Look, Ma! I’m a GAYA Finalist

I was thrilled to get the news last week that I am a finalist in the 2024 Georgia Author of the Year Awards (GAYA) for my memoir, The Way from Me to Us.

Whew! That’s a big deal!

One winner and one finalist are chosen in each of 13 categories in the competition. I’m proud, humbled, honored and surprised to be among them.

The judge from a panel of previous GAYA winners had this to say:

“The Way from Me to Us is a touching tribute to a lifelong gay relationship forged in the face of adversity, uncertainty and revolutionary change in American culture…. Mike Coleman excavates that courtship … to tell the life story of that love and reveal how honesty, trust and community can help us imagine a newer world, not just for ourselves but for everyone.”

Wow, wow, wow!

And just as cool is the news that the winner in the Memoir category is John Blake, a friend who goes to our church, downtown Atlanta’s Central Presbyterian. He is the author of More than I Imagined: What a Black Man Discovered about the White Mother He Never Knew, one of the most moving books Ted and I read last year.

John is an award-winning journalist with CNN.

I am beyond grateful to share some of the spotlight with him.

In fact, all 11 books that were nominated in the Memoir category are outstanding. What a thrill to be in this amazing company … and to be chosen as the one finalist out of all these fine entries.

It’s also gratifying to see that the 2024 GAYAs recognize several other buddies I’ve made “in this author’s biz” over the past year … and deservedly so. Yes, it’s hard work but I am truly loving the writer’s life since my retirement. Kudos to all!

An organization with a noble cause

This year, there were 124 nominees in the 13 categories for the awards. The GAYAs are presented annually by the Georgia Writers Association (GWA), now in its 30th year. The awards recognize distinctive literary voices in a range of genres, from Biography to Children’s Books, from First Novels to Romance to Poetry. With offices in Kennesaw State University’s English Department, GWA focuses on connecting writers through workshops and events, and on promoting diverse authors and stories.

Besides the awards program, GWA has many other admirable causes: the Red Clay Writers Conference, which provides networking and learning opportunities between other writing professionals; the John Lewis Writing Grants, which elevate, encourage and inspire the voices of Black writers in Georgia; and the Fine Arts Work Center Scholarship, which gives a Georgia Writers member an opportunity to participate in a week-long workshop in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Another reason I’m proud of this honor: Jerry Grillo!

I’m also thrilled to be in the company of our friend Jerry Grillo, a wildly imaginative writer who was the GAYA Finalist in the Biography category in 2022 for his mind-bending book, The Music and Mythocracy of Col. Bruce Hampton: A Basically True Biography. (I reviewed it in my March 20, 2022, blog post.)

Jerry’s new book, Big Cat: The Life of Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Mize, is available now, too.

I’ve no doubt it will be a serious contender for next year’s GAYA honors. I’ll be pulling for you, Jerry.