(top, left to right): 2025 Award Winners Erin Austen Abbott, Adam Shemper, Jessica Fisher, Allen R. Wells, John Wooton, Julian Randall; (bottom, L to R): Charlie Buckley, Max Hipp, Staples Jr. Singers, Robert Colby, John Marszalek, Thad Lee ​

2025 award winners

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The Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement Award

John F. Marszalek, Giles Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Mississippi State University
for his essential role in the relocation of Grant's papers from Southern Illinois University Carbondale to the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library at MSU

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Visual Arts

Charlie Buckley, Oxford – Charlie Buckley, Fischer Galleries

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Photography

Adam Shemper, Healdsburg, California – Light in These Hills: Oxford, Mississippi

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Poetry

Jessica Fisher, Williamstown, Massachusetts – Daywork

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Music Composition (Classical)

John Wooton, Hattiesburg – Suite Música del Corazón 

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Music Composition (Contemporary)

Staples Jr. Singers, Aberdeen – Searching

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Fiction

Max Hipp, Oxford – What Doesn’t Kill You Opens Your Heart

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Nonfiction

Robert K. D. Colby, Oxford – An Unholy Traffic: Slave Trading in the Civil War South

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Life Writing

Julian Randall, Chicago, Illinois – The Dead Don’t Need Reminding: In Search of Fugitives, Mississippi and Black TV Nerd Sh*t

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Youth Literature

Allen R. Wells, Alexandria, Virginia – Danté Plays His Blues

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Special Achievement Award

Thad Lee, Oxford - ​for the film, Two Lives In Photography

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Citation of Merit

Erin Austen Abbott, Water Valley - for her art event, The One Night Stand at the Ole Miss Motel, begun in 2007 

2026 NOMINATIONS DUE JANUARY 15

all MIAL members are invited to make nominations

NOMINATE

2025 nominations

Visual Arts

Charlie Buckley, Fischer Galleries, Charlie Buckley, Oxford
Mississippi Panorama, Charlie Buckley, Oxford
Soul Retrieval, Janet Gorzegno, Hattiesburg
Memory Keepers, Mary Hardy, Ocean Springs
Mudlarkings, Blair Hobbs, Oxford
Paintings, Richard Kelso, Richard Kelso, Jackson
Watercolors and Realism, Laurin McCracken, Fort Worth, Texas
What Became of Dr. Smith, Noah Saterstrom, Nashville, Tennessee
Jazz Garden, Traci Stover, Hattiesburg
Preservation of Roadside Stories through Visual Art, Gloria Gipson Suggs, Holly Springs
Cotton Picker Art, Lee A. Washington, Rolling Fork
Show for Wurlitzer Foundation Residency, Claire Whitehurst, Greenville, South Carolina

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Photography

Old Oxford Speaks to Me, Deborah Freeland, Oxford
Last Contact, Marita Gootee, Starkville
Soil, Justin Hardiman, Jackson
Light in These Hills: Oxford, Mississippi, Adam Shemper, Healdsburg, California 

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Poetry

Blue Exodus, Hussain Ahmed, Cincinnati, Ohio
Daywork, Jessica Fisher, Williamstown, Massachusetts
Gatherer, Todd Osborne, Hattiesburg
Circle Back, Adam Clay, Hattiesburg
Glitter Road, January Gill O’Neil, Salem, Massachusetts
Slaughterhouse for Old Wives’ Tales, Hannah V. Warren, Irondale, Alabama

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Music Composition (Classical)

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, James Sclater, Clinton
Two Lives in Photography Musical Score, Jim “Fish” Michie, Franklin, Tennessee
Suite Música del Corazón, John Wooton, Hattiesburg

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Music Composition (Contemporary)

You Can See Forever (On a Clear Day), Kimble Funchess, Madison
What’s for Breakfast?, Dent May, Los Angeles, California
Searching, Staples Jr. Singers, Aberdeen
The Joke of Life, Spencer Thomas, Athens, Georgia

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Youth Literature

The World Is Ours to Cherish: A Letter to a Child, Mary Annaïse Heglar, New Orleans, Louisiana
Saving Sam: A Banjo the Dog Story, Marshall Ramsey, Madison
The Chainbreakers, Julian Randall, Chicago, Illinois
Danté Plays His Blues, Allen R. Wells, Alexandria, Virginia

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Fiction

​Don’t Let the Devil Ride, Ace Atkins, Oxford
Beautiful Dreamers, Minrose Gwin, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Troubled Waters, Mary Annaïse Hegler, New Orleans, Louisiana
What Doesn’t Kill You Opens Your Heart, Max Hipp, Oxford
Shield the Joyous, Chad Holley, Glendale, California
Habitations: A Novel, Sheila Sundar, Oxford
Fair Youth, Lawrence Wells, Oxford
Hurricane Baby: Stories, Julie Liddell Whitehead, Brandon
That Pinson Girl, Gerry Wilson, Jackson
Lady Killer, Katherine Wood, Sandy Springs, Georgia
The Queen City Detective Agency, Snowden Wright, Benton

