KY Press author wins inaugural Tennessee Book Award in fiction

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 24, 2024) — Monic Ductan, author of “Daughters of Muscadine: Stories” (University Press of Kentucky), is the recipient of the inaugural Tennessee Book Award in the fiction category. A collaboration of Humanities Tennessee and the Tennessee State Library and Archives, the awards recognize excellence in fiction, nonfiction and poetry written by Tennessee residents.

Ductan’s debut release consists of interconnected stories set in the small, rural town of Muscadine, Georgia. Covering the last 100 years, Ductan’s collection shares stories of people whose voices have been suppressed and erased for too long: Black women, rural women, Appalachian women and working-class women. “Daughters of Muscadine” was released by Fireside Industries, an imprint of the University Press of Kentucky (KY Press), and edited by bestselling author, journalist, activist and Kentucky Poet Laureate Silas House. The imprint strives to publish creative work by authors with unique perspectives, diverse backgrounds and compelling voices, who are telling the complex stories of Appalachia and rural America.

“Tennessee is rich with literary talent, and we have dreamed for years of establishing a statewide award to honor our best writers,” said Tim Henderson, executive director of Humanities Tennessee. “We are thrilled to recognize these incredibly talented individuals for their contributions to the cultural life of the state. Our judges had a difficult task, thanks to the high caliber of all the submissions, and we are grateful for their diligent work to identify the best of the best, in keeping with Tennessee’s long and storied literary tradition.”

Fiction finalists for the Tennessee Book Award were Lauren Thoman for “I’ll Stop the World” and Johanna Rojas Vannes for “An American Immigrant.”

The winners will each receive a $2,500 prize, and winners and finalists will discuss their work at a special session at the Southern Festival of Books, 11 a.m. CT Oct. 27 at the Tennessee State Library and Archives.

“I’m ecstatic about winning the Tennessee Book Award,” said Ductan. “The final judge was Edwidge Danticat, a very accomplished writer whom I admire. Last spring, ‘Daughters of Muscadine’ won the Weatherford Award for Appalachian fiction, an award previously won by so many great writers like Barbara Kingsolver and Crystal Wilkinson and Silas House. The book was also named to the list ‘Books All Georgians Should Read’ by the Georgia Center for the Book, and the list was compiled by a committee made up of librarians and readers from Georgia. All these honors show the book has resonated with readers from around the state of Tennessee, and from around Appalachia, too.”

Ductan teaches literature and creative writing at Tennessee Tech University. Her writing has appeared in a number of journals, including Oxford American, Good River Review, Southeast Review, Shenandoah, Appalachian Heritage and South Carolina Review. Her essay “Fantasy Worlds” was listed as notable in The Best American Essays 2019.

Humanities Tennessee is a nonprofit organization that fosters community and civility in Tennessee through engaging programs that examine and reflect upon ideas, stories, history, arts and culture. In addition to its own programming, Humanities Tennessee partners with a variety of organizations across the state that similarly encourage community dialogue and activities that push people to think deeper and develop mutual respect and understanding for each other.

Humanities Tennessee, formerly the Tennessee Humanities Council, is the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress Tennessee Center for the Book. Founded in 1973, Humanities Tennessee continues to develop ways to connect, learn and grow as a community.

The University Press of Kentucky is the statewide nonprofit scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Serving all Kentucky state-sponsored institutions of higher learning as well as nine private colleges and Kentucky’s two major historical societies, it was organized in 1969 as successor to the University of Kentucky Press. The KY Press is dedicated to the publication of academic books of high scholarly merit as well as significant books about the history and culture of Kentucky, the Ohio Valley region, the Upper South and Appalachia.