie and the Wise Old Owl
DETECTIVE/MYSTERY
Winner: Roger Johns, Dark River Rising
Finalist: Maggie Toussaint, Dadgummit
FIRST NOVEL
Winner: Peter McDade, The Weight of Sound
Finalist: Christopher Swann, Shadow of the Lions
HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY
Winner: Dawn Peterson, Indians in the Family: Adoption and the Politics of Antebellum Expansion
Finalist: Mehrsa Baradaran, The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap
INSPIRATIONAL
Winner: Deborah Malone, Blooming in Broken Places
Finalist: Candace L. Long, The Ancient Path to Creativity and Innovation: Where Left and Right Brains Meet
LITERARY FICTION
Winner: Man Martin, The Lemon Jell-O Syndrome
Finalist: Anna Schachner, You and I and Someone Else
Honorable Mention: Daren Wang, The Hidden Light of Northern Fires
MEMOIR
Winner: Christopher Martin, This Gladdening Light: An Ecology of Fatherhood and Faith
Finalist: Stephen Corey, Startled at the Big Sound: Essays Personal, Cultural, and Literary
POETRY CHAPBOOK
Winner: Jane Simpson, On the Porch, Under the Eave
Finalist: K. B. Kincer, After the Transplant
POETRY FULL-LENGTH BOOK
Winner: Andrea Jurjević, Small Crimes
Finalist: Danielle Hanson, Ambushing Water
ROMANCE
Winner: Sally Kilpatrick, Bless Her Heart
Finalist: Marilyn Baron, The Alibi
SHORT STORY COLLECTION
Winner: Michael Bishop, Other Arms Reach Out to Me: Georgia Stories
Finalist: D. B. Martin, Terror Tales Vol. 1
SPECIALTY BOOK
Winner: Jason Thrasher, Athens Potluck
Finalist: Jimmy Carter, The Craftsmanship of Jimmy Carter
YOUNG ADULT
Winner: Aaron Levy, Blood Don’t Lie
Finalist: McCall Hoyle, The Thing with Feathers
53rd GAYA (2017)
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Raymond L. Atkins
POSTHUMOUS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Judith Ortiz Cofer
BIOGRAPHY
Winner: Ted Geltner, Blood, Bone, and Marrow: A Biography of Harry Crews
Finalist: Patricia Bell-Scott, The Firebrand and the First Lady
CHILDREN’S BOOK
Winner: Marcia Hawley Barnes, Tobijah
Finalist: Susie Gardner, 1, 2, 3 TEAM!
DETECTIVE/MYSTERY
Winner: Trudy Nan Boyce, Out of the Blues
Finalist: Carole Townsend, Blood in the Soil
ESSAY
Winner: Kathy A. Bradley, Wondering Toward Center
Finalist: Raymond L. Atkins, South of the Etowah: The View from the Wrong Side of the River
FIRST NOVEL
Winner: Gray Stewart, Haylow
Finalist: Anne Corbitt, Rules for Lying
HISTORY
Winner: Kaye Lanning Minchew, A President in Our Midst: Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Georgia
Finalist: Dan A. Aldridge, Jr., To Lasso the Clouds: The Beginning of Aviation in Georgia.
