Three local writers named to 2024 Indiana Authors Awards shortlists

The 2024 Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Awards has announced the shortlist of books eligible for top honors in eight of its literary categories. Fifty-two books written by Indiana authors and published in 2022 and 2023 have been shortlisted. All winners will be announced by Aug. 22.

Thornton

Muse

Jun

Locally, two of those writers are from Fishers, and one is from Tipton.

• Tasha Jun, Fishers, for Tell Me the Dream Again: Reflections on Family, Ethnicity & the Sacred Work of Belonging, a memoir-in-essays and love letter to Jun’s Korean immigrant mother, an exploration of community, identity, faith, and family, and a guide to those who hold multiple worlds and wonder if they can ever truly belong.
• Jeff Darren Muse, Fishers, for Dear Park Ranger: Essays on Manhood, Restlessness, and the Geography of Hope, a collection of essays with a central theme of searching for purpose, companionship, a lost father, and home.
• Janis Thornton, Tipton, for The 1965 Palm Sunday Tornadoes in Indiana, which documents Indiana’s worst weather disaster, which tore through the state the evening of April 11, 1965, in three separate lines of storms, claiming the lives of 137 Hoosiers, injuring more than 1,700, and racking up damages exceeding $30 million.

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 the awards every other year. Honorees can participate in an annual statewide speaker program and connect with readers, teachers and students.

“Indiana is fertile ground for local writers to grow and flourish, and the awards celebrate that,” said Marianne Glick, chair of the Glick Family Foundation and daughter of Eugene and Marilyn Glick. “The Indiana Authors Awards programs provide the next generation of writers with opportunities to learn from previous winners and honorees. That’s something I would say is as important as the awards themselves, and I’m thrilled to see the continued success of both.”

Judges for the Indiana Authors Awards included former winners, writers, educators, scholars, local bookstore owners and librarians.

“Literature is far more than words on a page, and these shortlisted books display the incredible talent and effort that goes into writing works that represent Indiana well,” said Keira Amstutz, Indiana Humanities president and CEO. “We had the most nominations we’ve ever seen in 2024, and the competition was robust. We deeply appreciate the generosity of Glick Philanthropies that empowers us to connect readers with new and familiar writers whose work we know will inspire them.”