For bestselling author Jason Mott, his latest accolade is a new kind of honor.

NC author and National Book Award winner Jason Mott is no stranger to accolades. But the North Carolina Award for Literature? For the Bolton, NC native, that’s a new one.

Since 1961, the NC Awards have been handed out annually in four categories: public service, science, fine art and—you guessed it—literature. But this isn’t a one-book, one-breakthrough kind of honor. The Awards recognize “significant contributions to the state and nation”—a nod to the full scope of a recipient’s career.

Mott is the lone literary honoree alongside five other NC standouts: artist Beverly McIver; scientist Lindsay Zanno; and public servants Richard Petty, Lt. Gen. Kevin Vereen and NC State Chancellor Emeritus Randy Woodson. They’ll all be Raleigh-bound in November, when they gather at the Lenovo Center to accept the state’s highest civilian honor.

For Mott, this one came without the usual buildup. In the literary world, it’s common to know you’re in the running from the start—and to follow along through the judging process. That’s how it went with the National Book Award: He knew Hell of a Book was in the mix when his publisher submitted it in 2021—then watched it go from longlister to finalist to winner of one of the nation’s most prestigious literary prizes.

But the NC Award process started—and ended—with a phone call. 

“The caller ID comes up, and it’s Josh Stein,” Mott laughs. “Sure enough, it was the governor on the line, saying, ‘Hey, just wanted you to know you’ve been chosen for the North Carolina Awards.’ It was very surreal.”

Hell of a Book is the most decorated novel of his career, bringing home seven other accolades along the way. For Mott, it’s also the one he’s proudest of.

“It took an event and a moment from my life here in this same small town of 600 people that happened when I was 11 years old,” Mott says, in reference to the shooting and death of Bolton’s first Black mayor, Sidney Bowen. “It took me decades to finally process that into something that I could write about and try to actually share with others in a meaningful way.”

But it isn’t just Hell of a Book. All of Mott’s novels find their way back to NC—whether through characters or fictional towns—meaning you just might see your own experience reflected in his pages.

That’s what’s made this particular honor hit home: knowing the impact he’s trying to have not just as an author, but as a NC author, is recognized. 

“It feels meaningful because we all claim locations,” Mott reflects. “I’ve lived in NC my entire life, so I very much count myself as a true-blue North Carolinian. So to have that state recognize me back for doing the work I do is just really fulfilling and meaningful in a personal way.”