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Wikipedia / AML Awards

The AML Awards are given annually by the Association for Mormon Letters (AML) to the best work "by, for, and about Mormons." They are juried awards, chosen by a panel of judges. Citations for many of the awards can be found on the AML website.

The award categories vary from year to year depending on the shape of the market and what the AML decides is worthy of honor. Beginning with the 2014 awards, the AML began creating a shortlist of finalists for most categories, which preceded the final awards.

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010

Smith-Pettit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters

Biography

Criticism

  • Grant Hardy for Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader's Guide

Drama / WebFilm

Editing

Memoir

Novel

Online Writing

Personal Essay

Poetry

Service to AML

  • Darlene Young

Short Fiction

  • Jack Harrell for A Sense of Order and Other Stories

Short Fiction Honorable Mention

  • Darin Cozzens for Light of the New Day and Other Stories

Young Adult Literature

2011

Smith-Pettit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters

Honorary Lifetime Membership

Biography

Autobiography

  • Emma Lou Warner Thayne for The Place of Knowing: a Spiritual Autobiography

Criticism

  • Brant A. Gardner for The Gift and Power : Translating the Book of Mormon

Film

  • Tyler Measom and Jennilyn Merten for Sons of Perdition

Special Award in Graphical Narrative

Novel

Personal Essay

  • Adam Miller, for the body of his work published in 2011

Poetry

Short Story

  • David G. Pace for "American Trinity"

Short Fiction

Special Award in Literary Journalism

  • Andrew Hall

Young Adult Novel

Marilyn Brown Novel Award

  • Paul Colt for Boots and Saddles: A Call to Glory

2012

Smith–Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters

Lifetime AML Membership

  • Mahonri Stewart

  • Christopher Bigelow

Film

Novel

  • The Five Books of Jesus by James Goldberg

Devotional

Poetry

  • Amytis Leaves Her Garden by Karen Kelsay

Award in Adaptation

Drama

  • Roof Overhead by Mahonri Stewart

Short Fiction

Young Adult Novel

  • Vodnik by Bryce Moore

Memoir/Creative Non Fiction

Middle Grade Fiction Award

  • False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Humor

  • "Pat and Pete" by Larry Day (from his collection Day Dreaming: Tales from the Fourth Dementia)

2013

Given out April 12, 2014.

Smith–Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters

Outstanding Achievement Award

Creative non-fiction

  • Melissa Dalton-Bradford for Global Mom: Eight Countries, Sixteen Addresses, Five Languages, One Family

Drama

  • Ariel Mitchell for A Second Birth

Film

Special Award

  • Scott Hales for The Garden of Enid

Novel

  • Sarah Eden Longing for Home

Poetry

  • Alex Caldiero sonosuono (awarded on March 28, 2015)

Other finalists

  • Susan Elizabeth Howe Salt

  • Lance Larsen Genius Loci

Short Fiction

  • Brad R. Torgersen “The Chaplain’s Legacy”. Analog Science Fiction and Fact, July/August 2013 (awarded on March 28, 2015)

Other finalists

  • “The Righteous Road” by Ryan Shoemaker, Silk Road Review, Summer/Fall 2013

  • “Expiation” by Richard Dutcher, Sunstone 171, July 2013

  • “Duplex” by Eric Freeze, Prairie Fire 34.1, Spring 2013

  • “The Gift of Tongues” by Annette Haws, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Winter 2013

Young Adult Fiction

  • Cindy M. Hogan Gravediggers

Young Adult Speculative Fiction

2014

Presented March 28, 2015, at the Utah Valley University Library.

Smith–Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters

AML Lifetime Achievement Award

Comics

  • iPlates, Volume 2: Prophets, Priests, Rebels, and Kings by Stephen Carter and Jett Atwood

Creative non-fiction

  • Hemingway on a Bike by Eric Freeze

Other finalists

  • To the Mountain: One Mormon Woman’s Search for Spirit by Phyllis Barber

  • Way Below the Angels: The Pretty Clearly Troubled But Not Even Close to Tragic Confessions of a Real Live Mormon Missionary by Craig Harline

  • Hippie Boy: A Girl’s Story by Ingrid Ricks

Criticism

  • Ender’s World: Fresh Perspectives on the SF Classic Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card, editor

Other finalists

  • “Of Many Hearts and Many Minds: The Mormon Novel and the Post-Utopian Challenge of Assimilation” by Scott Hales. Dissertation, University of Cincinnati

  • “Toward a Mormon Literary Theory” by Jack Harrell. BYU Studies Quarterly 53.3, 2014

Drama

  • Pride and Prejudice by Melissa Leilani Larsen

Other finalists

  • The Weaver of Raveloe by Erika Glenn and Melissa Leilani Larsen

  • Single Wide by George Nelson and Jordan Kamalu

  • Evening Eucalyptus by Mahonri Stewart

Film

Other finalists

Middle Grade Novel

  • The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry

    Honorable Mention: The End or Something Like That by Ann Dee Ellis

Other finalists

  • Almost Super by Marion Jensen

  • Time of the Fireflies by Kimberley Griffiths Little

  • Sky Raiders by Brandon Mull

Novel

Other finalists

Picture Book

  • Girls Who Choose God: Stories of Courageous Women from the Bible by McArthur Krishna and Bethany Brady Spalding, illustrated by Kathleen Peterson

    Honorable Mention: The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale, illustrated by LeUyen Pham

