The Georgia Author of the Year Awards (GAYA), presented by the Georgia Writers Association, were handed out last Saturday at Kennesaw State University Center. Author and attorney Melody Moezzi won in the Creative Nonfiction: Essay category for War on Error: Real Stories of American Muslims, her first book.

"What makes this all especially hilarious," she says, in a press release, of her win, "... is the fact that one of the other books nominated in my category was called, get this, Why Be a Christian. I'm sure it's a lovely book, not that I've read it or plan to, but point being, the irony of my win (given such competition and the fact that this was for the state of Georgia) was so not lost on me."

Other winners include Terry Kay for fiction, Turner Cassity for poetry and Daniel Veach for lifetime achievement. To find out more about GAYA and to see the full list of winners and nominees, visitGeorgia Writers Association.