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2022 Local Distinguished Author Award Winner
2022 Local Distinguished Author Award​
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SoLit is pleased to announce that Deborah J. Levine is the winner of the 2022 annual Local Distinguished Author Award. The award will be presented at the Club Lit fundraiser on November 17th. For more information on the event, click here
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SoLit annually presents an award to recognize an outstanding local author. Called the Barnett Prize for Local Distinguished Author, the award is given based upon an author's demonstrated lifetime work awards, other reviews, and the quality of their writing in their submitted sample.
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In addition to Deborah Levine as the winner, two other finalists recognized by the judging panel are Jamie Quatro, author of the novel Fire Sermon, and Paul Luikart, author short story collection Metropolis.
Nominated authors for the award are judged by a panel of three experts who are English professors or authors within the region. This year’s panel was made up of KB Ballentine, published poet and creative writing teacher at Rhea Co. High School, Joshua Johnson, English professor at Chattanooga State, and Emily Huso, English Professor at Southern Adventist University.
About Deborah Levine​
Deborah Levine is an award-winning author of fifteen books, writing coach, university lecturer, opinion columnist, and cross-cultural communications consultant. She is a Forbes Magazine top Diversity and Inclusion Trailblazer and has thirty-three years of experience in writing, publishing, and editing. She is a pioneer in Thought Diversity, developing leadership with flexible skills in communication, conflict management, and wise decision making in a diverse environment. Brought up in Bermuda in a four-generation Jewish family, Levine has lived in Chattanooga, Tennessee for twenty-five years.
Within her long career and body of work, Levine founded the American Diversity Report e-zine (ADR) in 2006 and continues to serve as its Editor-in-Chief coordinating hundreds of contributing writers worldwide. She’s published over a thousand articles and manages ADR’s website, social media, press releases, and podcast.
Levine’s books have also been featured of CSPAN BOOK TV and taken to the Vatican as gifts for Pope Francis. Her book, When Hate Groups March Down Main Street, was awarded the International Books for Peace in 2020 and 2021. Other more recently published books include a memoir entitled The Liberators’ Daughter, Un-biased Guide for Leaders: From Unconscious Bias to Conscious Choices, and Write that Book! Tell that Story! Levine has been featured in several publications, such as Online Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, Harvard Divinity School Bulletin, Journal of Public Management & Social Policy, and CSPAN-BookTV. In addition to being recognized by the Women’s Federation for World Peace, Levine also served as a technical and media writer for UTC, the American Jewish Committee, and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, along with even more organizations.
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