INSPIRATIONAL-RELIGIOUS
Winner: R. Kirby Godsey, The God Particle: God Talk in a “Big Bang” World
Finalist: J. Steve Miller, Faith That’s Not Blind: A Brief Introduction to Contemporary Arguments for the Existence of God
INSPIRATIONAL–SECULAR
Winner: Jane K. Ashley, Cancer: The Light at the End of the Tunnel
Finalist: Barry Pencek: The Millennial’s Guide to Wealth: Learn About Saving, Investing, Spending and Living While Drinking Beer
LITERARY FICTION
Winner: Julia Franks, Over the Plain Houses
Finalist: Terry Kay, The King Who Made Paper Flowers
Honorable Mention: Ann Hite, Sleeping Above Chaos
MEMOIR/AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Winner: John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and artist Nate Powell, March
Finalist: Susan Lindsley, Possum Cops, Poachers and the Counterfeit Game Warden
Honorable Mention: Molly Brodak, Bandit: A Daughter’s Memoir
POETRY
Winner: Sandra Meek, An Ecology of Elsewhere
Finalist: James Davis May, Unquiet Things
ROMANCE
Winner: Susan Sands, Love, Alabama
Finalist: Marilyn Baron, Stumble Stones
SPECIALTY BOOK
Winner: Sonny Seals and George S. Hart, Historic Rural Churches of Georgia
Finalist: Judson Mitcham, Michael David Murphy, and Karen L. Paty, Inspired Georgia
YOUNG ADULT
Winner: Marsha Mathews, Growing Up With Pigtails
Finalist: None
52nd GAYA (2016)
CHILDREN’S BOOK
Winner: Malcolm Mitchell, The Magician’s Hat
Finalist: Jamie Bobo, The Birthday Candle
DETECTIVE/MYSTERY
Winner: Linda Sands, 3 Women Walk into a Bar
Finalist: Cliff Yeargin, Hoochy Koochy: A Jake Eliam ChickenBone Mystery
FIRST NOVEL
Winner: Alexandra Curry, The Courtesan
Finalist: Brian Panowich, Bull Mountain
HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY
Winner: Leonard Ray Teel, Reporting the Cuban Revolution: How Castro Manipulated American Journalists
Finalist: William W. Winn, The Triumph of the Ecunnau-Nuxulgee: Land Speculators, George M. Troup, States Rights, and the Removal of the Creek Indians from Georgia and Alabama, 1825-38
INSPIRATIONAL–RELIGIOUS
Winner: Carl McColman, Befriending Silence: Discovering the Gifts of Cistercian Spirituality
Finalist: Lisa M. Allen-McLaurin, Worship Matters! A Collection of Essays on the Practical and Spiritual Discipline of Worship
INSPIRATIONAL–SECULAR
Winner: David Ryback, Secrets of a Zen Millionaire: 8 Steps to Personal Wealth With Real Estate
Finalist: H. James Dallas, Mastering the Challenges of Leading Change: Inspire the People and Succeed Where Others Fail
Honorable Mention: Josh Langston, Write Naked! Secrets of Dynamic Prose Laid Bare!
LITERARY FICTION
Winner: Ravi Howard, Driving the King
Finalist: Sherry Meeks, Finding Tambri: A Novel in Stories
MEMOIR/AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Winner: Gautam Narula, Remain Free
Finalist: Julia McDermott, All the Above: My Son’s Battle with Brain Cancer
Honorable Mention: Jimmy Carter, A Full Life
Honorable Mention: Kit Cummings, Peace behind the Wire, A Nonviolent Resolution
POETRY
Winner: William Wright, Tree Heresies
Finalist: Beth Gylys, Sky Blue Enough To Drink
ROMANCE
Winner: Karin Gillespie, Girl Meets Class
Finalist: Susan Carlisle, His Best Friend’s Baby
SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY
Winner: Constance McKee, The Girl in the Mirror
Finalist: Kathryn Hinds, The Healer’s Choice
SHORT STORY
Winner: Mary Hood, A Clear View of the Southern Sky
Finalist: Sara Kay Rupnik, Women Longing to Fly
SPECIALTY BOOK
