2020 Lillian Smith Book Awards

The 2020 Lillian Smith Book Awards ceremony will be held virtually as part of the annual AJC Decatur Book Festival, one of the largest independent book festivals in the country. Registration is free and available now through Eventbrite.

Authors and historians Jelani M. Favors and Brandon K. Winford are the 2020 recipients of the Lillian Smith Book Awards, which are administered by the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia.

Named after the acclaimed author of the controversial 1944 novel Strange Fruit, the Lillian Smith Book Awards recognize works that examine issues of race, social justice, civil and human rights, the education and socialization of young people, breaking silence among repressed groups, and matters that are significant to the changing South.

The Lillian Smith Book Awards are sponsored by the Southern Regional Council, University of Georgia Libraries, DeKalb County Public Library/The Georgia Center for the Book, and Piedmont College.