By Mike Rhodes, Editor-in-Chief, MuncieJournal.com—
INDIANAPOLIS—Mark Neely of Muncie has been named to the Indiana Authors Awards for the book Ticker.
The book was nominated in the Poetry category, one of eight literary categories where awards will be given. Winners will be announced on Aug. 24, 2022.
Ticker, follows the life of its main character, Bruce, as he navigates marriage, children, aging parents, politics, race, religion, global catastrophe, and the irrelevance of middle age. Throughout the book the dueling voices in Bruce’s head, which range from comic to bitter to revelatory, compete for control of his inner life. From formal to freewheeling, Neely’s poems showcase a unique and essential voice in American poetry.
The 2022 Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Awards include forty books written by Indiana authors that were published in 2020 and 2021. The awards were established in 2009 as a vision of Eugene and Marilyn Glick and are a component of Indiana Humanities’ rich and diverse literary programming. Indiana Humanities with support from Glick Philanthropies confer awards every other year. Honorees have the opportunity to participate in an annual statewide speaker program and connect with readers, teachers and students.
“Having a vibrant community of writers and readers makes Indiana better,” said Marianne Glick, chair of the Glick Family Foundation and daughter of Eugene and Marilyn Glick. “One of the things I love is sending these authors out around the state to speak in lots of places that might not otherwise have that opportunity. I just know we’re inspiring people in all kinds of ways.”
Judges for the Indiana Authors Awards included former winners, writers, educators, scholars, local bookstore owners and librarians. Judges chose to shortlist books in the following categories: children’s, middle grade, young adult, poetry, genre, debut, fiction and nonfiction.
Winners will be announced on Aug. 24 at 10 a.m. via social media and the IAA newsletter. Follow @INAuthorsAwards and sign up at www.IndianaAuthorsAwards.org to receive the announcement.
Neely is author of Beasts of the Hill and Dirty Bomb. His awards include an NEA Poetry Fellowship, an Indiana Individual Artist grant, the FIELD Poetry Prize, and the Concrete Wolf Chapbook prize for Four of a Kind. He is professor of English at Ball State University and senior editor at River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative.
To see the complete list of books and honorees, visit https://www.indianaauthorsawards.org/newsroom-2/
