Public Information and Communication
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 8, 2010
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Mary Jo Ryan
402-471-3434
800-307-2665
2011 ONE BOOK ONE NEBRASKA:
Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian Alps
One Book One Nebraska 2011 invites citizens across the state to read
Local Wonders: Seasons in
the Bohemian Alps
(University of Nebraska Press, 2002) by Ted Kooser, of
Garland, Nebraska. Kooser is one of America's most highly regarded poets and
served as the United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the
Library of Congress from 2004 - 2006. He is the author of numerous
full-length collections of poetry, including the 2005 Pulitzer Prize-winning
Delights and Shadows (Copper
Canyon Press, 2004).
Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian Alps (University of Nebraska Press,
2002), won the Nebraska Book Award for Nonfiction in 2003 and Third Place in
the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award in Nonfiction for 2002.
The book was chosen as the Best Book Written by a Midwestern Writer for 2002
by Friends of American Writers.
It also won the Gold Award for Autobiography in ForeWord Magazine 's Book of the
Year Awards. In Local Wonders
Kooser describes with exquisite detail and humor the place he calls home in
the rolling hills of southeastern Nebraska-an area known as the Bohemian
Alps. Nothing is too big or too small for his attention. Memories of his
grandmother's cooking are juxtaposed with reflections about the
old-fashioned outhouse on his property.
After receiving nominations from across the state, the
Nebraska Center for the Book board announced Local Wonders as
Nebraska's statewide reading choice at Saturday's
Celebration of Nebraska Books in Lincoln.
One Book One Nebraska 2011 is sponsored by a coalition of organizations
including the Nebraska Center for the Book, Nebraska Humanities Council,
Nebraska Library Association, Nebraska Library Commission, University of
Nebraska-Lincoln Repertory Theatre, and University of
Nebraska Press.
Libraries across Nebraska will join the Nebraska Center for the Book and
other literary and cultural organizations in planning book discussions,
activities, and events that will encourage Nebraskans to read and discuss
this book.
Support materials to assist with local
reading/discussion activities are available at
http://onebook.nebraska.gov. Updates and
activity listings will be made on the One Book One Nebraska Facebook group
at
http://www.facebook.com/onebookonenebraska.
For more information contact
Mary Jo Ryan, Nebraska Library
Commission Communications Coordinator, 402-471-3434, 800-307-2665.
# # #
The Nebraska Center for the Book, a coalition of
organizations and individuals in support of books and reading, believes One
Book One Nebraska demonstrates how books and reading connect people across
time and place. In 2010, Nebraska communities will come together through
literature in community-wide reading programs to explore this classic work
by one of Nebraska's best-loved authors. For more information about One Book
One Nebraska, see
centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/programs/onebook.html.
# # #
The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the
Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state's readers,
writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and
scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to
celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written
word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the Nebraska Library
Commission. As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is
an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The
mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and
coordination of library and information services, bringing together people
and information. The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library
Commission are always available on the Library Commission home page,
nlc.nebraska.gov, search on News
Releases.