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Nonfiction

An Unholy Traffic: Slave Trading in the Civil War South, Robert K. D. Colby, Oxford
A Republican’s Lament: Mississippi Needs Good Government Conservatives, Bill Crawford, Jackson
What Jane Austen’s Characters Read (and Why), Susan Allen Ford, Cleveland
Come! Come! Where? Where?, James Seay, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Maverick Feminist: To Be Female and Black in a Country Founded upon Violence and Respectability, Kemeshia Randle Swanson, Northport, Alabama
The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi, Wright Thompson, Oxford
The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi, Boyce Upholt, New Orleans, Louisiana
Outliving the White Lie: A Southerner’s Historical, Genealogical, and Personal Journey, James Wiggins, Natchez

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Life Writing

Small Town Living: A Coast-to-Coast Guide to People, Places, and Communities, Erin Austen Abbott, Water Valley
All the Things We Didn’t Say: Two Memoirs, Marion Garrard Barnwell, Jackson
We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For, Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., Princeton, New Jersey
Watershed: Herman Murrah and the Pascagoula River Swamp, Davy Murrah. Lucedale
Bite by Bite: Nourishments & Jamborees, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Oxford
The Dead Don’t Need Reminding: In Search of Fugitives, Mississippi, and Black TV Nerd Sh*t, Julian Randall, Chicago, Illinois
The Delta in the Rearview Mirror: The Life and Death of Mississippi’s First Winery, Di Rushing, Ouray, Colorado
The House of Being, Natasha Trethewey, Evanston, Illinois
Ghostwriter, Lawrence Wells, Oxford

Past Winners

Photograph of 1989 Literature Winner, Larry Brown; by 1994 Photography Winner, Tom Rankin

2024

Jesmyn Ward - Fiction 
Charles Reagan Wilson - Nonfiction
Lee Durkee - Life Writing 
A. H. Jerriod Avant - Poetry
Angie Thomas - Youth Literature​
Tim and Susan Lee/BARK - Music (Contemporary) 
Steve Rouse - Music (Classical)  
Jennifer Drinkwater - Visual Arts 
Kate Medley - Photography 
Stephen Coleman - Special Achievement
​Curtis Wilkie - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement

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2023

Sarah Adlakha - Fiction 
Robert S. McElvaine - Nonfiction
Berkley Hudson - Life Writing 
Melissa Ginsburg - Poetry
Linda Williams Jackson - Youth Literature​
Johnny Rawls - Music (Contemporary) 
Steve Rouse - Music (Classical)  
Coulter Fussell - Visual Arts 
David Rae Morris - Photography 
Tupelo Reads - Special Achievement
​Panny Flautt Mayfield - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement 

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2022

Becky Hagenston - Fiction 
W. Ralph Eubanks - Nonfiction
Teresa Nicholas - Life Writing 
Joshua Nguyen - Poetry
Angie Thomas - Youth Literature​
Christine "Kingfish" Ingram - Music (Contemporary) 
Steve Rouse - Music (Classical)  
Jennifer Torres - Visual Arts 
Ashleigh Burke Coleman - Photography 
MPB's Grassroots, Bill Ellison - Citation of Merit
MPB's Highway 61, Scott Barretta - Citation of Merit
​William R. Dunlap - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement  
Kenneth Holditch - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement

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2021

Odie Lindsey - Fiction 
Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. - Nonfiction 
Catherine Pierce - Poetry
Deborah Wiles - Youth Literature​
Steve Azar - Music (Contemporary) 
James Sclater - Music (Classical)  
Cathy Hegman - Visual Arts 
Andrea Morales - Photography 
​Rea Hederman - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement  

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2020

Minrose Gwin - Fiction 
Margaret McMullan - Nonfiction 
C.T. Salazar - Poetry
Angie Thomas - Youth Literature​
Bark (Susan and Tim Lee) - Music (Contemporary) 
Steve Rouse - Music (Classical)  
Stacey Johnson - Visual Arts 
Will Jacks - Photography 
Lemuria Bookstore - Citation of Merit
Mississippi Delta Tennessee Williams Festival - Special Achievement
​Ann J. Abadie - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement 

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2019

Tiffany Quay Tyson - Fiction 
Julian Rankin - Nonfiction 
Aimee Nezhukumatathil - Poetry
John Milham - Music (Contemporary) 
Steve Rouse - Music (Classical)  
Coulter Fussell - Visual Arts 
Rory Doyle - Photography 
Square Books - Citation of Merit
​John Ruskey - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement

