Harper Lee Award Guidelines
The Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer of the Year will be made to a living, nationally recognized Alabama writer who has made a significant, lifelong contribution to Alabama letters. The honor recognizes those who primarily write creative nonfiction, drama/screenwriting, fiction, memoir, poetry, or a combination of these. This is not an award for journalistic, historical, or scientific writing, nor is it an award for service, scholarly research, or teaching.
The award carries a $5,000 stipend and an original Frank Fleming bronze rendering of the Old Monroe County Courthouse Clock Tower. The Harper Lee Award is presented with its sister award, the Eugene Current-Garcia Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Scholar of the Year at the The Alabama Writers Symposium in Monroeville.
Previous Harper Lee Award winners include: Brad Watson, 2017; E.O. Wilson, 2016; Hank Lazer, 2015; Mark Childress, 2014; Gay Talese, 2013; Fannie Flagg, 2012; Winston Groom, 2011; Carolyn Haines, 2010; Rick Bragg, 2009; Rebecca Gilman, 2008; William Cobb, 2007; Wayne Greenhaw, 2006; Andrew Hudgins, 2005; Sonia Sanchez, 2004; Rodney Jones, 2003; Mary Ward Brown, 2002; Sena Jeter Naslund, 2001; Helen Norris, 2000; Madison Jones, 1999; Albert Murray, 1998.
The Harper Lee Award and the Eugene Current-Garcia Award are made possible through a generous grant from George F. Landegger, CEO of Parsons and Whittemore.
All nominations and all deliberations of the awards committee are confidential. For more information, call the Forum office at 334-265-7728, toll free at 866-901-1117, or e-mail writersforum@bellsouth.net.