Winner: Sandra D. Deal, Jennifer W. Dickey, and Catherine M. Lewis, Memories of the Mansion: The Story of Georgia’s Governor’s Mansion
Finalist: Andrew Feiler, Without Regard to Sex, Race, or Color: The Past, Present, and Future of One Historically Black College
YOUNG ADULT
Winner: Cassie Beasley, Circus Mirandus
Finalist: C. M. Fleming, Halley’s Hope
51nd GAYA (2015)
BIOGRAPHY
Winner: Carolyn Newton Curry, Suffer and Grow Strong: The Life of Ella Gertrude Clanton Thomas, 1834-1907
Finalist: James T. McAffee, Jr., To Make a Difference
CHILDREN’S BOOK
Winner: Charmain Zimmerman Brackett, Little Pearl’s Circus World
Finalist: Gloria Ludlam Bennett, Summers at Howard Creek
DETECTIVE/MYSTERY
Winner: David Darracott, Wasted
Finalist: Larissa Reinhart, Death in Perspective
ESSAY
Winner: Kate Sweeney, American Afterlife: Encounters in the Customs of Mourning
Finalist: Sam Williams, The CEO as Urban Statesman: Harnessing the Power of CEOs to Make Cities Thrive
FIRST NOVEL
Winner: Debra Bowling, The Memory of Flight
Finalist: Brandon Daily, A Murder Country
Honorable Mention: Stan Waits, Another Long, Hot Day
Honorable Mention: Richard Judy, THRU–An Appalachian Trail Love Story
HISTORY
Winner: Alvin Townley, Defiant: The POWs Who Endured Vietnam’s Most Infamous Prison, the Women Who Fought For Them, and the One Who Never Returned
Finalist: David Beasley, Without Mercy: The Stunning True Story of Race, Crime, and Corruption in the Deep South
HUMOR
Winner: Jameson Gregg, Luck be a Chicken
Finalist: Todd Sentell, Toonamint of Champions and Why Golf is So Exciting
INSPIRATIONAL–SECULAR
Winner: Letitia Sweitzer, The Elephant in the ADHD Room: Beating Boredom as the Secret to Managing ADHD
Finalist: Peter Bowerman, The Well-Fed Self-Publisher
INSPIRATIONAL–RELIGIOUS
Winner: Connie Carey, Falling Up: Lessons Learned on the Way Down
LITERARY FICTION
Winner: Michael K. Brown, Somewhere a River
Finalist: Raymond Atkins, Sweetwater Blues
Finalist: Victoria Wilcox, Gone West: Book Two from Southern Son, The Saga of Doc Holliday Series
MEMOIR/AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Winner: Clifton Crais, History Lessons
Finalist: Bahram Darugar, Out of Iran
POETRY
Winner: Anya Krugovoy Silver, I Watched You Disappear
Finalist: Alice Friman, The View from Saturn
ROMANCE
Winner: Debbie Kaufman, Journey of Hope
Finalist: Richard Taylor, Return to Eden
SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY/PARANORMAL
Winner: Jack McDevitt, Coming Home
Finalist: Sandra Hood, Blood Exchange
SHORT STORY
Winner: H. William Rice, The Lost Woods
Finalist: Evan Guilford-Blake, American Blues
SPECIALTY BOOK
Winner: Gordon L. Jones, Confederate Odyssey
Finalist: George Justice, Courthouses of Georgia
YOUNG ADULT
Winner: Elizabeth O. Dulemba, A Bird on Water Street
50th GAYA (2014)
BIOGRAPHY
Jim Elledge, Henry Darger, Throwaway Boy: The Tragic Life on an Outsider Artist
CHILDREN’S BOOK
Brian Eames, The Dagger X
FICTION NOVEL
Raymond Atkins, Camp Redemption
FIRST NOVEL
Victoria Wilcox, Inheritance
HISTORY
J. Lloyd Winstead, When Colleges Sang: The Story of Singing in American College Life
INSPIRATIONAL–RELIGIOUS
David P. Gushee, The Sacredness of Human Life: Why an Ancient Biblical Vision is Key to the World’s Future
INSPIRATIONAL–NON-SECULAR
Jessica Handler, Braving the Fire: A Guide to Writing About Grief and Loss
MEMOIR/AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Martha E. Ezzard, The Second Bud: Deserting the City for a Farm Winery
POETRY
Robert E. Wood, The Awkward Poses of Others
SPECIALTY BOOK
