INDIANA – If you’re looking for a new reading list, look no further than the just announced 2020 winners of the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Awards. Sponsored by Glick Philanthropies and Indiana Humanities, winners were announced in seven literary categories. Of all the books written by Indiana authors and published in 2018 and 2019, 37 were shortlisted for the awards and winners were announced on Sept. 1.
Shortlisted books were written by lifelong Hoosiers, professors at Indiana colleges and universities, former residents and others with a deep connection to Indiana. They feature stories about life in Indiana, nature and interesting people. At turns whimsical and serious, funny and haunting, shortlist honorees addressed topics such as race, immigration, teen pregnancy and suicide, as well as fantasy fare such as fairies, airships and voodoo.
Awards are now made every other year. In between award years, local honorees will have the opportunity to participate in a statewide tour to connect with readers, teachers and students.
Each category winner will receive a $5,000 cash prize, a hand-crafted limestone award and the opportunity to make a $500 donation to an Indiana library of their choice.
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The winners are:
Children’s
“Attucks!: Oscar Robertson and the Basketball Team that Awakened a City,” by Phillip Hoose
“Attucks!” tells the true story of the all-Black Crispus Attucks High School basketball team that broke the color barrier in segregated 1950s Indiana. By winning the 1955 state championship, 10 teens — including eventual college and NBA star Oscar Robertson — shattered the myth of Black inferiority.
Drama
“The Jack Plays,” by James Still
A series of three plays featuring members of the same family, “The Jack Plays” take readers from a family Thanksgiving in Vermont, to the streets of Venice, to the inner workings of the CIA in Yemen. Across these geographies, Still brings complex, detailed characters to life, exploring family, love, loss, grief and healing.
Emerging
“Driven: A White-Knuckled Ride to Heartbreak and Back,” by Melissa Stephenson
“Driven” is a memoir about the road to hope told through the series of cars that carried Stephenson along life’s road. From a lineage of secondhand family cars of the late ’60s, to the Honda that got her from Montana to Texas as a new marriage disintegrated, to the ’70s Ford she drove away from her brother’s house after he took his life, to the VW van she now uses to take her kids camping, these cars have reliably driven her away from grief and toward hope.
Fiction
“The Life List of Adrian Mandrick,” by Chris White
A pill-popping anesthesiologist and avid birder embarks on a quest to find the extremely rare Ivory-billed Woodpecker only to become stranded in the thick swamp lands of Florida’s panhandle. There he confronts past and present failures, the cost of his obsessions and what’s truly important in life.
Genre
“Pimp My Airship,” by Maurice Broaddus
Indianapolis is recast as a steampunk, sci-fi landscape in Broaddus’ work where themes of power, racism and mass incarceration of people of color are explored. The fast-paced adventure through an alternative Indy follows an unlikely trio of Black compatriots into a battle for control of the nation and the soul of their people.
Nonfiction
“The Book of Delights,” by Ross Gay
A collection of essays written over the course of a tumultuous year, “The Book of Delights” reminds readers of the purpose and pleasure of praising, extolling and celebrating ordinary wonders. A New York Times best-seller and product of a commitment to write daily essays about life’s simple delights, the essays in “The Book of Delights” are funny, philosophical and moving. Embracing the inherent beauty of the natural world and the small human actions that create community, the book also addresses the enduring complexities of life, including the terrors of living in America as a Black man.
Poetry
“Sightseer in This Killing City,” by Eugene Gloria
Set in the aftermath of presidential elections in the U.S. and Philippines, “Sightseer in This Killing City” is an argument for grace and perseverance in an era of bombast and bullies.
Young Adult
“All the Things We Do in the Dark,” by Saundra Mitchell
Told through the eyes of a teenage girl, “All the Things We Do in the Dark” addresses challenging issues affecting young people — including rape, PTSD, mental health and victim blaming — and the many ways people work through trauma.
For more information, visit glickphilanthropies.org, indianahumanities.org or indianaauthorawards.org.
