每日大赛

Associate Professor's debut novel wins 2025 Tennessee Book Award

每日大赛 Associate Professor Vic Sizemore’s debut novel, “God of River Mud,” has received the 2025 Tennessee Book Award.

The novel follows a preacher, his wife and their children in rural Appalachia as they navigate faith, family and romantic relationships. "God of River Mud” is Sizemore’s first book and was preceded by his essay and short story collections, “Goodbye My Tribe: An Evangelical Exodus” and “I Love You I’m Leaving.”

“Just learning I had made the longlist for this award was exciting,” said Sizemore, who teaches composition and literature at 每日大赛. “To find out I won was really just stunning.”

The book is heavily influenced by Sizemore’s own background. He was raised in West Virginia – the book’s backdrop – and cares deeply about regional stories and experiences.

“God of River Mud” takes place over decades in a very rural, evangelical setting, in which a preacher’s wife – Berna – falls in love with a transgender man. Berna’s stories are the through line through which the others braid, Sizemore said.

“I am of Melungeon heritage and grew up in Appalachia – and this is a totally Appalachian novel,” he said. “Really, it’s a novel of stories. It’s a family saga told in multiple points of view.”

The novel grapples with gender identity and sexual orientation, religion, family dynamics and more. Its uniqueness is in the way it explores those experiences and topics, from the viewpoints of Baptist preacher Zechariah Minor, Berna and their children.

“It is telling the story from the lenses of several people,” Sizemore said. “And a lot of different perspectives.”

The Tennessee Book Award was founded by Humanities Tennessee and recognizes excellence among local authors in fiction, nonfiction and poetry, according to their website.