Jingle Davis, Island Time: An Illustrated History of St. Simons Island, Georgia
YOUNG ADULT
Terra Elan McVoy, Criminal
49th GAYA (2013)
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Jack McDevitt
BIOGRAPHY
Joseph Crespino, Strom Thurmond’s America
CHILDREN’S BOOK
Sandra Page, Pyramid of the Lost World
ESSAY
Kathy A. Bradley, Breathing and Walking Around: Meditations of Life
FIRST NOVEL
Kimberly Brock, The River Witch
HISTORY
Steven Davis, What the Yankees Did to Us: Sherman’s Bombardment and the Wrecking of Atlanta
INSPIRATIONAL–RELIGIOUS
J. Steve Miller, Near Death Experiences as Evidence for the Existence of God and Heaven
INSPIRATIONAL–SECULAR
Patricia Martin Holt, Committee of One: Making a Difference, One Life at a Time
MEMOIR/AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Joseph Scott Morgan, Blood Beneath My Feet
NOVEL
June Hall McCash, Plum Orchard
POETRY
Dan Veach, Elephant Water
SHORT STORY
Cliff Graubart, The Curious Vision of Sammy Levitt and Other Stories
SPECIALTY BOOK
Ren & Helen Davis, Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery: An Illustrated History and Guide
48th GAYA (2012)
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Dr. Ferrol Sams
CHILDREN’S BOOK
Robin Lynne Gordon, Lift: A Gosling’s First Flight
ESSAY
Ed Grisamore, Never Put a Ten- Dollar Tree in a Ten-Cent Hole… and Other Stories
FICTION
Man Martin, Paradise Dogs
FIRST NOVEL
Ann Hite, Ghost on Black Mountain
HISTORY
Edward J. Larson, An Empire of Ice: Scott, Shackleton, and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Science
MEMOIR
Nancy Stephan, Truth About Butterflies
POETRY
Alice Friman, Vinculum: Poems
SHORT STORY
Terry Kay, The Greats of Cuttercane
SPECIALTY BOOK
Phillip Juras, The Southern Frontier: Landscapes Inspired by Bartram’s Travels
YOUNG ADULT
Ted Dunagan, Trouble on the Tombigbee
47th GAYA (2011)
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Terry Kay
BIOGRAPHY
Larry L. McSwain, Loving Beyond Your Theology: The Life and Ministry of Jimmy Raymond Allen
CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOK
Grady Thrasher, Tim and Sally’s Year in Poems
CHILDREN’S MID-READER
Peggy Mercer, Peach: When the Well Run Dry
ESSAY
Peter Augustine Lawler, Modern and American Dignity: Who We Are as Persons, and What that Means for our Future
FICTION
Joshilyn Jackson, Backseat Saints
FIRST NOVEL
June Hall McCash, Almost to Eden
HISTORY
Toni P. Anderson, “Tell Them We Are Singing for Jesus”: The Original Fisk Jubilee Singers and Christian Reconstruction, 1871-1878
INSPIRATIONAL
Justin Spizman and Robyn Spizman, Don’t Give Up…Don’t Ever Give Up
MEMOIR
D. Craig Rikard, Hidden Epidemic: “Mama, Why Don’t You Remember Our Names Anymore?”
POETRY
Phillip Lee Williams, The Flower Seeker: An Epic Poem of William Bartram
SPECIALTY BOOK
John A. Burrison, From Mud to Jug: The Folk Potters and Pottery of Northeast Georgia
YOUNG ADULT
Ted Dunagan, Secret of the Satilfa
46th GAYA (2010)
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Robert W. Hill
BIOGRAPHY
James L. Hunt, Relationship Banker: Eugene W. Stetson, Wall Street, and American Business 1916-1959
CHILDREN’S MID-READER
V. S. Chin, Dragon Girl: An Interactive, Fork-of-Life Adventure
CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOK
Nicole Izmaylov, Ronnie and BB
ESSAY
Anita Renfroe, Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn You: Kids, Carbs, and the Coming Hormone Apocalypse
FICTION
Philip Lee Williams, The Campfire Boys
FIRST NOVEL
Amanda C. Gable, The Confederate General Rides North
