Announcing the 2024 Southern Book Prize Winners
#southernbookprize #SBP24
CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF GREAT SOUTHERN LITERATURE: ANN PATCHETT, MARGARET RENKL, AND GILLIAN McDUNN ARE THE RECIPIENTS OF THE 2024 SOUTHERN BOOK PRIZE
(Asheville, NC) In what is now their traditional Valentine’s love letter to people who love Southern literature, Southern indie booksellers and the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance are pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 Southern Book Prize (SBP). 2024 is a special year that marks the 25th anniversary of the prize, a quarter of a century of recognition of great Southern literature by the people who would know, Southern independent booksellers.
This year’s winners are Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (Harper) in Fiction, The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl (Spiegel & Grau) in Nonfiction, and When Sea Becomes Sky by Gillian McDunn (Bloomsbury Children’s Books) in Children’s & YA. Winners receive a donation in their name to the charity or nonprofit of their choice.
The Southern Book Prize, representing Southern bookseller favorites from 2023, is awarded to “the best Southern book of the year” as nominated by Southern indie booksellers and voted on by their customers. Winners are chosen by popular vote from a ballot of finalists in fiction, nonfiction, and children’s literature. Thousands of ballots are cast during the voting period, making every Southern Book Prize winner a true Southern reader favorite.
Enthusiasm for the Southern Book Prize is also enhanced by the Southern Book Prize Raffle to receive a collection of the SBP finalists and winning titles, as well as a Social Media Scavenger Hunt on Instagram, where participants can win a gift card to the participating bookstore of their choice. This year’s raffle winner is Tonya Schur, a customer of Books to Be Red in Ocracoke, North Carolina. Susan Hansen, a customer of Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee, is the scavenger hunt winner and will receive a $100 gift card to the bookstore.
The Authors:
When she was notified Tom Lake was a Southern Book Prize winner, Ann Patchett said, “Huge thanks to all the indie booksellers who’ve made this book a success. I’m so grateful to you for putting Tom Lake into readers’ hands. This is the nicest Valentine ever.” Patchett asked for her award money to be donated to PEN America, an organization at the forefront of the fight against the rise of book-banning attempts.
Margaret Renkl said, “There is a special sweetness to the Southern Book Prize that makes it nearly impossible to find adequate words of thanks. To know that a book has been chosen by booksellers, who read everything, and by readers, who have so many claims on their time and attention—could there be any celebration more heart-lifting to an author? Oh, my dear friends in independent bookstores across the South: Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Renkl’s prize will go to Homegrown National Park, a nonprofit that encourages people to convert their outdoor spaces into beautiful and functioning wildlife habitats. She noted that the organization is “a great resource for readers of The Comfort of Crows who want to help their own wild neighbors.”
“I’ve known for a while now that not much is better than having the warmth and support of Southern booksellers and readers,” said Gillian McDunn, “and so it feels like this award is the frosting on an already delicious cake. I am proud to be a part of the rich literary tradition of our region and honored to have When Sea Becomes Sky chosen from a list of so many wonderful books. My endless thanks, gratitude, and appreciation to those who have cheered along this book of my heart.” McDunn’s prize will go to support The Emily K. Center in Durham, North Carolina, which works to build the academic, career, and leadership potential of traditionally underrepresented students in higher education.
What Southern Booksellers Have to Say About the Winning Books:
2024 SBP Children’s & YA Winner:
When Sea Becomes Sky by Gillian McDunn
Bloomsbury Children’s Books, February 2023
“I was devastated for myself and every character I had met along the way while reading this wonderfully crafted story. This book will rip your heart out and put it back together perfectly.”
— Rayna Nielsen, Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans, Louisiana
2024 SBP Fiction Winner:
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Harper, August 2023
“Ann Patchett does it again! Tom Lake is so good it’s like eating a favorite dessert. Do you gobble it up quickly, or slowly savor it so that it lasts longer? I would give a million stars to this one.”
— Monie Henderson, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi
2024 SBP Nonfiction Winner:
The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl
Spiegel & Grau, October 2023
“You will want to plant something, feed something, preserve something, and protect something all at the same time. You don’t have to be a nature lover to read this book, but you will be by the time you finish it.”
— Mary Patterson, The Little Bookshop in Midlothian, Virginia
An indie bookseller-curated, reader-chosen award, The Southern Book Prize showcases books that have been favorite “hand sell” titles of Southern booksellers and establishes indie booksellers as a knowledgeable, trustworthy source for avid readers looking for their next great read.
“From the joy of seeing the bookmobile pull up in my childhood village to visiting independent bookstores everywhere I travel as an adult, books have played an important role in my life. I’m so grateful to authors and booksellers everywhere for feeding my habit!”
—Tonya Schur, 2024 Southern Book Prize Raffle Winner
The Southern Book Prize, formerly the SIBA Book Award, has been awarded annually since 1999. SIBA launched the public ballot in 2019 to encourage stores to engage their customers in the important question of what books deserve to be called “the best Southern book of the year.” For more information, visit the Southern Book Prize home at The Southern Bookseller Review.