Indiana Author Award Nomination

Recently learned that I have been nominated in the regional category for the 2010 Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Award. The Indiana Authors Award is a program of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Foundation and is funded through the generosity of The Glick Fund, a fund of Central Indiana Community Foundation.

This annual award seeks to recognize the contributions of Indiana authors to the literary landscape in Indiana and across the nation.

Nominations were submitted from across the state in early spring. Any published writer who was born in Indiana or has lived in Indiana for at least five years was eligible. An eight-member, statewide Award Panel selected the national winner and finalists in three categories from the pool of publicly nominated authors:

* National Author - $10,000 prize: a writer with Indiana ties, but whose work is known and read throughout the country. National authors were evaluated on their entire body of work. Winner: Scott Russell Sanders

* Regional Author - $7,500 prize: A writer who is well-known and respected throughout the state of Indiana. Regional authors were evaluated on their entire body of work. Finalists: Ray Boomhower, Colleen Coble, and Andrew Levy

* Emerging Author - $5,000 prize: A writer with only one published book. Emerging authors were evaluated on their single published work. Finalists: Douglas Light, Micah Ling, and Greg Schwipps

Award finalists in all three categories will be honored on October 9, 2010 at Central Library in downtown Indianapolis. The day’s events will include free public programs such as author lectures from this year’s Indiana Authors Award honorees, “how to get published” workshops for aspiring writers, and book sales and signings featuring authors from around the state. A ticketed Award Dinner and fundraiser benefiting the Library Foundation will follow that evening where the winner of the Regional Author and Emerging Author categories will each be named. Sanders will serve as the dinner’s keynote speaker. Ticket information for the Indiana Authors Award Dinner is available by contacting the Library Foundation at (317) 275-4700 or by visiting www.indianaauthorsaward.org.