Georgia Author of the Year Awards 1997

35th Annual Georgia Author Of The Year Awards (For books published in the calendar year 1997)

Creative Non Fiction

Judges: Dr. Donna Gessell & Dr. Robert Hill

Memoir Division

• Gibran Saxon - The Silent Stars Go By
• Ben Baker - The Origins of Hawgin'
• Karen Austin - Blind Trust: A Child's Legacy
• Ed Williams - Sex, Dead Dogs and Me
• Joe Frank Harris - Personal Reflections and Public Life
• Mills Lane with Jedwin Smith - Let's Get It On
• John Lewis Walking With the Wind

Biography Division

• Andy Velasquez - Ol'Strom
• Mauriel Phillips Joslyn - A Meteor Shining Brightly
• Xavier Herbert - William Christenberry: The Early Years

Essay Division

• Neal Boortz - The Terrible Truth About Liberals
• Matt Towery - Powerchicks
• D. Hadayai S. Majeed - Emerging Victorious
• Monica Simmons - 365 Positive Strategies - Single Parenting
• Frans de Waal - Chimpanzee Politics
• Jimmy Carter - The Virtues of Aging
• Jimmy Carter - Living Faith
• Rosalynn Carter - Helping Someone With Mental Illness
• John Johnston - In-mation Multiplicity

Historical Division

• Tyler E. Bagwell - The Jekyll Island Club
• Barbara Duffey - Miracles From Heaven
• George C'de Baca - The Eden of La Cienega
• John E. Worth - Timucuan Chiefdoms of Spanish Florida
• Ellen Griffith Spears - The Newtown Story
• Lewis Larson - The Georgia and South Carolina Coastal Expeditions of Clarence Bloomfield Moore
• Ed Grisamore & Bill Buckley Once Upon a Whoopee
• Margaret Anne Barnes - The Tragedy and the Triumph of Phenix City, Alabama
• Philip L. Secrist - The Battle of Resaca
• Eleanor Ringel - Star Gazing Movies and Astrology
• Robin McDonald - Secrets Never Lie; The Death of Sara Tokars

Nature Writing Division

• Linton Wright McKnight - Birthflowers of the Landscape
• Don Hastings - Rich Harvest
• Lee May - Gardening Life

Cookbook Division

• Paula Deen - The Lady & Sons
• Clara Belle Hooks Eshmann - Remember When: Family, Friends, Recipes

Children's/Young Adult Literature

Judge: Sara Banks

Picture Book Division

• Evelyn Coleman - To Be a Drum
• Sandra & William Markle - Gone Forever
• Lynn Cullen - The Mightiest Heart - WINNER
• Bobbie Christmas & Dale Butler - The Legend of Codfish and Potatoes
• Monica Simmons, M.Ed - The Asterplanet Chronicles: Volumes 1-5

Middle Reader Division

• Charles Haddad - Meet Calliope Day
• Betsy Duffey - Cody's Secret Admirer
• Betsy Duffey - Spotlight on Cody
• Stan Applegate - The Devil's Highway

Young Adult Novel Division

• Nancy Butts - The Door in the Lake
• Brad Strickland - The Specter from the Magician's Museum
• Mauriel Joslyn - Shenandoah Autumn
• Erroll Bailey, M.D. - Mr. Dream Merchant

Children's Nonfiction Division

• Evelyn Coleman - The Riches of Oseola McCarty
• Naomi Shavin - Naomi Wants to Know
• Cathy Goldberg Fishman - On Hanukkah
• Sandra Markle - Outside and Inside Alligators
• Sandra Markle - Weird, Wacky Science
• Crystalline J. Prothro - I'm a Kid but I'm Not Kiddin'
• Gerald J. Beard - Me, Myself & I

First Novel

Judge: Phillip DePoy

• Brad Johnson - The Bird that Flies Highest
• Kimberly S. Phillips - Purpose Lies Within
• James Kilgo - Daughter of My People
• W. Lewis Johnson - Find a Way Home
• Mark Skinner - House Spouse
• Evelyn Coleman - What A Woman's Gotta Do
• Phyllis Alesia Perry - Stigmata
• William E. Boggan - Safe Sex

Fiction

Judge: Ha Jin

• Beverly Conner - Dressed to Die
• Jim Grimsley - Mr. Universe and Other Plays
• Nora DeLoach - Mama Rocks the Empty Cradle
• Philip Lawson - Would it Kill You to Smile?
• Ruth Birmingham (aka Walter Sorrells) - Atlanta Graves
• Phillip DePoy - Too Easy
• Kathy Hogan Trocheck - Midnight Clear
• Virginia Lanier - Blind Bloodhound Justice
• Frank Manley - The Cockfighter

Poetry

Judge: Dr. Laurie O'Brien

• Barbara Ras - Bite Every Sorrow - WINNER
• Martin Lammon - News From Where I Live
• Thelma R. Hall - Sunlight and Stones
• Jo Byce - Contemplations of the Spirit
• Glenda Allen Chatham - Timepieces
• Doyle Spence - Poems My Father Never Read
• Margo Candelario - Take Me to the Water
• Michael Bishop - Time Pieces
• Memye Curtis Tucker - The Watchers
• Memye Curtis Tucker - Stormline
• Memye Curtis Tucker - Admit One
• Linda Lee Harper - The Wide Load
• Janet Wondra - Long Division