Other finalists

  • Fetch by Adam Glendon Sidwell, illustrated by Edwin Rhemrev

  • The World According to Musk Ox by Erin Cabatingan, illustrated by Matthew Myers

  • The Tooth Fairy Wars by Kate Coombs, illustrated by Jake Parker

Poetry

  • Picture Dictionary by Kristen Eliason

Other finalists

  • Uncommon Prayer and Made Flesh: Sacrament and Poetics in Post-Reformation England by Kimberly Johnson

  • In the Museum of Coming and Going by Laura Stott

Religious Non-Fiction

  • Re-Reading Job: Understanding the Ancient World’s Greatest Poem by Michael Austin

Other finalists

  • Seeking the Promised Land by David E. Campbell, John C. Green, and J. Quin Monson. Cambridge University Press

  • Wresting the Angel by Terryl Givens

Short Fiction

  • “Two-Dog Dose” by Steven L. Peck, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Spring 2014

Other finalists

  • “Recollection” by Nancy Fulda, Carbide Tipped Pens

  • “Anatomy” by Tim Wirkus, Weird Fiction Review, June 2014

  • “Jesus Enough” by Levi S. Peterson, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Winter 2014

Young Adult General Novel

Other finalists

Young Adult Speculative Novel

Other finalists

  • The Paper Magician by Charlie Holmberg

  • The Unhappening of Genesis Lee by Shallee McArthur

  • Son of War, Daughter of Chaos by Janette Rallison

  • Ruins by Dan Wells

  • Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White

2015

Presented March 5, 2016, at the Heber J. Grant building on Brigham Young University-Hawaii campus.

The Smith-Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters

  • Phyllis Barber

The Association for Mormon Letters Lifetime Achievement Award

  • Donald R. Marshall

Special Awards for Scholarly Publishing

Comics

  • Dendō: One Year and One Half in Japan by Brittany Long Olsen

Other finalists

  • Stripling Warrior by Brian Andersen and James Neish

  • My Hot Date by Noah van Sciver

Creative Non-Fiction

  • My Wife Wants You to Know I’m Happily Married by Joey Franklin

Other finalists

  • The Accidental Terrorist by William Shunn

  • Fresh Courage Take: New Directions by Mormon Women edited by Jamie Zvirzdin

Criticism

Other finalists

  • Nephi Anderson's Dorian: A Peculiar Edition With Annotated Text & Scholarship edited by Eric W. Jepson

Drama

  • Pilot Program by Melissa Leilani Larson

Other finalists

Film

Other finalists

Lyrics

Other finalists

Middle Grade Novel

  • Mothman’s Curse by Christine Hayes

Other finalists

  • A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen

  • Mysteries of Cove: Fires of Invention by J. Scott Savage

  • The Sound of Life and Everything by Krista Van Dolzer

  • Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave by Jen White

Novel

  • Sistering by Jennifer Quist

Other finalists

Picture Book

  • Zombelina Dances the Nutcracker by Kristyn Crow

Other finalists

  • Talon Wrestles an Anaconda by Auntie M (McArthur Krishna)

  • Girls Who Choose God: Stories of strong women from the Book of Mormon by McArthur Krishna, Bethany Brady Spalding, and Kathleen Peterson

  • Job Wanted by Teresa Bateman

Poetry

  • Hive by Christina Stoddard

Other finalists

  • Glyphs by Colin Douglas

  • Lake of Fire: Landscape Meditations from the Great Basin Deserts of Nevada by Justin Evans

  • Let Me Drown With Moses by James Goldberg

  • Religious Non-Fiction

  • Traditions of the Fathers: The Book of Mormon as History by Brant A. Gardner

  • Other finalists

  • The Oxford Handbook of Mormonism edited by Terryl L. Givens and Philip L. Barlow

  • Postponing Heaven: The Three Nephites, the Bodhisattva, and the Mahdi by Jad Hatem, translated by Jonathon Penny

  • Planted: Belief and Belonging in an Age of Doubt by Patrick Q. Mason

  • Relational Grace: The Reciprocal and Binding Covenant of Charis by Brent J. Schmidt

Short Story

Other finalists

Short-Story Collection

  • Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, Wives by Karen Rosenbaum

Other finalists

  • Dark Watch and Other Mormon-American Stories by William Morris

  • Wandering Realities: Mormonish Short Fiction by Steve L. Peck

Young Adult Novel

  • The Storyspinner by Becky Wallace

Other finalists

2016

Presented at Utah Valley University, April 22, 2017.

The Smith-Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters

AML Lifetime Achievement Award

  • Susan Elizabeth Howe

Comics

  • Precious Rascals by Anthony Holden

Other finalists

  • Mormon Shorts, Vol. 1 by Scott Hales

  • White Sand by Brandon Sanderson (story), Rik Hoskin (script), Julius Gopez (art), and Ross Campbell (colors)

Creative Non-fiction

  • Sublime Physick by Patrick Madden

Honorable Mention

  • Baring Witness: 36 Mormon Women Talk Candidly about Love, Sex and Marriage edited by Holly Welker

