The 2025 Georgia Author of the Year Awards (GAYA) were announced today by the Georgia Writers Association (GWA). I couldn’t be more thrilled by at least one of the selections.
In the Best First Novel category, Atlanta author Parul Kapur’s Inside the Mirror stunned me with its sheer breadth and beauty when I read it last fall.
Here’s the review I posted on Amazon:
This novel has it all: a fascinating setting, sympathetic characters, a strong story driven by two passionate young women burning to go beyond the limited horizon of their family’s and their culture’s expectations. But the thing that kept me reading was the author’s beautifully crafted sentences–a feast for the senses that puts us right in the heart of 1950s Bombay … and right in the hearts of our protagonists, twin sisters Jaya and Kamlesh. Their passion for painting and dancing, respectively, is beautifully described, with rich, immersive details that create a vivid portrait of those two art forms in India at the time of the story. While on vacation, I read this book and one of the year’s literary blockbusters. This was by far the better read, to my mind. I know comparing works of art is a futile exercise, but Parul’s creation deserves to stand among the best of them, this year or any year. In her Acknowledgments, Parul calls this book her “phoenix.” Long may it soar.
Here are other accolades for Inside the Mirror:
And the kudos keeps coming.
As well it should.
Congratulations, Parul!
Order the book on Amazon or, better yet, find it at your favorite bookstore.
And read more about the other 2025 GAYA winners here. It’s quite a list. Outstanding fiction, nonfiction and poetry, a diverse stockpile that could keep us reading long into the new year and beyond, the winners and finalists selected from an impressive field of nominees in every category.
Copies of some of these works have sat on my bookshelf, sadly unread for many months now. I plan to remedy that, reading and possibly reviewing more of them in the coming months. I have a lot to look forward to!
As Greg Emilio, GWA’s executive director writes in today’s announcement: “The literary landscape in the Peach State has never been more vibrant.”
I agree.
And am proud to be part of it.
Mike Coleman 