SILAS HOUSE, MARY LAURA PHILPOTT, ANTWAN EADY AND GRACEY ZHANG (ILLUS.) WIN 2023 SOUTHERN BOOK PRIZE

(Asheville, NC) As a “valentine” to people who love Southern Literature, Southern indie booksellers and the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance are pleased to announce the winners of the 2023 Southern Book Prize (SBP).

This year’s winners are Lark Ascending by Silas House (Algonquin Books) in Fiction, Bomb Shelter by Mary Laura Philpott (Atria) in Nonfiction, and Nigel and the Moon by Antwan Eady and Gracey Zhang (illus.) (Katherine Tegen Books) in Children’s. Winners receive a donation in their name to the charity or nonprofit of their choice.

The 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 were chosen by popular vote from a ballot of finalists in fiction, nonfiction, and children’s literature. Over 1800 ballots were cast making each Southern Book Prize winner a true Southern reader favorite.  Readers who submit a ballot can choose to be entered into a raffle to win a collection of the SBP finalist and winning titles. This year’s raffle winner is Donna Bausch, a customer of Prince Books in Norfolk, Virginia.

The Authors:

“This award is particularly special to me because it comes from Southern indie booksellers and readers–the two main groups that have given me a writing career for more than twenty years now,” said Silas House. “I cannot thank them enough for everything. To me Lark Ascending is a warning about what is already happening but it’s also a meditation on the way hope survives, and how we must always fight back. For those reasons I am especially grateful for it to receive the increased visibility this recognition will provide.” House requested that his donation go to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, “as a tribute to Seamus, the good beagle in Lark Ascending who has found a place in the heart of many readers.”