SoLit is proud to announce that Deborah Levine has been selected as the winner of the 2022 Local Distinguished Author Award. The award will be presented at the Club Lit fundraiser on November 17 at 6:00 p.m. at the Chattanooga Whiskey Hall. More information on the event is available at www.solitchatt.org/clublit2022.
With the Local Distinguished Author Award, SoLit strives to recognize the outstanding achievement of our local authors and recognize their talent. The winning author is selected based on their demonstrated lifetime body of work, awards, other reviews, and the quality of their writing. Various genres were accepted, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and short story. 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 podcasts.
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.
About SoLit – Founded in 1952, SoLit has evolved into a literary arts hub for Chattanooga. Previously known as Southern Lit Alliance, the mission is to deliver literary arts experiences that engage young people and adults in a life-long love of reading, writing, and community conversation. Each year, SoLit reaches 6,000 children and adults with programs such as literature festivals, writing workshops, book therapy groups, writing contests for children, and outreach to jails and youth in underserved communities. We see literature has the incomparable power to inspire, connect, and uplift, but additionally, the benefits of reading literature are far-reaching and include improved critical thinking skills, empathy for others, vocabulary, writing ability, imagination, and cultural literacy for all ages. SoLit shares stories that matter. For more information, go to solitchatt.org.