2023 Memoir Book Prize Winners

Memoir Magazine is delighted to share the winners of the 2023 Memoir Prize for Books! Congratulations to our Grand Prize winner, Finalists, and Category winners!

2023 GRAND PRIZE WINNER

**The Other Side of Yet by** **Michelle Hord**
(Atria Books)
A powerful memoir that explores the profound depths of loss while illuminating the path toward healing and rediscovery. Hord shares the tragic tale of her daughter’s murder, with a voice that resonates with love and resilience. Her ability to convey both heartbreak and hope is remarkable, leaving readers inspired by her unwavering spirit. Her words carry the weight of wisdom earned through unimaginable pain, creating a narrative that is both emotionally charged and deeply moving. “The Other Side of Yet” is a testament to the enduring power of love and the indomitable human spirit.

2023 FINALISTS

Correctional
by Ravi Shankar | Website : Amazon
(University of Wisconsin Press)

**Human Heartbeat Detected** by **Chelsey Clammer**
(Red Hen Press)

by R/B Mertz Website : Amazon (The Unnamed Press)

The Best Memoirs in Categories:

HEALTH/ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES:

The Preventorium by Susan Annah Currie | Amazon (University Press of Mississippi)

SURVIVAL:

**Years in a Pigsty**
by Sue Tong
(An Unpublished Manuscript)

TRANSFORMATION/ TRAVEL:

Travels with my Grief by Susan Bloch (RedDoor Press)

IDENTITY, LGBTQ:

Bloodstone
by Emily Richards
(An Unpublished Manuscript)

CULTURE:

Inktown: A Memoir of a Black Community, a White Family, and the Boy Who Grew Up in Both by Robert Turley
(An Unpublished Manuscript)

OVERCOMING ADVERSITY:

Good Morning, Hope by Argita and Detina Zalli | Amazon (Sandra Jonas Publishing)

MORAL CONFLICT, Legacy of Slave Ownership:

Unloose My Heart: A Personal Reckoning with the Twisted Roots of my Southern Family Tree by Marcia Edwina Herman-Giddens | Website : Amazon (University Alabama Press)

LEGACY:

Also A Poet: Frank O’Harra, My Father and Me by Ada Calhoun | Website : Amazon (‎Grove Press)

COOKING, INNOVATIVE STORYTELLING:

The Kitchen and the Studio: A Memoir of Food & Art by Mallory M. and John A. O’Connor | Website : Amazon (Atmosphere Press)

FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS:

Emptying the Nest: Getting Better at Goodbyes
by Morgan Baker | Website : Amazon
(Ten16 Press)

GRAPHIC STORYTELLING:

Our Little Secret: A Graphic Memoir
by Emily Carrington | Amazon (Drawn & Quarterly)

IDENTITY, Multicultural, Coming of Age

Ballet Is Not For Muslim Girls by Mariam S. Pal | Amazon
(Renaissance Press)

IDENTITY/LITERATURE/GRIEF:

Love Affair in the Garden of Milton by Susannah B. Mintz | Website : Amazon (LSU Press)

ESSAYS:

CULTURE/SOCIAL JUSTICE:

Allegiance to Winds and Waters: Bicycling the Political Divides of the United States
by Anne Winkler-Morey | Website : Amazon (Wise Ink)

INNOVATIVE STORYTELLING:

Growing Up Harris by Brooke Harris Wolfe, Geoff Harris, James Harris, and Jonathan Harris | Amazon (Independently Published)

REFUGEE EXPERIENCE:

The Happiness of Misery by Boas Fernando | Amazon
(Independently Published)

RESILIENCE:

Melissa Come Back
by Patrice Keet & Melissa LaHommedieu | Website : Amazon
(‎Atmosphere Press)

NOTEWORTHY TITLES:

The More You Hate Me by Andy Smart | Amazon (Unsolicited Press)

Poppy & other poems of grief and celebration by Julian Nangle

That Time I Got Cancer: A Love Story by Jim Zervanos | Website : Amazon

Destiny Deems by Beverly Alexander Martin | Website

The Long Surrender: A Memoir About Losing My Religion by Brian Rush McDonald

Chasing Tarzan by Catherine Forster | Website : Amazon (‎WiDo Publishing)

Living with 12 Men…a Mother in Training by Betty Auchard

We are so grateful to everyone who entered this year’s contest. You have enriched our lives with your stories of personal growth, struggles and transformations, as well as the courageous work of activists and leaders fighting for social justice.

We continue to be amazed by the exciting ways writers are continually expanding the Memoir genre to express their life stories and emotional truths: such as memoirs in essays, co-authored memoirs, illustrated graphic memoirs, and memoirs that weave together recipes and art!

We look forward to next year’s 2024 Memoir Prize!