The Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer is awarded each year at the Monroeville Literary Festival, a project of the Monroe County Museum in Monroeville. The annual award recognizes the lifetime achievement of a writer who was born in Alabama or whose literary career developed in the state. The recipient is chosen by a committee selected by the Festival leadership.
Atkins is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty novels and numerous short stories. A former college football player at Auburn and newspaper reporter, he’s a recent recipient of the Richard Wright Award for excellence in Southern Literature and a member of the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame. He lives with his wife Angela and two children in Oxford, Mississippi.
“I'm beyond honored and thrilled to be receiving this award. Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird have always represented ordinary Southerners standing up and doing the right thing to fight for social justice,” Atkins said “From my books Wicked City, inspired by the true tale of Phenix City, Ala.; to my stories about Quinn Colson and fictional Tibbehah County, Mississippi; these are ideas and themes I always wanted to embrace in my work.”
Atkins was a featured writer at the festival in 2008 and 2010. “Returning to Monroeville is a special time for me,” he added. “Visiting the courthouse and museum is a potent reminder of how important novels can be, and the obligations we Southerners have to make our voices heard against injustice.”