HISTORY
Polly Cooper and Ellen Taber, Tybee Days: 100 Years on Georgia’s Playground Island
INSPIRATIONAL
Carmen Acevedo Butcher, The Cloud of Unknowing with the Book of Privy
MEMOIR
Winton Porter, Just Passin’ Thru
POETRY
Gregory Fraser, Answering the Ruins
SPECIALTY BOOK
David B. Dusenbery, Living at Microscale: The Unexpected Physics of Being Small
YOUNG ADULT
Jennifer Jabaley, Lipstick Anthology
45th GAYA (2009)
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Furman Bisher
BIOGRAPHY
Fredrick L. Downing, Elie Wiesel: A Religious Biography
CHILDREN’S MID-READER
Pamela Bauer Mueller, Aloha Crossing
CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOK
Gail Langer Karwoski, River Beds
ESSAY
Kathryn McClymond, Beyond Sacred Violence: A Comparative Study of Sacrifice
FICTION
Jack Riggs, The Fireman’s Wife
FIRST NOVEL
Ray Atkins, The Front Porch Prophet
HISTORY
Paul A. Lombardo, Three Generations No Imbeciles
MEMOIR
Benyamin Cohen, My Jesus Year
POETRY
Ed Pavlic, The Winners Have Yet to Be Announced
SPECIALTY BOOK
Doug Janousek, Home Cookin’ Illustrated
YOUNG ADULT
Ted Dunagan, The Yellow Watermelon
44th GAYA (2008)
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Dan Veach
TARAN FAMILY MEMORIAL AWARD
Stephen Bluestone, The Flagrant Dead
BIOGRAPHY
Jennifer Evans. What the Locust Had Eaten: The Nikki O’Baire Story
CHILDREN’S MID-READER
Shelia Moses, Sallie Gal and the Wall-a-kee Man
CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOK
Grady Thrasher, Tim and Sally’s Vegetable Garden
ESSAY
Melody Moezzi, War on Error: Real Stories of American Muslims
FICTION
Terry Kay, The Book of Marie
FIRST NOVEL
Man Martin, Days of Endless Corvette
HISTORY
Timothy Crimmins and Anne Farrisee, Democracy Restored
MEMOIR
Doug Crandell, The All-American Industrial Motel
POETRY
Turner Cassity, Devils & Islands: Poems
SPECIALTY BOOK
James McGregor, Washington from the Ground Up
YOUNG ADULT
Pamela Bauer Mueller, An Angry Drum Echoed
43rd GAYA (2007)
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Memye Curtis Tucker
TARAN FAMILY MEMORIAL AWARD
Collin Kelley and Kodac Harrison, Java Monkey Speaks: A Poetry Anthology, Vol. 2
ANTHOLOGIES/SHORT STORY
William Walsh, ed., Under the Rock Umbrella
BIOGRAPHY
Joyce Flueckiger, In Amma’s Healing Room
CHILDREN’S MID-READER
Carole Marsh, The Secret of Skullcracker Swamp
CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOK
Erin Harris, Elephant on My Roof
ESSAY
Phillip Lee Morris, In the Morning
FICTION
Joshilyn Jackson, Between, Georgia
FIRST NOVEL
Pamela Jackson, On This Side of Heaven
HISTORY
Hank Klibanoff, The Race Beat
INSPIRATIONAL
Joey Hancock, Success Afield
MEMOIR
Barbara Brown Taylor, Leaving Church
POETRY
Jim Elledge, A History of My Tattoo
SELF-HELP
Peter Bowerman, The Well-Fed Publisher
SPECIALTY BOOK
Perry Dilbeck, The Last Harvest
YOUNG ADULT
Tom Dietz, Windmaster’s Bane
42nd GAYA (2006)
TARAN FAMILY MEMORIAL AWARD
Dawn Burnett, Ed., High School 101: Freshman Survival Guide
BIOGRAPHY
Steve Suitts, Hugo Black of Alabama
CHILDREN’S /YOUNG ADULT
Sheila Moses, I, Dred Scott
ESSAY
Jimmy Carter, Our Endangered Values
FICTION
David Fulmer, Jass
FIRST NOVEL
Brian Jay Corrigan, The Poet of Loch Ness
HISTORY
James C. Cobb, The Brown Decision, Jim Crow and Southern Identity
INSPIRATIONAL
Bruce Feiler, Where God Was Born
MEMOIR
Sidney Pike, We Changed the World
POETRY
Sandra Meek, Burn
SELF-HELP
Sandra P. Riggin, Breaking the Cycle
SPECIALTY BOOK
Dr. Donald Smith and Dr. Roy Ward, Churches: Photographs and Watercolors