Other finalists

  • Immortal for Quite Some Time by Scott Abbott

  • The Latter Days: A Memoir by Judith Freeman

  • One Hundred Birds Taught me to Fly by Ashley Mae Hoiland

Criticism

  • Writing Ourselves: Essays on Creativity, Craft, and Mormonism by Jack Harrell

Drama

Other finalists

  • Gregorian by Matthew Greene

  • Kingdom of Heaven by Jenifer Nii

  • The King’s Men by Javen Tanner

Film

Other finalists

Middle Grade Novel

Other finalists

  • The Kidnap Plot: The Incredible Adventures of Clockwork Charlie by Dave Butler

  • Cinnamon Moon by Tess Hilmo

  • Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood by Liesl Shurtliff

Novel

Other finalists

  • Slave Queen by Heather. B. Moore

  • Pigs When they Straddle the Air by Julie J. Nichols

  • Daredevils by Shawn Vestal

Picture Book

  • Our Heavenly Family, Our Earthly Families by McArthur Krishna and Bethany Brady Spalding. Illustrated by Caitlin Connolly

Other finalists

  • What Would It Be Like by McArthur Krishna, Illustrated by Ayeshe Sadr & Ishaan Dasgupta

  • She Stood for Freedom: The Untold Story of a Civil Rights Hero by Loki Mulholland and Angela Fairwell. Illustrated by Charlotte Janssen

  • Defenders of the Family by Benjamin Hyrum White. Illustrated by Jay Fontana

Poetry

  • Strange Terrain by Matthew James Babcock

Other finalists

  • Leviathan by Neil Aitken

  • flicker by Lisa Bickmore

  • Who is the Dancer, What is the Dance by Alex Caldiero

  • Kill February by Jeffrey Tucker

Religious Non-fiction

  • As Iron Sharpens Iron: Listening to the Various Voices of Scripture edited by Julie M. Smith

Other finalists

  • Nothing New Under the Sun: A Blunt Paraphrase of Ecclesiastes by Adam S. Miller

  • The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy by Carol Lynn Pearson

  • The Vision of All: Twenty-five Lectures on Isaiah in Nephi’s Record by Joseph M. Spencer

Special Award for Religious Non-fiction Publishing

  • Let Your Hearts and Minds Expand: Reflections on Faith, Reason, Charity, and Beauty by Thomas F. Rogers, edited by Jonathan Langford and Linda Hunter Adams

Short Fiction

  • "Kid Kirby" by Levi S. Peterson (Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, 49:2, Summer 2016)

Other finalists

  • "And Thorns Will Grow There" by Emily Belanger, Sunstone #180, Spring 2016

  • "Light as Wings" by Spencer Hyde, Glimmer Train. Fall 2016, #97

  • "The Mandelbrot Set" by Heidi Naylor, Sunstone, #182, Fall 2016

  • "Incomplete Slaughter" by Steven L. Peck, The Colored Lens, Summer 2016

  • "Purytans" by Brad R. Torgersen, Analog: Science Fact and Fiction, July/Aug 2016

Short Fiction Collection

  • The Last Blessing of J. Guyman LeGrand and Other Stories by Darin Cozzens

Other finalists

  • Invisible Men by Eric Freeze

  • Windows into Hell by various authors, edited by James Wymore

Video Series

Other finalists

  • Adam & Eve Davey & Bianca Morrison Dillard, directors

  • Studio C Jared Shores and Matt Meese, co-creators

  • The Talking Fly Steve Olpin, director

Young Adult Novel

Other finalists

  • The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry

  • And I Darken by Kiersten White

2017

The final winners were presented March 23, 2018.

Smith-Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters

AML Lifetime Achievement Award

Novel

Short fiction

  • "The Pew" by Alison Maeser Brimley (originally published in Dialogue)

    "Le Train à Grande Vitesse" R.A. Christmas (originally published in Dialogue)

  • "The Thicket" by Bradeigh Godfrey (originally published in Sunstone)

  • "Jane’s Journey" by Heidi Naylor (originally published in Sunstone)

  • "Bishop Johansen Rescues a Lost Soul: A Tale of Pleasant Grove" by Steven L. Peck (originally published in Dialogue)

Creative nonfiction

  • That We May Be One: A Gay Mormon’s Perspective on Faith and Family by Tom Christofferson

    Learning to Like Life: A Tribute to Lowell Bennion by George B. Handley

  • The Burning Point by Tracy McKay

  • Open Midnight: Where Ancestors and Wilderness Meet by Brooke Williams

Notable mentions

  • Heterodoxologies: Essays by Matthew James Babcock

  • The OCD Mormon: Finding healing and hope in the midst of anxiety by Kari Ferguson

  • Do Clouds Rest? Dementiadventures with Mom by Michael Hicks

Religious nonfiction

  • What is Mormonism? A Student’s Introduction by Patrick Q. Mason

    Feeding the Flock: The Foundations of Mormon Thought: Church and Praxis by Terryl L. Givens

  • The Sun Has Burned My Skin by Adam S. Miller

  • Perspectives on Mormon Theology: Apologetics edited by Blair G. Van Dyke and Loyd Isao Ericson

Middle-grade novel

Young-adult novel

Comics

Picture book

  • Colour Blocked by Ashley Sorenson and David W. Miles

    Heroic Stories from The Book of Mormon by Shauna Gibby and Casey Nelson

  • Quiet as a Church Mouse by Stephen Bevan and Jeff Harvey

Drama

Film

  • Socorro written and directed by Marshal Davis

    The Man in the Camo Jacket written and directed by Russ Kendall

  • Out of the Ground written and directed by Barrett Burgin

  • A Pug & Wolf Christmas created by Davey and Bianca Morrison Dillard

  • We Love You, Sally Carmichael! written by Daryn Tufts and directed by Christopher Gorham

