TERRY KAY, a 2006 inductee into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame, has been a sports writer and film/theater reviewer (Atlanta Journal-Constitution), a public relations executive, and a corporate officer. He is the author of twelve published novels, including The Greats of Cuttercane, Bogmeadow's Wish, The Book of Marie, To Dance with the White Dog, The Valley of Light, Taking Lottie Home, The Kidnapping of Aaron Greene, Shadow Song, The Runaway, Dark Thirty, After Eli, and The Year the Lights Came On, as well as a book of essays, Special K, and a children’s book, To Whom the Angel Spoke.
Kay Selected
Author of the Year
Athens author Terry Kay was named a 2012 Author of the Year by the Georgia Writers Association (GWA) in ceremonies conducted at Kennesaw State University on Saturday night, June 16.
Kay’s “The Greats of Cuttercane” was selected in the Short Story category. It is the fourth time Kay has been honored by the Georgia Writers Association. Previous titles selected for recognition, all in the Novel category, were: “After Eli” (1982), “The Valley of Light” (2004) and “The Book of Marie” (2008).
Kay was also honored in 2011 by the Association with its Lifetime Achievement Award.
A celebrated Georgia writer, Kay was induced into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame in 2006. He has also received the Townsend Award, the Lindberg Award, the Appalachian Heritage Award, and in 2009 was selected for the Governor’s Award in the Humanities. Three of his novels – “To Dance with the White Dog,” “The Runaway” and “The Valley of Light” – have been produced as Hallmark Hall of Fame movies.
“The Greats of Cuttercane” is a collection of stories about characters from a small north Georgia town known as Cuttercane, and with all having some association with a mystical body of water called Asa’s Spring.
“I’ve always believed Southern literature could be character driven or caricature driven,” Kay explained. “In ‘Cuttercane,’ I deliberately chose to do it as caricature. For me, it was an interesting exercise in style and great fun in discovering the people.”
Kay was also the finalist in the Novel category for his “Bogmeadow’s Wish,” a romance set in Ireland. Both books were published by Mercer University Press.