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2018

Michael Knight - Fiction 
John T. Edge - Nonfiction 
Molly McCully Brown - Poetry
Shannon McNally - Music (Contemporary) 
James S. Sclater - Music (Classical)  
Charlie Buckley - Visual Arts 
Jack Spencer - Photography 
​The Mississippi Encyclopedia - Special Achievement
​Robert Ivy - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement
Andrew Cary Young - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement

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2017

Rick Bass - Fiction 
Jason Morgan Ward - Nonfiction 
Catherine Pierce - Poetry
Fish Michie and Kristian Cambrino - Music (Contemporary) 
James S. Sclater - Music (Classical)  
Carlyle Wolfe - Visual Arts 
David Wharton - Photography 
Thacker Mountain Radio - Citation of Merit
​Nan Sanders - Special Achievement
​Jere Allen - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement
Samuel Jones - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement

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2016

Taylor Kitchings - Fiction 
Joseph T. Reiff - Nonfiction 
R. Flowers Rivera - Poetry
Mac McAnally - Music (Contemporary) 
Samuel Jones - Music (Classical)  
Martha Ferris - Visual Arts 
Maude Schuyler Clay - Photography 
William Baggett - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement
Ron Dale - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement

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2015

Elizabeth Spencer - Fiction 
Dennis J. Mitchell - Nonfiction 
Timothy Earley - Poetry
Water Liars - Music (Contemporary) 
Crafton Beck - Music (Classical)  
Brandon Moon - Visual Arts 
Maude Schuyler Clay - Photography 
Sammy Britt - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement

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2014

Steve Yarbrough - Fiction 
Jesmyn Ward - Nonfiction 
Derrick Harriell - Poetry
Claire Holley - Music (Contemporary) 
Quincy C. Hilliard- Music (Classical)  
JJ Foley - Visual Arts 
Milly West - Photography 
William Beckwith - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement

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2013

Richard Ford - Fiction 
Joseph Crespino - Nonfiction 
Catherine Pierce - Poetry
Caroline Herring - Music (Contemporary) 
Steve Rouse - Music (Classical)  
Lee Renninger - Visual Arts 
David Wharton - Photography 
Patti Carr Black - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement

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2012

Michael Kardos - Fiction 
Susan Haltom - Nonfiction 
T.R. Hummer - Poetry
Kate Campbell - Music (Contemporary) 
Shandy Phillips - Music (Classical)  
Rod Moorhead - Visual Arts 
Betty Press - Photography 
Andrew Bucci - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement
​Samuel Gore - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement

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2011

Brad Watson - Fiction 
Natasha Trethewey - Nonfiction 
Ava Leavell Haymon - Poetry
Eden Brent - Music (Contemporary) 
Samuel Jones - Music (Classical)  
James Sclater - Music (Classical)  
Roland Golden - Visual Arts 
Oraien Catledge - Photography 
​Mary D. Garrard - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement

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2010

Frederick Barthelme - Fiction 
Charles W. Eagles - Nonfiction 
D.C. Berry - Poetry
Caroline Herring - Music (Contemporary) 
Shandy Phillips - Music (Classical)    
Charles Crossley - Visual Arts 
Michael Loyd Young - Photography 
The Passions of Walter Anderson, a creative collaboration - Special Achievement
​William Ferris - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement

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2009

Howard Bahr - Fiction 
Douglas A. Blackmon - Nonfiction 
Brooks Haxton - Poetry
3 Doors Down - Music (Contemporary) 
Steve Rouse - Music (Classical)    
H.C. (Chris) Porter - Visual Arts 
Jane Rule Burdine - Photography 
Marshall Bouldin III - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement
​Elizabeth Spencer - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement

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2008

Margaret McMullan - Fiction 
Joseph Crespino - Nonfiction 
Angela Ball - Poetry
Albert Oppenheimer - Music    
Carlyle Wolfe - Visual Arts 
Talbot Easton Selby - Photography 
​Ellen Douglas - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement

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2007

Richard Ford - Fiction 
Jere Nash and Andy Taggart - Nonfiction 
Natasha Trethewey - Poetry
Samuel Jones - Music    
William Dunlap - Visual Arts 
Debra Ferguson - Photography 
​Morgan Freeman and Myrna Colley-Lee - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement

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2006

Tom Bailey - Fiction 
Suzanne Marrs - Nonfiction 
Andrew Owen - Music    
Thomas Nawrocki - Visual Arts 
Robyn Moore - Photography 

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2005

Margaret McMullan - Fiction 
Timothy B. Smith - Nonfiction 
Brooks Haxton - Poetry
Justin Sharp - Music    
Sam Gilliam - Visual Arts 
Gretchen Haien - Photography 

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2004

Tom Franklin - Fiction 
Christopher Maurer - Nonfiction 
Ann Fisher-Worth - Poetry
Logan Skelton - Music    
Wyatt Waters - Visual Arts 
Shelby Foote - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement

