Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Townsend Prize for Fiction & Georgia Rules the Book World







Congratulations to Atlanta author Kathryn Stockett, whose book, The Help was recently awarded the 2010 Townsend Prize for Fiction. The Award is presented every two years to a Georgia author, and is named for Atlanta Magazine founding editor, the late Jim Townsend. This year's award was sponsored by the Writer's Institute at Georgia Perimeter College, The Atlanta Writer's Club, the Margaret Mitchell House, and the Georgia Center for the Book (see the links on this blog).

It is worth mentioning, too, that Ms. Stockett's book is, at this posting, Number 2 on the current New York Times bestseller list. She and her new book are also featured in the April/May edition of Garden & Gun Magazine. The article is written by Monte Burke, author of the book Sowbelly-The Obsessive Quest for the World-Record Largemouth Bass, which is reason enough to read the article.

Other nominees for this year's Townsend Prize included Phillip Lee Williams, for The Campfire Boys, Joshilyn Jackson, for The Girl Who Stopped Swimming, and Susan Rebecca White, for Bound South. Ms. White's new book, A Soft Place to Land, was blurrbed by Ms. Stockett. For a complete list of the nominees, visit the Georgia Center for the Book's website. You'll be asking, "ALL of these people are from Georgia?"

The 2010 Townsend Prize was awarded last week at a ceremony held at the Margaret Mithcell House in Atlanta.

And look what's coming (or just came out) from Georgia authors, and authors with Georgia connections:

George Washington Perry by Augusta newspaperman Bill Baab (just out in February)

Superbug: The Fatal Menace of MRSA by Maryn McKenna (just out last month). She'll be at the Georgia Center for the Book tonight.

A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White (just out)

The Turning--What Curiosity Kills by Helen Ellis (May 1)

Zero, Zilch, Nada by (illust.) Laura Knorr (May 1)

The Food, Folklore, and Art of Lowcountry Cooking by Joseph E. Dabney (May 1)

In Dooley's Garden by Vince Dooley (coming soon)

Backseat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson (June 8)

The Flower Seeker by Phillip Lee Williams (September 1)

Ellen Craft's Escape from Slavery by (illust.) Mark Braught (September 28)

Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin (May 11)

The Council of Dads by Bruce Feiler (today)
Photos: Phillip Lee Williams, Susan Rebecca White & Joshilyn Jackson, The Margaret Mitchell House (The "Dump").

More to come!

RMR