Nominate an Indiana Author

Booth Tarkington. Meredith Nicholson. Kurt Vonnegut. James Alexander Thom. Who should join this list of prominent Indiana authors?

You can help decide.

Nominate an Indiana author for the 2010 Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Award by March 26, 2010. The Award is a program of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Foundation and recognizes the contributions of Indiana authors to the literary landscape in Indiana and across the nation; it is funded through the generosity of The Glick Fund, a fund of Central Indiana Community Foundation.

The Indiana Authors Award invites participation from people around the state beginning with the nomination process. Participation then continues throughout the year with outreach to organizations serving readers and writers with an interactive Web site. The program culminates in a day of free public programs and a ticketed Awards Dinner on Oct. 9, 2010 at the Central Library in Indianapolis.

Nomination forms are available until March 26 at www.indianaauthorsaward.org. Complete information and eligibility guidelines are included on the nomination forms.

Any published writer who was born in Indiana or who has lived in Indiana for at least five consecutive years is eligible for nomination. An eight-member, statewide Award Panel will select winners 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 will be evaluated on their entire body of work.
• Regional Author – $7,500 prize: A writer who is well-known and respected throughout the state of Indiana. Regional authors will be evaluated on their entire body of work.
• Emerging Author – $5,000 prize: A writer with only one published book. Emerging authors will be evaluated on their single published work.

 

In addition to a cash prize, each author’s Indiana hometown public library will receive a grant of $2,500 from the Library Foundation.

“When you put together our state’s amazing writing talent, wonderful public support, and the resources and expertise of the Library Foundation, you get something truly brilliant,” said Marianne Glick, daughter of Eugene and Marilyn Glick and vice chairwoman of The Glick Fund. “We are well on our way to building one of the nation’s premier literary award programs.”

Last year’s inaugural Awards Program included a public program celebrating Indiana authors attended by 400 participants and an Awards Dinner raising over $40,000 for the Library Foundation. At the dinner, Indiana native James Alexander Thom was presented with the National Author award while Susan Neville received the Regional Author award and Christine Montross received the Emerging Author award. These authors, as well as their hometown Indiana libraries, each received grants ranging from $2,500 to $10,000.

“Winning this award was a rare and heart-lifting pleasure,” said James Alexander Thom. “I am grateful that Eugene and Marilyn Glick honored the storytelling art highly enough to applaud it in such a grand and generous way, and I look forward to applauding those whose work will be so acknowledged in the years to come.”

To submit a 2010 nomination or to learn more, contact the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Foundation at (317) 275-4700 or visit www.indianaauthorsaward.org.