Criticism

  • “The Second Coming of Mormon Music,” by Michael Hicks from The Kimball Challenge at Fifty: Mormon Arts Center Essays (part of original nominee The Kimball Challenge at Fifty: Mormon Arts Center Essays from Mormon Arts Center)

    On the Problem and Promise of Alex Caldiero’s Sonosophy: Doing Dialogical Coperformative Ethnography; Or, Enter the Poetarium by Tyler Chadwick

Anthology

  • Moth and Rust: Mormon Encounters with Death edited by Stephen Carter

    Seasons of Change: Stories of Transition from the Writers of Segullah edited by Shelah Mastny Miner and Sandra Clark Jergensen

  • States of Deseret edited by Wm Morris

Poetry

Special Award in Religious Non-Fiction Publishing

2018

The final winners were presented March 30, 2019, in Berkeley, California.

AML Lifetime Achievement Award

Smith-Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters

Special Award in Publishing

  • Dove Song: Heavenly Mother in Mormon Poetry edited by Tyler Chadwick, Dayna Patterson, Martin Pulido (Peculiar Pages)

Novel

Short-fiction collections

  • The Science of Lost Futures by Ryan Habermeyer (BOA Editions)

    Revolver by Heidi Naylor (BCC Press)

  • Beyond the Lights by Ryan Shoemaker (No Record Press)

Short fiction

Drama

Poetry

  • What the Body Knows by Lance Larsen (University of Tampa Press)

    The Lapidary’s Nosegay by Lara Candland (The Center for Literary Publishing, Colorado State University)

  • The God Mask by Javen Tanner (Kelsay Books)

  • Half-Hazard by Kristen Tracy (Graywolf Press)

Creative nonfiction

Religious nonfiction

  • An Early Resurrection: Life in Christ Before you Die by Adam S. Miller

    Faith Is Not Blind by Bruce C. Hafen and Marie K. Hafen

  • Thou Art the Christ, the Son of the Living God: The Person and Work of Jesus in the New Testament edited by Eric D. Huntsman, Lincoln H. Blumell, and Tyler J. Griffin

  • The Power of Godliness: Mormon Liturgy and Cosmology by Jonathan Stapley

  • On Fire in Baltimore: Black Mormon Women and Conversion in a Raging City by Laura Rutter Strickling

Criticism

  • Mormon Cinema: Origins to 1952 by Randy Astle

    "Low and the Hermeneutics of Silence" by Jacob Bender (Sunstone)

  • "Isms and Prisms: A Mormon View on Writing about Nature and Women" by Ángel Chaparro-Sainz (Women’s Studies)

  • "Mormon Poetry, 2012 to the Present" by Bert Fuller (Dialogue)

  • A Book about the Film Monty Python’s Life of Brian: All the References from Assyrians to Zeffirelli by Darl Larsen

Comics

  • One Dirty Tree by Noah Van Sciver (Uncivilized Books)

    Green Monk: Blood of the Martyrs by Brandon Dayton (Image Comics)

  • Comic Diaries, Vol. 1 by Brittany Long Olsen (Self-published)

  • SkyHeart Book One: The Search for the Star Seed by Jake Parker (Self-published)

  • Cooties #11 by Nick Perkins

Documentary film

Narrative film

Picture book

Middle-grade novel

Young-adult novel

2019

The final winners were presented May 2, 2020, online, due to a cancellation of the 2020 AML Conference caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Smith-Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters

Lifetime Achievement Award

  • R. A. Christmas

  • Special awards

  • in Literature and Art

    1. HIVE ZINE

      1. The ARCH-HIVE

    in Literature and Performance

    1. Thorns and Thistles: A Concert of Literature

      1. Curated and compiled by James Goldberg and Nicole Wilkes Goldberg, directed by Ariel Rivera, music by Nicole Pinnell; supported by and performed at the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts

    in Literature

    1. Irreversible Things

      1. Lisa Van Orman Hadley

Novel

Short fiction

Young-adult novel

  • Lovely War by Julie Berry (Viking Press)

    Let’s Call it a Doomsday by Katie Henry (Katherine Tegan Books)

  • Scars Like Wings by Erin Stewart (Delacorte)

  • Waiting for Fitz by Spencer Hyde (Shadow Mountain)

Middle-grade novel

  • Words on Fire by Jennifer A. Nielsen (Scholastic)

    Out to Get You: Thirteen Tales of Weirdness and Woe by Josh Allen (Holiday House)

  • The Red Flower by Kate Coombs (Blue Sparrow Books)

  • Time Castaways: #1 The Mona Lisa Key and #2 The Obsidian Compass by Liesl Shurtliff (HarperCollins)

Picture book

  • Girls Who Choose God: Stories of Extraordinary Women from Church History by McArthur Krishna, Bethany Brady Spalding, Kathleen Peterson (Deseret Book)

    From a Small Seed: the Story of Eliza Hamilton by Camille Andros and Tessa Blackham (Henry Holt)

  • If Monet Painted a Monster by Amy Newbold and Greg Newbold (Tilbury House Publishers)

  • Lola Dutch: When I Grow Up by Kenneth Wright and Sarah Jane Wright (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)

