The Judy Gaines Young Book Award is given annually by Transylvania University to honor the author of a book of distinction written in the Appalachian region in the previous two or three years.
[1] The award was endowed in 2015 by Dr. Byron Young, a Lexington-area professor and neurologist, in honor of his late wife.
[2] The program is currently coordinated by Transylvania Professor of English Martha Billips and Poet-in-Residence Maurice Manning.