Denene Millner wins prestigious Georgia literary honor

Celebrated author and journalist Denene Millner has been awarded the 2025 Townsend Prize for Fiction for her novel “One Blood.” Millner accepted the award last night during a ceremony at Atlanta’s Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, where the literary community gathered to dine and celebrate.

Millner’s “One Blood” is a tale about generational trauma told from the perspectives of three women: an unwed mother forced to place her daughter for adoption, the adoptive mother and their adult daughter, now pregnant with her own daughter. The tale of three generations of Black women traverses racism, classism, prejudice and family secrets.

Denene Millner said she is convinced her ancestors helped her as she wrote “One Blood.” (Becca York / AJC)

Millner said she is convinced her ancestors helped her as she wrote “One Blood.” She faced a lot of self-doubt in the process, she said from the podium, but credits her fellow writers and friends for helping her pull through. One in particular, she said, came to her house to read her own words back to her to remind her who she is.

“When you put your heart into the story and it means so much to you, and sometimes it doesn’t do what you dream of it to do … I was feeling a way about myself,” she said. “But there’s something about validation. There’s something about people recognizing the work, your voice, that gives you wings.”

The Townsend Award is another level of validation.

Named after late Atlanta magazine editor Jim Townsend, the biennial literary prize established in 1982 is considered one of Georgia’s most prestigious literary honors. Since 2023, stewardship of the award has been a joint effort between The Atlanta Writers Club and Georgia Writers Museum.

To be eligible, the work must be a novel, novella or short story collection written by a Georgia author and professionally published in the two years prior to the award.

This year’s initial pool of 50 nominees was narrowed to 44 after six did not meet award criteria. From the eligible 44, seven judges read every book to narrow down the pool to 10 finalists. The 10 were sent to four additional, out-of-state judges before a winner was chosen.

“A dedicated cadre of people have worked for two years to make this a special evening to celebrate the best literature Georgia literary fiction writers have produced since our last gathering,” said Clayton Ramsey from the Atlanta Writers Club. “They elevate the art of writing and storytelling in this historic corner of the country and affirm our commitment to the craft.”

Past Townsend Award winners include Alice Walker, Ha Jin, Judson Mitcham, Thomas Mullen, Mary Hood and Sanjena Sathian.