Drama

Narrative feature films

Documentary feature films

  • Jimmer: The Lonely Master directed by Scott Christopherson

    After Selma directed by Loki Mulholland

  • The Jets: Making it Real directed by Kels Goodman

Short film

  • "Father of Man" directed by Barrett Burgin

    "Paper Trails" directed by Heather Moser

  • "Stickup Kid" directed by Daniel Tu

  • "Man and Kin" directed by Max Johnson

Poetry

  • Homespun and Angel Feathers by Darlene Young (BCC Press)

    Into the Sun: Poems Revised, Rearranged, and New by Colin Douglas (Waking Lion Press)

  • After Earth by Michael Lavers (University of Tampa Press)

  • The Tree at the Center by Kathryn Knight Sonntag (BCC Press)

  • The Marriage of the Moon and the Field by Sunni Brown Wilkinson (Black Lawrence Press)

Criticism

  • "Poetic Representations of Mormon Women in Late Nineteenth-Century Frontier America" by Amy Easton-Flake in Representing Rural Women (edited by Whitney Womack Smith and Margaret Thomas-Evans, Lexington Books)

    "Danites, Damsels, and World Domination: Mormons in the Dime Novels" by Michael Austin in Sunstone

  • "Wrestling with God: Invoking Scriptural Mythos in LDS Literary Work" by James Goldberg in Remember the Revolution: Mormon Essays and Stories (self-published)

  • Mormons, Musical Theatre, and Belonging in America by Jake Johnson (University of Illinois Press)

  • Latter-day Screens: Gender, Sexuality, and Mediated Mormonism by Brenda R. Weber (Duke University Press)

Creative nonfiction

  • Crossings: A Bald Asian-American Latter-day Saint Woman Scholar’s Ventures through Life, Death, Cancer, & and Motherhood by Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye (Deseret Book/Maxwell Institute)

    Remember the Revolution: Mormon Essays and Stories by James Goldberg (self-published)

  • A New Constellation: A Memoir by Ashley Mae Hoiland (BCC Press)

Religious nonfiction

  • A Place to Belong: Reflections from Modern Latter-day Saint Women edited by Hollie Rhees Fluhman and Camille Fronk Olson (Deseret Book)

    If Truth Were a Child: Essays by George B. Handley (Maxwell Institute)

  • The Next Mormons: How Millennials Are Changing the LDS Church by Jana Riess (Oxford University Press)

Comics

2020

The final winners were presented June 5, 2021, as part of an online-only conference, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lifetime Achievement

  • John Serge Bennion

Smith-Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters

Special Award in Religious Nonfiction

Special Award in Nonfiction

  • This is the Plate: Utah Food Traditions (University of Utah Press)

  • Editors: Carol Edison, Eric A. Eliason, Lynne S McNeill

  • Novel

  • Bountiful by Charity Shumway (BCC Press)

Other finalists:

  • The Desert Between Us by Phyllis Barber (University of Nevada Press)

  • 116 by Rick Grunder (BookBaby)

  • Sylvia by Twila Newey (BCC Press)

  • A New Age of Miracles by Mahonri Stewart (Prospero Arts and Media)

  • Short story

  • "The Water Between Us" by Ryan Shoemaker (Barzakh 12, Spring 2020)

Other finalists:

  • "Every Nerve Singing" by Ryan Habermeyer (Fugue 58, Winter/Spring 2020)

  • "Upcycling Death" by M.K. Hutchins (Brain Games: Stories to Astonish)

  • "Certain Places" by William Morris (Dialogue 53:2, Summer 2020)

  • "The Overcoat by Maurine Whipple (Irreantum 17.1, Fall 2020)

  • Short-fiction collection

  • A Craving for Beauty: The Collected Writings of Maurine Whipple by Maurine Whipple, edited by Veda Hale, Andrew Hall, and Lynne Larson (BCC Press)

Other finalist:

Other finalists:

  • I, Taliesin by Michael R. Collings (Self-published)

  • Ese golpe de luz by Gabriel González Núñez (FlowerSong Books)

  • An Imperfect Roundness by Melody Newey Johnson (BCC Press)

  • Creative nonfiction

  • Lies of the Magpie: A Memoir by Maleah Day Warner (Author Academy Elite)

Other finalists:

  • Disparates by Patrick Madden (University of Nebraska Press)

  • Wiving: A Memoir of Loving Then Leaving the Patriarchy by Caitlin Myer (Arcade)

  • Religious nonfiction

  • Buried Treasures: Reading the Book of Mormon Again for the First Time by Michael Austin (BCC Press)

Other finalists:

  • Mercy without End by Lavina Fielding Anderson (Signature Books)

  • Visions in a Seer Stone; Joseph Smith and the Making of the Book of Mormon by William L. Davis (University of North Carolina Press)

  • Tabernacles of Clay: Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism by Taylor G. Petrey (University of North Carolina Press)

  • The Book of Mormon For the Least of These, volume 1: 1 Nephi-Words of Mormon by Fatimah Salleh and Margaret Olsen Hemming (BCC Press)

  • Audiobook

  • Clogs and Shawls: Mormons, Moorlands, and the Search for Zion by Ann Chamberlin, narrated by Jacqueline de Boer

Other finalists:

Other finalists:

Other finalists:

Other finalists:

Other finalists:

Other finalists:

  • Everything Is Going to Be Okay by Dani Jones

  • Pillar of Light: Joseph Smith’s First Vision by Andrew G. Knaupp and Sal Velluto

  • Magic in the Valley: The Story of Moira Green, Witch by Brittany Long Olsen

  • Criticism

  • "Repicturing the Restoration: New Art to Expand our Understanding" by Anthony Sweat (BYU Religious Studies Center)

