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.

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
 * 2007 — William Cobb
 * 2008 — Rebecca Gilman
 * 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
 * 2017 — Brad Watson
 * 2018 — Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
 * 2019 — Daniel Wallace
 * 2020 — Patti Callahan Henry
 * 2021 — Angela Johnson
 * 2022 — Cynthia Tucker
 * 2023 — Joy Harjo