Georgia Author of the Year Award 2004

40th Annual Georgia Author of the Year Award Official Nominations List (awarded in 2004 for books published in calendar year 2003)

  • Executive Director/Co-Founder Geri Taran
  • Chairman Vally M. Sharpe
  • Lifetime Achievement Award: Dr. Bettie M. Sellers

Creative Nonfiction

  • Final Judge: Dr. Blake Leland

Overall Creative Nonfiction Winner(s)

  • Boyd, Valerie - Wrapped in Rainbows
  • Monahan, Evelyn & Neidel-Greenlee, Rosemary - And if I Perish

Essay Division

  • Division Judge - Jennifer Wheelock
  • Division Winner - Blackmarr, Amy - Above the Fall Line
  • Blackmarr, Amy - Above the Fall Line
  • Miller, Zell - A National Party No More
  • Sipp, Carey - The Turn Around Mom
  • Thurmond, Michael - Freedom

Biography Division

  • Division Judge: Piper Huguley-Riggins
  • Division Winner: Boyd, Valerie - Wrapped in Rainbows
  • Boyd, Valerie - Wrapped in Rainbows
  • Carr, Virginia Spencer - The Lonely Hunter
  • Cheatham, Mike - No Man Walks Alone
  • Hyatt, Richard - Charles H. Jones, A Biography

Memoir Division

  • Division Judge: Jeremy Eisenberg
  • Division Winner: Walker, Melissa - Living on Wilderness Time
  • Arbiser, Pola - Give Me the Children
  • Haney, Eric L. - Inside Delta Force
  • Harner, Irene A. - Movin' On
  • Taylor, Richard - Prodigals: A Vietnam Story
  • Walker, Melissa - Living on Wilderness Time

History Division

  • Division Judge: Robert Giannetti
  • Division Winner: Monahan, Evelyn & Neidel-Greenlee, Rosemary - And if I Perish
  • Ambrose, Andy - Atlanta: An Illustrated History
  • Darnell, Tim - The Crackers: Early Days of Atlanta Baseball
  • Domin, Gregory Paul - Jimmy Carter, Public Opinion and the Search for Values
  • Galloway, Tammy Harden - Dear Old Roswell
  • Gilliard, Deric A. - Living in the Shadows of a Legend
  • Greene, Melissa Fay - Last Man Out
  • Johnson, Calvin C., Jr. - Exit to Freedom
  • Monahan, Evelyn & Neidel-Greenlee, Rosemary - And if I Perish
  • Smith, Jedwin - Fatal Treasure
  • Turner, Nat (Ed.) - A Southern Soldier's Letters Home

Self-Help Division

  • Division Judge: Maria Engberg
  • Division Winner: Lewis, Edna & Peacock, Scott - The Gift of Southern Cooking
  • Baer, Greg, M.D. - Real Love
  • Batchelder, Josh - Handwriting Reveals You
  • Evans, Gail - She Wins, You Win
  • Lawson, Leidra - Sugar Daddy 101
  • Lewis, Edna & Peacock, Scott - The Gift of Southern Cooking
  • Marks, Marsha - 101 Simple Lessons for Life
  • Smith, Loran & Myrna - Let the Big Dawg Eat
  • Wayne, Robert - Venice in Context

Inspirational/Religious Division

  • Division Judge: Opal Moore
  • Division Winner: Allen, Barbara - Still Christian After All These Years
  • Allen, Barbara - Still Christian After All These Years
  • Burch, Jarrett - Adiel Sherwood
  • Carrera, Phyllis - A Journey of My Choosing
  • Chea, Augustine S. - Inspirational Daily Meditation
  • Fillingim, David - Redneck Liberation
  • Hamill, Bryan - Shocking Bible Prophecy
  • Maurer, Marsha - A Fragrant Fullness
  • Murphey, Cecil - The Relentless God

Poetry

  • Judge: Dr. Lee Passarella
  • Winner: Woloch, Cecilia - (Late)
  • Corey, Stephen - There Is No Finished World
  • Giannetti, Robert - Drawn by the Creek
  • Kelley, Collin - Better to travel: Selected Poems
  • Rochelle, Tania - Karaoke Funeral
  • Wilson, Dianna S. - Reflections From the Heart
  • Woloch, Cecilia - Late

Fiction

  • Judge: David Fulmer
  • Winner: Kay, Terry - The Valley of Light
  • Andrews, Mary Kay - Little Bitty Lies
  • Cleage, Pearl - Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do
  • Ellis, Virginia - The Photograph
  • Gerdes, Eckhard - Cistern Tawdry
  • Kay, Terry - The Valley of Light
  • Keyes, Greg - The Briar King
  • Lanier, Virginia - A Bloodhound to Die For
  • Magers, Rick - Blue Water Adventure
  • Propst, Milam McGraw - Ociee: On Her Own
  • Ray, Janisse - Wild Card Quilt
  • Singer, Randy - Irreparable Harm
  • Skibell, Joseph - The English Disease
  • Slaughter, Karen - A Faint Cold Fear
  • Smith, Haywood - The Red Hat Club
  • Vail, Emily Blake - Dark Night on Mimosa Trail

Anthologies/Short Stories

  • Judge: Beau Cutts
  • Winner: Ruppersburg, Dr. Hugh (Ed.) - After O'Connor
  • Bishop, Michael - Brighten to Incandescence
  • Denmark, Herbert W. - Second Finger ... Left Hand
  • Denmark, Herbert, (Ed.) - The Night the Animals Screamed
  • Hendricks, Randy J. - The Twelfth Year and Other Times
  • Ruppersburg, Dr. Hugh (Ed.) - After O'Connor

First Novel

  • Judge: John Williams
  • Winner: Riggs, Jack - When the Finch Rises
  • Berry, Steve - The Amber Room
  • Best, Steven M. - When Philosophers Were Kings
  • Carter, Jimmy - The Hornet's Nest
  • Clear, Irvon E. - The Game: Part 1
  • duPont, M. Kay - Loving Mr. Lincoln
  • Graham, Mitchell - The Fifth Ring
  • Hyde, Nancy M. - The Hollow
  • Khoury, Hannah - So Pretty an African
  • Lazenby, H.F. - A Death in Heaven
  • McNaughton, June - Alligator Creek
  • Riggs, Jack - When the Finch Rises
  • Robbins, Carolyn - Caribbean Green
  • Stewart, Fran - Orange as Marmalade
  • Sun, Adam - The Mountain Man
  • Uhler, Margaret B. Anderson - The Floridians

Children's and Young Adult Literature

  • Judge: Sara Harrell Banks
  • Winner: Bryant, David & Davidson, George - Georgia's Amazing Coast
  • Bryant, David & Davidson, George - Georgia's Amazing Coast
  • Dell, Marshall - The Enchanted Okefenokee
  • Heyman, Carly - My Extra Special Brother
  • Jones, Melanie D. - Pigs Rock!
  • Shore, Diane Z. - Bus-A-Saurus Bop
  • Tiller, Steven - Rudolf the Red Nose

The Barry L. and Robert S. Taran Memorial Award

  • Heyman, Carly - My eXtra Special Brother