Other finalists:

  • Spencer Kimball’s Record Collection: Essays on Mormon Music by Michael Hicks (Signature)

  • "The 'New Woman' and the Woman’s Exponent: An Editorial Perspective" by Carol Cornwall Madsen (BYU Studies Quarterly, 59:3, 2000)

  • Josephine Spencer: Her Collected Works, Vol. 1, 1887-1899 edited by Ardis E. Parshall and Michael Austin (BCC Press)

  • A Craving for Beauty: The Collected Writings of Maurine Whipple edited by Veda Hale, Andrew Hall, and Lynne Larson (BCC Press)

  • Drama

  • Mountain Law by Melissa Leilani Larson (Women’s Voices Play Festival, Orlando)

Other finalists:

  • The Captivity of Hannah Dunston by Glen Nelson (liberetto) and Lansing McLoskey (music) (Guerilla Opera Company)

  • Give Me Moonlight by Ariel Mitchell (Motor House, Baltimore)

  • Escape from Planet Death by Tom Russell and BYU School of Media Arts Students (BYU)

  • Film

  • Heart of Africa written by Tshoper Kabambi and Margaret Blair Young, directed Tshoper Kabambi

Other finalist:

  • Gruff written and directed by Kohl Glass

2021

The winners were announced July 23, 2022, at the AML Conference. For the fiction awards, the addition of bilingual judges led to the consideration of Spanish-language works published as far back as 2016. Additionally, with the return of a lyrics award, music was considered from both 2020 and 2021.

AML Lifetime Achievement Award

  • Michael Austin

Smith-Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters

  • Darlene Young

  • Special award in fiction

  • Estampas del Libro de Mormón by Gabriel González Núñez

  • Special award in nonfiction

Eugene England: A Mormon Liberal by Kristine L. Haglund (University of Illinois Press)

  1. Novel

  2. Eleusis:The Long and Winding Road by R. de la Lanza (Intendencia de las Letras/Ulterior Editorial)

    1. The Jupiter Knife by D. J. Butler and Aaron Michael Ritchie (Baen)

    2. Picnic in the Ruins by Todd Robert Petersen (Counterpoint)

    3. Noria by Juan Antonio Santoyo (Ulterior Editorial)

    Short fiction

  3. "Y no preguntes mas . . ." ("So Ask no More . . .") by Mario R. Montani (Irreantum)

    1. "Good Shepherd Church" by Riley Clay (Irreantum)

    2. "Between Glory and Ruin" James Goldberg (A Desolating Sickness: Stories of Pandemic)

    3. "Skillick’s Bride" Rachel Helps

    4. "The Wall" by Spencer Hyde (Image)

    Young Adult Novel

  4. Beyond the Mapped Stars by Rosalyn Eves (Knopf)

    1. A Sisterhood of Secret Ambitions by Sheena Boekweg (Feiwel & Friends)

    2. Where I Belong Marcia Mickelson (Carolrhoda Lab)

    3. Fadeaway by E. B. Vickers (Knopf)

    4. In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner (Crown Books)

    Middle Grade Novel

  5. Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls by Kaela Rivera (HarperCollins)

    1. Breathing Underwater by Sarah Allen (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

    2. Horace & Bunwinkle: The Case of the Rascally Raccoon by P.J. Gardner (illustrated by Dave Mottram) (Balzer + Bray)

    3. Friends Forever by Shannon Hale (illustrated by Leuyen Pham) (First Second)

    4. Tips for Magicians by Celesta Rimington (Crown Books for Young Readers)

    Picture Book

  6. A Child of God by Chantel Bonner, Mauli Bonner, and Morgan Bissant (Shadow Mountain/Ensign Peak)

    1. The Boy and the Sea by Camile Andros and Amy June Bates (Abrams)

    2. We Believe: Illustrated Articles of Faith by Annie Poon (Covenant)

    3. Thankful by Elaine Vickers and Samantha Cotterill (Paula Wiseman Books)

    4. 10 Little Disciples by Sierra Wilson (Ambassador-Emerald Intl)

    Film

  7. Witnesses (directed by Mark Goodman, written by Mitch Davis)

    1. His Name is Green Flake (directed and written by Mauli Bonner)

    2. Maggie on Stratford Ave (directed and written by James May)

    3. Scenes from the Glittering World (directed by Jared Jakins)

    4. The Touch of the Master’s Hand (directed and written by Gregory Barnes)

    Drama

  8. REDEEMHer: How I Screwed up my perfect Mormon life by Tatum Langton

    1. The King Stag by Janine Sobeck Knighton

    2. Gin Mummy by Melissa Leilani Larson

    3. 1820: The Musical (book: George Nelson; music and lyrics: Kayliann Lowe Juarez, Doug Lowe, and Kendra Lowe)

    Poetry

  9. The Ache and The Wing by Sunni Brown Wilkinson (Sundress Publications)

    1. Beneath the Falls by Mark D. Bennion (Resource publications)

    2. Down Their Spears by Jared Pearce (Cyberwit)

    Podcast

  10. This Is the Gospel (LDS Living)

    1. Faith Matters hosted by Aubrey Chaves, Tim Chaves, and Terryl Givens; produced by Bill Turnbull and Branson Hirschi (Faith Matters Foundation)

    2. Latter-day Contemplation hosted by Christopher Hurtado and Riley Risto; created by Shiloh Logan and Riley Risto; edited by Christian Hutardo (Latter-day Peace Studies)

