The University of Alabama’s journalism department is awarding Frye Gaillard with the Clarence Cason Award in Nonfiction Writing tonight at a banquet to be held at the NorthRiver Yacht Club at 6 p.m.

The winner of the award doesn’t have to be from Alabama, but the person does have to have some type of connection to the state, said Jennifer Greer, professor and journalism department chair.

Gaillard, a native of Mobile, Ala., received his degree from Vanderbilt University and continued on to various publications such as the Mobile Press-Register and the Charlotte Observer.

The common thread between all the winners of the award has been good books about Southern history and the Southern psyche, said Rick Bragg, UA professor and former Cason Award winner who now serves on the panel that decides the recipients of the award.

“Our recipients have a history of writing books of narrative nonfiction, and past winners have been historians, newspaper editors and columnists,” Bragg said. “Frye has a long track record of good books and good nonfiction narratives on everything from the religious empire of Jim Bakker to, well, everything.”

Gaillard has also received other awards, such as the American Library Association’s award for book of the year, the Irene Blair Honeycutt Award for his achievements in literary art, the CASE Award for education writing and the Humanitarian Award for his writing on the subject of civil rights, among others.

He is currently working as a writer at the University of South Alabama. One of his latest projects includes co-writing songs with country music singer/song-writer Kathryn Scheldt for her album “Southern Wind.”

The Cason Award is named for Clarence Cason, the founder of UA’s department of journalism, and is given out each year to a writer who exhibits excellence in nonfictional writing, Greer said.

Although the award is named for Cason, Bailey Thompson, who was a professor at UA and worked on projects with Cason, started this longstanding tradition in 1998, years after Cason’s death.

“Thompson wanted to honor long form writing,” Greer said. “We are really proud of this tradition and we are pleased that we can continue on with the tradition that Bailey Thompson and Clarence Cason started.”

Tickets for the banquet honoring Gaillard are $50. Gaillard will accept his award and speak at the banquet. To order tickets, call Shelia Davis at 205-348-4787.