Two Southern booksellers are the first recipients of the Sarah McCoy Grants for bookseller-writers. Kendra Gayle Lee, owner of Bookish Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia, and Rachel Randolph, a bookseller with Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee, will each receive a grant of $1500 to be used toward writing craft development.

 

"There's something so magical about people responding to the stories I tell," Kendra Gayle Lee said on being told of the award, "Receiving the Sarah McCoy grant felt like a huge vote of confidence from the Universe--and a much appreciated financial boost to support my writing." Lee admits to being "smitten" with Atlanta. "I believe Black Lives Matter. I care deeply about housing justice, education, reproductive justice and finding magic in this world."

Rachel Randolph is a frontline bookseller and a recent graduate of Lipscomb University with a degree in Creative Writing. She is, at heart, a fantasy writer but also a part-time poet who is working on her first fantasy novel. Her work explores the divinity of being human and the magic taken for granted in the modern world. "I am so thankful to Sarah McCoy and the folks at SIBA for the opportunity to apply for this grant," she says, "Elevating female and nonbinary voices is of the utmost importance, and I hope the stories I write will always do so. I know this grant will be a stepping stone that I look back on with immense gratitude."

The McCoy Grant for Bookseller-Writers was created by New York Times bestselling author Sarah McCoy (Mustique Island) in partnership with SIBA for any unpublished southern women or nonbinary booksellers who harbor ambitions to be published writers.

In speaking about its inaugural year, McCoy said of the grant, "It was such an honor to meet The McCoy Grant applicants through their submitted writing samples! All were of exceptional merit with great writing potential, which made the decision quite challenging. This is a good problem to have! And speaks to the talent in our book community. A budding author is one of literature’s most valuable commodities."

SIBA Executive Director Linda-Marie Barrett added that SIBA is appreciative of the many ways authors step up to support Southern independent booksellers. "Now we have this incredibly generous grant from author and friend Sarah McCoy. The McCoy Grant will make a real difference in the lives of unpublished southern bookseller women/nonbinary writers."

Both grant recipients will be honored at SIBA's upcoming Town Hall meeting at their annual conference at New Voices New Rooms on August 10, 2023.

For more information about the McCoy Grant, visit SIBA at sibaweb.com.