Public Information and Communication
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 19, 2017
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Mary Jo Ryan
402-471-3434
800-307-2665
Celebrate Nebraska’s 2017 Book
Award Winners at October 21 Celebration
Celebrate Nebraska’s 2017 Book Award winners with author
readings and an awards presentation ceremony at the Nebraska Center for the
Book’s Celebration of Nebraska Books on October 21 at the Nebraska State
Historical Society’s Nebraska History Museum, 131 Centennial Mall North, in
downtown Lincoln. Winners of the 2017 Nebraska Book Awards will be honored
and the celebration will include readings by some of the winning authors,
designers and illustrators of books with a Nebraska connection published in
2017. And the winners are:
Anthology: Not Quite So Stories by David S.
Atkinson. Publisher: Literary Wanderlust
Children’s Picture Book: Choose Your Days by Paula
S. Wallace. Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press
Young Adult: Keeping Captain by N. L. Sharp.
Publisher: Prairieland Press
Young Adult Honor: The Ghost Juggler by Nona
Brooks Morrison. Publisher: Prairieland Press
Cover/Design/Illustration: Okoboji: Over 160 Years of
History and Images by Cristy Clarke Hedgpeth. Editing and content
design by Sandra Wendel and Ellie Pelto. Graphic Design by Rachel Moore.
Production by Lisa Pelto, Concierge Marketing. Publisher: Hedgpeth
Publishing
Illustration Honor: Leaves of Absence: An Illustrated
Guide to Common Garden Affection by Laura Madeline Wiseman. Art by
Sally Deskins. Publisher: Red Dashboard
Fiction: The Bones of Paradise: A Novel by Jonis
Agee. Publisher: William Morrow
Fiction Short Story Honor: Where We Land: Stories
by Daryl Farmer. Publisher: Brighthorse Books
Nonfiction Biography: A Warrior of the People: How
Susan La Flesche Overcame Racial and Gender Inequality to Become America’s
First Indian Doctor by Joe Starita. Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Nonfiction Folklore: Why I’m an Only Child and Other
Slightly Naughty Plains Folktales by Roger Welsch. Publisher:
University of Nebraska Press
Nonfiction Memoir: Bread: A Memoir of Hunger by
Lisa Knopp. Publisher: University of Missouri Press
Nonfiction Photography: Last Days of Red Cloud Agency, Peter T. Buckley’s Photograph Collection
(1876-1877), by Thomas R. Buecker. Publisher: Nebraska State Historical
Society Books
Nonfiction Reference: Great Plains Indians by
David J. Wishart. Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Nonfiction Travel: Trespassing Across America: One
Man’s Epic, Never-Done-Before (and Sort of Illegal) Hike Across the
Heartland by Ken Ilgunas. Publisher: Blue Rider Press
Poetry: Homing: The Collected Poems of Don Welch
(1975-2015) by Don Welch. Edited by Dwaine Spieker. Publisher: Rogue
Faculty Press
Poetry Honor: I Have Nothing to Say about Fire by
Marjorie Saiser. Publisher: Backwaters Press
Poetry Honor: Singing and Dying by Glenna Luschei.
Publisher: Penciled In
The Celebration of Nebraska, free and open to the public, will also honor
winners of the 2017 Jane Geske and Mildred Bennett awards. The Mildred
Bennett Award recognizes individuals who have made a significant
contribution to fostering the literary tradition in Nebraska, reminding us
of the literary and intellectual heritage that enriches our lives and molds
our world. The Jane Geske Award is presented to a Nebraska organization for
exceptional contribution to literacy, books, reading, libraries, or
literature in Nebraska. It commemorates Geske’s passion for books, and was
established in recognition of her contributions to the well-being of the
libraries of Nebraska.
he 2017 One Book One Nebraska selection,
Black Elk Speaks
(University of Nebraska Press) by John G. Neihardt will be featured in a
keynote presentation by Timothy G. Anderson, author of the biography
Lonesome Dreamer: The Life of John G. Neihardt (University of Nebraska
Press) at 2:45 p.m.
The Nebraska Center for the Book Annual Meeting will be held at 1:30
p.m.—just prior to the 2:30-6:30 p.m. Celebration. An awards reception
honoring the winning authors, book signings, and announcement of the 2018
One Book One Nebraska book choice will conclude the festivities.
The Celebration of Nebraska Books is sponsored by Nebraska Center for the
Book and Nebraska Library Commission, with support from the Nebraska State
Historical Society’s Nebraska History Museum. Humanities Nebraska provides
support for One Book One Nebraska. 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 national Center
for the Book in the Library of Congress and 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.”
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The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library
Commission are always available on the Library Commission
Website,
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases
.