Decatur-ful Townsend Prize Nominations
Allison | January 13, 2012 | 1:37 pm
Amanda Kyle Williams
The ten finalists for the 2012 Townsend Prize for Fiction, awarded biennially to an outstanding novel or short-story collection published by a Georgia writer during that biennium, were announced this week, and Decatur is well represented.
Thomas Mullen
For starters, The Georgia Center for the Book, one of the prize’s sponsoring organizations, is hosted and sponsored by the DeKalb County Public Library, headquartered on Sycamore Street. And among the finalists are Decatur folks Amanda Kyle Williams, for The Stranger You Seek, and Thomas Mullen, for The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers.
Here is the full list of finalists (and a great set of reading recommendations). Are there other Decatur connections here that I missed? Fill us in!
- Daniel Black for Perfect Peace, St Martin’s Press
- Lynn Cullen for Reign Of Madness, G.P. Putnam’s Sons
- Ann Hite for Ghost On Black Mountain, Gallery Books
- Joshilyn Jackson for Backseat Saints, Grand Central Publishing
- Collin Kelley for Remain In Light, Vanilla Heart Publishing
- Thomas Mullen for The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers, Random House
- Andrew Plattner for A Marriage Of Convenience, BkMk Press, University of Missouri-Kansas City
- Josh Russell for My Bright Midnight, Louisiana State University Press
- Joseph Skibell for A Curable Romantic, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
- Amanda Kyle Williams for The Stranger You Seek, Bantam Books
The Prize will be awarded to the winner selected from the list of ten finalists at a ceremony on Thursday, April 26, at the Day Room of the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Ann Beattie, author of Mrs. Nixon and Walks With Men, who currently serves as the Edgar Allan Poe Professor of Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Virginia, will give the keynote address at the event.
Created in 1981, the Prize was named for Jim Townsend, the founding editor of Atlanta magazine, the associate editor of Atlanta Weekly Magazine (of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution), and an early mentor to such Georgia writers as Pat Conroy, Terry Kay, Bill Diehl, and Anne Rivers Siddons. Previous winners of the Townsend Prize include Kathryn Stockett for The Help, Ha Jin for The Bridegroom: Stories, and Alice Walker for The Color Purple.
Just finished The Stranger You Seek this past week. It was a fun read, but I was very disappointed that this Decatur author chose to constantly put Diet Pepsi in her lead character’s hand rather than Diet Coke. It is, however, fun to be able to identify and picture so many of the local places she calls out. The downside of knowing the terrain is when things don’t pass the straight face test, like when her character drives to Ellijay in a Neon and it has troubles making it up the “mountain” roads!!!
Thanks for reading, Keith. Thrilled you liked the book. Yep, Keye’s always a little outside the circle, which is why I put Diet Pepsi in her hand in a Coke town. I hope you’ll forgive me for that. And, for the record, I drove up above E. Ellijay in a Neon once. The Neon didn’t know we weren’t in real mountains. I try to write a little of what I know around the fiction
Really appreciate you buying my book. Thank you!
Just wanted to let y’all know that Atlanta writer Joshilyn Jackson who was also shortlisted for the Townsend Prize will be at Georgia Center for the Book on January 25th 7:15. I hope Decatur comes out to support her.
Thanks for running the story, Decatur Metro!
Very cool Amanda. We actually have two copies, one hard cover (wife’s preference) and one for the Kindle, and now we are looking very forward to the next installment. Also, you’re forgiven for the Diet Pepsi…as we discussed it we just figured it was because Keye’s mother was from North Carolina! As for the Neon and the mountains, thanks for the tip: Never rent a Neon!
Congratulations on your success!
I’m a Decatur resident! Just ask at the Brick Store and Yogurt Tap . . .
Not a Decatur resident (yet), but thanks for helping to spread the word. I spend a lot of time in Decatur at Java Monkey and hosting readings for Poetry Atlanta at the Decatur Library. I’m thrilled to be on the list of finalists with Amanda, Thomas and Josh and all those great writers.