Mississippi Author Awards

The Mississippi Author Awards celebrate the outstanding contributions of Mississippi writers and promote interest in books by local authors. Whether the work focuses on Mississippi or explroes other subjects, these awards honor execellence in literature and encourage a vibrant literary culture in our state.

Award Categories

Awards may be presented in up to three categories:

• Adult Fiction
• Adult Nonfiction
• Youth Fiction and Nonfiction

Elibility

To be considered, nominees must mee thte following criteria:

• The author must be a Mississippian by birth or have lived in Mississippi for at least five consecutive years.
• Editors, illustrators, and translators may also be eligible.
• The author must be livng at the time of nomination.
• The award is given for a specific work, not a body of work.
• The book must have been published within the past three calendar years.
• Works are judged on overall quality, including literary merit, originality, style, grammar, and, when applicable, acuracy and illustrations.

Nomination Process

• Nominations are accepted each February by the MLA Awards Committee Chair.
• Only current members of the Mississippi Library Association may submit nominations.
• If no meritorious works are nominated in a category, no award will be given.
• Previous winners may be considered again.

Celebrate Mississippi’s Literary Heritage

The Mississippi Library Association also offers Mississippi Author Award Medallions to honor past, present, and future winners. These medallions can be purchased to show support for Mississippi’s rich literary tradition.

For more details, please visit the Mississippi Library Association Authors Award page.