Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction
Encyclopedia
The Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction is an annual literary award awarded to the writer of a work of fiction related to the American Civil War
. The award was started by Jeffrey Shaara
and named for his father, the writer of historical fiction Michael Shaara
.
The $5000 was first awarded in 1997, at the United States Civil War Center. In 2004, it moved to the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College
.
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. The award was started by Jeffrey Shaara
Jeffrey Shaara
Jeffrey M. "Jeff" Shaara is an American novelist, the son of Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Shaara.Jeffrey Shaara was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and grew up in Tallahassee, Florida...
and named for his father, the writer of historical fiction Michael Shaara
Michael Shaara
Michael Shaara was an American writer of science fiction, sports fiction, and historical fiction. He was born to Italian immigrant parents in Jersey City, New Jersey, graduated from Rutgers University in 1951, and served as a sergeant in the 82nd Airborne division...
.
The $5000 was first awarded in 1997, at the United States Civil War Center. In 2004, it moved to the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College
Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College
The Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College is a non-profit organization created to promote the study of the Civil War Era. The Institute was founded in 1982 by historian and Gettysburg College professor Gabor Boritt, an Abraham Lincoln and American Civil War scholar...
.
Award winners
- 1997: Madison JonesMadison JonesMadison Percy Jones is a novelist, born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1925. He has published almost a dozen novels, and is considered "one of the major figures of contemporary southern letters".-Biography:...
, Nashville 1864 - 1998: Donald McCaigDonald McCaigDonald McCaig is an American novelist, poet and essayist. He lives on a sheep farm in Western Virginia.His 1998 novel set in Civil War Virginia won the Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction...
, Jacob's Ladder: A Story of Virginia During the Civil War - 1999: Robert J. MrazekRobert J. MrazekRobert Jan Mrazek was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing New York's 3rd congressional district on Long Island for most of the 1980s...
, Stonewall's Gold - 2000: Richard SlotkinRichard SlotkinRichard Slotkin is a cultural critic and historian. He is the Olin Professor of English and American Studies at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, and in 2010 was elected a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1995 he received the Mary C...
, Abe: A Novel of the Young Lincoln - 2001: Marly YoumansMarly YoumansMarly Youmans is an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She grew up in Louisiana, North Carolina, and elsewhere, and she currently lives in the village of Cooperstown, New York with her husband and three children.-Life:She graduated from Hollins College, Brown University, and...
, The Wolf Pit - 2002: Marie JakoberMarie JakoberMarie Jakober is an award-winning Canadian novelist.Based in Calgary, Alberta, Jakober writes historical fiction and fantasy. Sandinista: A Novel of Nicaragua won the Writer's Guild of Alberta Novel Award in 1985. She received the 2002 Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction for...
, Only Call Us Faithful - 2003: no award given
- 2004: Philip Lee WilliamsPhilip Lee WilliamsPhilip Lee Williams is an American novelist, poet, and essayist noted for his explorations of the natural world, intense human relationships, and aging. A native of Athens, Georgia, he grew up in the nearby town of Madison. He is the winner of many literary awards including the 2004 for his novel...
, A Distant Flame - 2005: no award given
- 2006: E.L. Doctorow, The MarchThe March (novel)The March is a 2005 historical fiction novel by E. L. Doctorow. It won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award/Fiction .-Plot summary:...
- 2007: Howard BahrHoward BahrHoward Bahr is an American novelist, born in Meridian, Mississippi. Bahr, who served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War and then worked for several years on the railroads, enrolled at the University of Mississippi in the early 1970s when he was in his late 20s. He received his B.A. and M.A...
, The Judas Field - 2008: Donald McCaigDonald McCaigDonald McCaig is an American novelist, poet and essayist. He lives on a sheep farm in Western Virginia.His 1998 novel set in Civil War Virginia won the Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction...
, Canaan - 2009: Nick Taylor, Disagreement
- 2010: Cornelia NixonCornelia Nixon-Education:Nixon attended the University of California, Irvine where she earned her B.A.. She received an M.F.A. from San Francisco State University and the Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.-Career:...
, Jarrettsville - 2011: Robin OliveiraRobin Oliveira- Early life :Robin Frazier Oliveira was born in Albany, New York in 1954, and grew up in nearby Loudonville, New York, graduating Shaker High School. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Russian from the University of Montana in 1976, and continued her study at the Pushkin House Institute of Russian...
, My Name is Mary Sutter