    3. Leading Saints hosted by Kurt Francom; executive produced by Kurt Francom; produced by Lillian Angelovic

    4. Sunstone Mormon History (Sunstone Education Foundation)

    Comics

  11. Friends Forever by Shannon Hale (illustrated by Leuyen Pham) (First Second)

    1. Future Day Saints: The Gnomlaumite Crystal by Matt Page

    2. The Glass Looker: Collected Tales of Joseph Smith by Mark Elwood

    Criticism

  12. Vardis Fisher: A Mormon Novelist by Michael Austin (University of Illinois Press)

    1. “The Case for Resurrection: A Mormon Movie Manifesto” by Barrett Burgin in Mormonism and the Movies, edited by Chris Wei, (BCC Press)

    2. “Theologies of the Afterlife in Mormon Women’s Late-Nineteenth-Century Poetry” Amy Easton-Flake in Nineteenth-Century American Women Writers and Theologies of the Afterlife (Routledge)

    3. Mormonism in SF edited by Adam McClain for SFRA Review 51:3, Summer 2021.

    Creative Nonfiction

  13. Zion Earth, Zen Sky by Charles Shirō Inouye (Neal A. Maxwell Institute)

    1. Blossom as the Cliffrose: Mormon Legacies and the Beckoning Wild edited by Karin Anderson and Danielle Dubrasky (Torrey House Press)

    2. Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops by Allison Hong Merrill (She Writes Press)

    3. Scrupulous: My Obsessive Compulsion for God by Taylor Kerby (BCC Press)

    4. Where the Soul Hungers: One Doctor’s Journey from Atheism to Faith by Samuel M. Brown (Neal A. Maxwell Institute)

    Religious Nonfiction

  14. Proclaim Peace: The Restoration’s Answer to an Age of Conflict by Patrick Q. Mason and J. David Pulsipher (Maxwell Institute)

    1. Stretching the Heavens: The Life of Eugene England and the Crisis of Modern Mormonism by Terryl L. Givens (University of North Carolina Press)

    2. The Restoration: God’s Call to the 21st Century World by Patrick Q. Mason (Faith Matters)

    3. The Anatomy of Book of Mormon Theology, Vols. 1 and 2 Joseph M. Spencer (Greg Kofford Books)

    4. Humility: A Practical Approach by Shawn Tucker (BCC Press)

    Lyrics

  15. Fragility by Christian Asplund

    1. Therapy Sessions by David Archuleta

    2. A Fish of Earth by Emily Brown

    3. Pressure Machine by The Killers

    4. Strangest Congregations by Andrew Wiscombe

2022

Award winners were announced April 29, 2023 at a virtual conference.

  1. AML Lifetime Achievement Award

    1. Michael Hicks

    Smith-Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters

    1. Stephen R. Carter

    Novel

  2. The History of Honey Spring by Darin Cozzens (Zarahemla Books)

    1. And All Eternity Shook by Jacob L. Bender (Ships of Hagoth)

    2. The Resurrection Box by Declan Hyde (Gypsy Fox Publishing)

    3. Heike’s Void by Steven L. Peck (BCC Press)

    Short fiction

  3. "The Intelligences" ("As inteligências") by Marcelo Bighetti (translated by Kent S. Larsen) (Irreantum)

    1. "The Profile of Daria Black" by Michaelbrent Collings (In Gilded Glass: Twisted Myths and Shattered Fairytales, WordFire Press)

    2. "The Algorithms of Happiness" by Ryan Habermeyer (Iron Horse Literary Review)

    3. "Worlds Without End" by Tygan Shelton (Irreantum)

    4. "Twilight of the Eye Creature" by Nathan Shumate (Cold Fusion Media)

    Short-fiction collection

  4. The Year They Gave Women the Priesthood and Other Stories by Michael Fillerup (Signature Books)

    1. Down the Arches of the Years by Lee Allred (Hemelein Publications)

    2. The Darkest Abyss: Strange Mormon Stories by William Morris (BCC Press)

    3. Sharks in an Inland Sea by Lehua Parker (Hemelein Publications)

    Drama

  5. The Wrong People Have Money by Reed McColm. Varscona Theatre, Alberta. Shadow Theatre.

    1. A. D. 16 by Bekah Brunstetter (book) and Cinco Paul (story, music, and lyrics). Olney Theatre Center, Olney, Maryland.

    2. Mestiza, or Mixed by Melissa Leilani Larson. Plan-B Theatre, Salt Lake City.

    3. Mother, Mother: The Many Mothers of Maude by Julie Jensen. Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Salt Lake City. Pygmalion Productions.

