{{Short description|Award for Alabama writers}}{{Infobox award | name = Harper Lee Award | description = Alabama's Distinguished Writer of the Year | presenter = Alabama Writers' Forum | country = United States | location = Alabama | website = {{URL|https://www.writersforum.org/programs/harper-lee-award/}} }} '''The Harper Lee Award for Alabama's Distinguished Writer of the Year''' is an annual award recognizing a writer who was born in Alabama or has spent their formative years there. It is named after Harper Lee, whose ''To Kill A Mockingbird'' has sold over 30 million copies.<ref name="hla">{{Cite web|title=Programs : Harper Lee Award|url=https://www.writersforum.org/programs/harper_lee.html|access-date=2021-02-09|publisher=Alabama Writers' Forum|archive-date=2021-05-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521233613/https://www.writersforum.org/programs/harper_lee.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Alabama Writers Awards |url=https://www.monroevilleliteraryfestival.com/awards|access-date=2021-02-09|publisher=Monroeville Literary Festival}}</ref>
The Harper Lee Award was established in 1998 and was first awarded to Albert Murray.
== Recipients == * 1998 — Albert Murray * 1999 — Madison Jones * 2000 — Helen Norris * 2001 — Sena Jeter Naslund * 2002 — Mary Ward Brown * 2003 — Rodney Jones * 2004 — Sonia Sanchez * 2005 — Andrew Highway * 2006 — Wayne Greenhaw<ref>{{Cite web |title=Montgomery Author Wins Harper Lee Award |url=https://www.apr.org/post/montgomery-author-wins-harper-lee-award |access-date=2021-06-25 |website=Alabama Public Radio|date=6 March 2006 }}</ref> * 2007 — William Cobb * 2008 — Rebecca Gilman<ref>{{Cite web |title=Artist Bio : Rebecca Gilman |url=https://www.goodmantheatre.org/Artists-Archive/collective/Rebecca-Gilman/ |access-date=2021-06-25 |publisher=Goodman Theatre}}</ref> * 2009 — Rick Bragg * 2010 — Carolyn Haines * 2011 — Winston Groom * 2012 — Fannie Flagg * 2013 — Gay Talese * 2014 — Mark Childress * 2015 — Hank Lazer * 2016 — E. O. Wilson<ref>{{Cite web |title=Edward O. Wilson Chosen as 2016 Harper Lee Award Recipient |url=https://eowilsonfoundation.org/tag/harper-lee-award/ |date=December 15, 2015 |access-date=2021-06-25 |publisher=E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation |archive-date=2021-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625085034/https://eowilsonfoundation.org/tag/harper-lee-award/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> * 2017 — Brad Watson * 2018 — Honorée Fanonne Jeffers * 2019 — Daniel Wallace * 2020 — Patti Callahan Henry<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-01-19 |title=Mountain Brook author wins 2020 Harper Lee Award |url=https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2020/01/mountain-brook-author-wins-2020-harper-lee-award.html|author=Shelly Haskins |access-date=2021-06-25 |website=AL}}</ref> * 2021 — Angela Johnson * 2022 — Cynthia Tucker * 2023 — Joy Harjo * 2024 — Tom Franklin<ref>{{Cite web |title=Awards |url=https://www.monroevilleliteraryfestival.com/awards |access-date=2026-01-07 |website=Monroeville Literary Festival |language=en}}</ref> * 2025 — Cassandra King<ref>{{Cite web |last=Evans |first=Margaret |date=2025-02-25 |title=Cassandra King Receives Harper Lee Award {{!}} Lowcountry Weekly |url=https://lcweekly.com/arts/cassandra-king-receives-harper-lee-award/ |access-date=2026-01-07 |language=en-US}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.monroevilleliteraryfestival.com/awards | title=Awards | Monroeville Literary Festival }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:American literary awards Category:Alabama literature Category:1998 establishments in Alabama Category:Awards established in 1998 Category:To Kill a Mockingbird