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2003

Brad Watson - Fiction 
Minor Ferris Buchanan - Nonfiction 
Natasha Trethewey - Poetry
Samuel Jones - Music
James Sclater - Music   
Gwendolyn Magee - Visual Arts 
​Jack Kotz - Photography
Mimi Garrard and James Seawright - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement

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2002

Barry Hannah - Fiction 
Bobby DeLaughter - Nonfiction 
Brooks Haxton - Poetry
Michael Kimber - Music 
Sheila Stott Gourlay - Visual Arts 
John D. Lawrence - Photography

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2001

Howard Bahr - Fiction 
Jeff Durstewitz and Ruth Williams - Nonfiction 
Natasha Trethewey - Poetry
Collier B. Parker - Visual Arts 
Eudora Welty - Photography

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2000

Steve Yarbrough - Fiction 
Edward Cohen - Nonfiction 
D.C. Berry - Poetry
​Luigi Zaninelli - Music
Paula Temple - Visual Arts 
Maude Schuyler Clay - Photography
University Press of Mississippi - Citation of Merit
​Leontyne Price - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement

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1999

Ellen Douglas - Fiction 
Patti Carr Black - Nonfiction 
John Stone - Poetry
James Sclater - Music
Jean Cappadonna-Nichols - Visual Arts 
Lucinda Devlin - Photography

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1998

Wylene Dunbar - Fiction 
Will D. Campbell - Nonfiction 
Angela Ball - Poetry
Luigi Zaninelli - Music
William Dunlap - Visual Arts 
Hubert F. Worley, Jr. - Photography
​Marion Barnwell - Special Achievement

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1997

Cynthia Shearer - Fiction 
Stephen Ambrose - Nonfiction 
Paul Ruffin - Poetry
Mark Howell - Music
Valerie Jaudon - Visual Arts 
Marion Brown - Photography

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1996

Lewis Nordan - Fiction 
David Herbert Donald - Nonfiction 
Laurence M. Oden - Music
Charles Carraway - Visual Arts 
Milly Moorhead - Photography
​Lee and Pup McCarty - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement

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1995

Beverly Lowry - Fiction 
Mary Garrard - Nonfiction 
James Sclater - Music
Sylvain Klaus - Visual Arts 
Birney Imes, III - Photography
ETV and Public Radio in Mississippi - Citation of Merit
​Franke and Bern Keating - Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement

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1994

Barry Hannah - Fiction 
Willie Morris - Nonfiction 
Douglas McConnell - Music
Greely Myatt - Visual Arts 
Tom Rankin - Photography

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1993

Donna Tartt - Fiction 
Chalmers Archer - Nonfiction
Clifton Taulbert - Nonfiction 
Jere Allen - Visual Arts 
Allen Frame - Photography

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1992

Lewis Nordan - Fiction 
Michael B. Ballard - Nonfiction
Luigi Zaninelli - Music
Ron Dale - Visual Arts 
Maude Schuyler Clay - Photography
Jane Reid Petty - Career Achievement in the Performing Arts

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1991

Ellen Gilchrist - Literature
Samuel Jones - Music
Birney Imes, III - Visual Arts 

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1990

Rick Bass - Literature
James S. Sclater - Music
Randy Hayes - Visual Arts 
William Eggleston - Photography
William Ferris - Special Achievement
Charles Reagan Wilson - Special Achievement

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1989

Larry Brown - Literature
Paul Overstreet - Music
Mildred Nungester Wolfe - Visual Arts 
Rita Dewitt - Photography
Walter Anderson (posthumously) - Lifetime Achievement

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1988

Walker Percy - Literature
Milton Babbitt - Music
Zarah Maranian - Visual Arts 
Maude Schuyler Clay - Photography
Eudora Welty - Lifetime Achievement

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1987

Richard Ford - Literature
David Caudill - Music
Ke Francis - Visual Arts 
Birney Imes, III - Photography

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1986

John Stone - Literature
Samuel Jones - Music
Kenneth W. Marlow - Art 
Robert Townsend Jones, Jr. - Photography
Dorothy Abbott - Special Writing Award

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1985

Ellen Gilchrist - Literature
Luigi Zaninelli - Music
William Dunlap - Art

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1984

Rebecca Hill - Literature
Patrick Houlihan - Music
James L. Seawright, Jr. - Art

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1983

Ellen Douglas - Literature
Patrick Houlihan - Music
George Wardlaw - Art

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1982

Ellen Gilchrist - Literature
William Grant Still (posthumously) - Music
Valerie Jaudon - Art

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1981

Walker Percy - Literature
James S. Sclater - Music
Ray Parrish - Art

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1980

Ellen Douglas - Literature
Luigi Zaninelli - Music
Ed McGowin - Art

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