    Creative Nonfiction

  6. The Burning Book by Jason Olson and James Goldberg (BCC Press)

    1. The Precarious Walk: Essays from Sand and Sun by Phyllis Barber (Torrey House Press)

    2. Wineskin: Freakin’ Jesus in the ‘60s and ‘70s by Michael Hicks (Signature Books)

    3. East Winds: A Global Quest to Reckon with Marriage by Rachel Rueckert (BCC Press)

    Religious Nonfiction

  7. Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints edited by Jason R. Combs, Mark D. Ellison, Cathrine Gines Taylor, and Kristian S. Heal. (Maxwell Institute)

    1. Book of Mormon Studies: An Introduction and Guide by Daniel Becerra, Amy Easton-Flake, Nicholas J. Frederick, and Joseph M. Spencer. (Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center)

    2. Mormon Women at the Crossroads: Global Narratives and the Power of Connectedness edited by Caroline Kline. (University of Illinois Press)

    3. Original Grace: An Experiment in Restoration Thinking by Adam S. Miller (Maxwell Institute/Deseret Book)

    4. The Book of Mormon for the Least of These: Vol. 2, Mosiah-Alma by Fatimah Salleh and Margaret Olsen Hemming (BCC Press)

    Criticism (long-form)

  8. Mormonism, Empathy, and Aesthetics: Beholding the Body by Gary Ettari (Palgrave Macmillan)

    1. Experiment upon the Word by Frederik S. Kleiner (BCC Press)

    2. John Held Jr.’s Fiction by Glen Nelson (Center for Latter-day Saint Art)

    Criticism (short-form)

  9. "The Divine Feminine in Mormon Art" by Margaret Olsen Hemming (Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought)

    1. "Lands Before Time: Plan of Salvation Typology in the Films of Don Bluth" by Randy Astle (Irreantum)

    2. "Apologia Unmasked: Brigham City, Film Noir and the Future of Mormon Cinema" by Lane Welch (Utah Monthly)

    3. "The Secular Syllabus and the Sacred Book: Literary Scholars Approach the Book of Mormon" by Rosalynde Welch (Journal of Book of Mormon Studies)

    Young-adult novel

  10. Beneath the Wide Silk Sky by Emily Inouye Huey (Scholastic)

    1. Wakers by Orson Scott Card (Margaret K. McElderry Books)

    2. The Silence that Binds Us by Joanna Ho (HarperTeen)

    3. This Might Get Awkward by Kara McDowell (Scholastic)

    4. The Words We Keep by Erin Stewart (Declorate)

    Middle-grade novel

  11. Willis Wilbur Wows the World by Lindsey Leavitt (Penguin Workshop)

    1. The Legend of the Dream Giants by Dustin Hansen (Shadow Mountain)

    2. The Hope of Elephants by Amanda Rawson Hill (Charlesbridge)

    3. Lines of Courage by Jennifer A. Nielsen (Scholastic)

    4. Secrets of the Looking Glass by J. Scott Savage (Shadow Mountain)

    Picture book

  12. Bedtime Stories for Girls of Destiny by Raeleigh Wilkinson (Cedar Fort)

    1. A Book, Too, Can Be A Star: The Story of Madeleine L’Engle and the Making of A Wrinkle in Time by Charlotte Jones Voiklis and Jennifer Adams (authors), Andelina Lirius (illustrator)

    2. Mud! by Annie Bailey (author) and Jen Corace (illustrator) (Abrams Appleseed)

    3. Pirates Don’t Dance by Shawna J. C. Tenney (Sleeping Bear)

    4. Pretty Perfect Kitty Corn by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham (Abrams)

    Comics

  13. Joseph Smith and the Mormons by Noah Van Sciver (Abrams ComicArts)

    1. The Glass Looker: Volume 2 by Mark Elwood (Luman Books)

    2. The Manderfield Devil by Rachel Allen Everett (independently published)

    3. Beware the Eye of Odin Doug Wagner (writer) and Tim Odland (artist) (Image Comics)

    Poetry

  14. Fatal by Kimberly Johnson (Persea Books)

    1. Litany with Wings by Tyler Chadwick (BCC Press)

    2. Golden Ax by Rio Cortez (Penguin)

    3. Drift Migration by Danielle Beazer Dubrasky (Ashland Poetry Press)

    4. Hemingway in Paradise and other Mormon Poems by Scott Hales (Mormon Lit Lab)

    Special Award in Publishing—Republication

  15. The Corianton Saga edited by Ardis E. Parshall (BCC Press)

    1. A Vision Splendid: The Discourses of David O. McKay edited by Anne-Marie Wright Lampropoulos (Greg Kofford Books)

    2. The Bacillus of Beauty by Harriet Stark, edited by Joe Monson (Hemelein Publications)

    Film

  16. The Mission. Tania Anderson, director. Danish Bear Productions.

    1. The Brilliant Darkness! (Dem Toi Ruc Ro!). Aaron Toronto, director, co-writer, and co-producer. Nha Uyen Ly Nguyen, co-writer, co-producer, and lead actor.

    2. Cheer. Season 2. Greg Whiteley, creator, executive producer, director. One Potato Productions, Netflix.

    3. Lucy and Whitney. Parker Gehring, director and writer.

    4. WWJD. Davey Morrison and Bianca Dillard, directors. Written by Davey Morrison and Anna Lewis. Based on a play by Anna Christina Kohler Lewis.

    Podcast

  17. This Global Latter-day Life (Caroline Kline, host and writer; Claremont Graduate University, Claremont Mormon Studies; Dialogue Podcast Network)

    1. Come Follow Me Kids (Bay Kids)

    2. Leading Saints (Kurt Francom, host/executive producer; Lillian Angelovic, producer)

    3. Tribe of Testimonies (Andrea Hales, host)

    4. Y Religion (Anthony Sweat, host and producer; Brigham Young University Religious Education)

2023

The 2023 awards finalists and winners can be found here: https://www.associationmormonletters.org/2024/08/2023-aml-award-winners/

2024

The 2024 awards finalists and winners can be found here: https://www.associationmormonletters.org/2025/05/2024-aml-award-winners/

See also

Notes

References