Leslie Walker Williams

The Prudent Mariner (University of Tennessee Press, $32.95) begins with a lynching in 1913 Georgia and ends more than 50 years later. Along the way, Williams offers a searing exploration of the legacies of complicity and violence, silence and regret, and the unforeseeable ways the past shapes and impinges upon the present.

Leslie Walker Williams was born and raised in Savannah, Ga., and currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her short stories have appeared in the Iowa Review, the Madison Review, Harvard Review and American Fiction. The Prudent Mariner is her first novel.

The Peter Taylor Prize for the Novel is a nationally juried competition co-sponsored for the last seven years by the Knoxville Writers’ Guild and the University of Tennessee Press. The English Department at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville contributes the $1,000 cash award for the author.

Williams’ manuscript was selected through a process that began in the spring of 2007 with some 40 KWG volunteer screeners reading the more than 400 manuscripts submitted to the competition. Ultimately five manuscripts were submitted to Kelly Cherry, the 2007 Peter Taylor Prize judge.

Cherry said of book: “The land, the heat, the South’s societal complexities (and perplexities) are all here. Utterly involving, wise and perceptive, this is a novel to remember. If you liked To Kill a Mockingbird, you will love The Prudent Mariner.”

Peter Taylor is one of the South’s most celebrated writers—the author of acclaimed short stories, plays, and the novels A Summons to Memphis and In the Tennessee Country. The Peter Taylor Prize for the Novel, the prize honors his memory and work by bringing to light new works of high literary quality.

The UT Press has decided that it will not participate in the contest going forward. The KWG is currently in discussion about how and when to move forward with the award.

Author Appearances:

Oct. 6, E. Shaver Books, Savannah GA

Oct. 8, Visiting Writers Series, Armstrong Atlantic State University, Savannah GA

Oct. 9, Rock Point Books, Chattanooga TN

Oct. 10, Southern Festival of Books, Nashville TN

Oct. 11, Carpe Librum Booksellers, Knoxville TN

Oct. 13, Peter Taylor Award Ceremony, Lawson McGhee Library, Knoxville TN?

Oct. 14, Wordsmiths, Decatur GA

Oct. 16, Nicola’s Books, Ann Arbor MI

Oct. 27, Visiting Writers Series, Roosevelt University, Chicago IL

Oct. 28, Women and Children First, Chicago IL

Nov. 15, Elliot Bay Books, Seattle WA?

Nov. 6, Savannah Book Festival, Savannah GA

Previous winners of the Peter Taylor Prize for the Novel

Run in the Fam’ly: A Novel, John J. McLaughlin Winner, 2006

Blood Kin: A Novel, Mark Powell ?Winner, 2005

Fire on Mt. Maggiore: A Novel, John Parras Winner, 2004

Minyan: Ten Jewish Men in a World That Is Heartbroken, Eliezer Sobel Winner, 2003

Blue: A Novel, Sarah Van Arsdale Winner, 2002

A House All Stilled: A Novel, A.G. Harmon. Winner 2001

The Marriage of Anna Maye Potts: A Novel, DeWitt Henry, Winner 2000