Returning for its second year, the 2024 Sarah McCoy Grant will be awarded to Ally Kirkpatrick, owner of Old Town Books in Alexandria, Virginia, and Maya Martin, bookseller and events coordinator at Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi. Each will receive a grant of $1500 to be used toward writing craft development.

 

When she was told she had been chosen for the McCoy Grant Ally Kirkpatrick said, "I’ve been holding my writing close for the past year, not quite ready to share it with the world and wondering if there would ever be a right time, Winning this award gives me the confidence boost to continue finding my voice and sharing my story about maternal mental health." She added that the award will give her the ability to attend a writers retreat and cover the costs of childcare and staffing for the bookstore.

Maya Martin also plans to use her grant to attend writing workshops to hone her craft. "It is a great honor to have been chosen for the 2024 McCoy Grant," she said, "and I hope to live up to the hopes and wishes of not only author Sarah McCoy, the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance, and the grant selection committee, but my own dreams and aspirations. I am truly grateful for this grant and have been inspired to work more diligently as a creative."

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author Sarah McCoy, (Mustique Island) in partnership with the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) for any unpublished southern women or nonbinary booksellers who harbor ambitions to be published writers.

McCoy commented on the signficant increase in applicants in the grant's second year, "It was an exciting year for the McCoy Grant! Our applicant pool doubled with talented booksellers representing every SIBA state. It was an honor to get to know them, their bookstores, and reading communities. I can’t wait to see how the 2024 recipients use the grant to further their writing aspirations. Congrats to Ally and Maya!”

SIBA Executive Director Linda-Marie Barrett notes 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 The McCoy Grant will make a real difference in the lives of unpublished southern bookseller women/nonbinary writers."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 11, 2024.

For more information about the McCoy Grant, visit Sarah McCoy's website at SarahMcCoy.com or SIBA at sibaweb.com.