The Townsend Prize for Fiction is awarded biennially (that is, every two years) to a writer from the U.S. state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

for the best novel published during those years, by the Georgia Center for the Book and '' The Chattahoochee Review'' the literary journal of Perimeter College at Georgia State University. The award was named in honor of the founding editor of ''

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

'' magazine, Jim Townsend. It was first granted in 1982.

Previous winners

Celestine Sibley Celestine Sibley (May 23, 1914 – August 15, 1999) was a famous American newspaper reporter, syndicated columnist, and novelist in Atlanta, Georgia, for nearly sixty years. Biography Sibley was born in Holley, Florida. She graduated from h ...

, ''Children, My Children'' (1982) *

Alice Walker Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she became the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which she was awa ...

, ''

The Color Purple ''The Color Purple'' is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction.

'' (1984) *

Philip Lee Williams Philip Lee Williams (born January 30, 1950) is an American novelist, poet, and essayist noted for his explorations of the natural world, intense human relationships, and aging. A native of Athens, Georgia, he grew up in the nearby town of Madi ...

, '' The Heart of a Distant Forest'' (1986) *

Mary Hood Mary Hood (born September 16, 1946 in Brunswick, Georgia) is a fiction writer of predominantly Southern literature, who has authored three short story collections – ''How Far She Went,'' ''And Venus is Blue'' and ''A Clear View of the South ...

, ''And Venus Is Blue'' (1988) * Sara Flanigan, ''Alice'' (1989) * Charlie Smith, ''The Lives of the Dead'' (1990) *

Ferrol Sams Ferrol Aubrey Sams, Jr. (September 26, 1922 – January 29, 2013) was an American physician and novelist. Early life and education Sams was born to Mildred Matthews and Ferrol Aubrey Sams, Sr, in Fayette County, Georgia, United States. The young ...

, ''When All the World Was Young'' (1991) * Pam Durban, ''The Laughing Place'' (1994) * JoAllen Bradham, ''Some Personal Papers'' (1996) *

Judson Mitcham Judson Mitcham (born 1948) is an American author and poet best known for being the state of Georgia's tenth official poet laureate between 2012 and 2019. He is the only writer to win the Townsend Prize for Fiction twice. His poetry is featured r ...

, ''The Sweet Everlasting'' (1998) * James Kilgo, ''Daughter of My People'' (2000) *

Ha Jin Jin Xuefei (; born February 21, 1956) is a Chinese-American poet and novelist using the pen name Ha Jin (). ''Ha'' comes from his favorite city, Harbin. His poetry is associated with the Misty Poetry movement. Early life Ha Jin was born in ...

, '' The Bridegroom (short story collection)'' (2002) *

Terry Kay Terry Winter Kay (February 10, 1938 – December 12, 2020) was an American author, whose novels examined life in the American South. His most well-known book, ''To Dance with the White Dog'', was made into a Hallmark Hall of Fame television mov ...

, ''The Valley of Light'' (2004) *

, ''Sabbath Creek'' (2006) * Renee Dodd, ''A Cabinet of Wonders'' (2008) *

Kathryn Stockett Kathryn Stockett is an American novelist. She is known for her 2009 debut novel, '' The Help'', which is about African-American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi, during the 1960s. Career Stockett worked in magazine publ ...

, ''

The Help ''The Help'' is a historical fiction novel by American author Kathryn Stockett and published by Penguin Books in 2009. The story is about African Americans working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi, during the early 1960s. A ''USA To ...

'' (2010) *

Thomas Mullen Thomas Mullen (20 June 1896 – 2 January 1966) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and school teacher. He was born in Roemore, Breaffy, County Mayo, to primary school teacher parents, Thomas and Mary Mullen (née Coggins).Deaths, ''Irish Ind ...

, ''The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers'' (2012) *

, ''A Clear View of the Southern Sky'' (2016) * Julia Franks, ''Over the Plain Houses'' (2018) * Xhenet Aliu, ''Brass'' (2020) * Sanjena Sathian, ''Gold Diggers'' (2023)

References

American fiction awards Awards established in 1981 {{Lit-award-stub