The Lillian Smith Book Awards' are an award which honors those authors who, through their outstanding writing about the American South, carry on Lillian Smith's legacy of elucidating the condition of racial and social inequity and proposing a vision of justice and human understanding. The award is jointly presented by the Southern Regional Council and the University of Georgia Libraries. Since 1968, the awards have been presented annually, except for 2003 when the Southern Regional Council experienced funding shortfalls. It is the South's oldest and best-known book award, and is presented in fiction and non-fiction categories.

Past honorees

1968 winner

1969 winner

1970 winner

1971 winner

1972 winner

1973 winners

1974 winners

1976 winners

1977 winners

1978 winners

1979 winners

1980 winners

1981 winners

1982 winners

1983 winners

1984 winners

1985 winners

1986 winner

1987 winners

1988 winners

1989 winners

1990 winners

1991 winners

1992 winners

1993 winners

1994 winners

1995 winners

1996 winners

1997 winners

1998 winners

1999 winners

2000 winners

2001 winners

2002 winners

2004 winners

2005 winners

2006 winners

2007 winners

2008 winners

2009 winners

2010 winners

2011 winners

2012 winners

2013 winners

2014 winners

2015 winners

2016 winners

2017 winners

2018 winners

2019 winners

2020 winners

2021 winners

2022 winners

2023 winners