Public Information and Communication
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 21, 2023
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Tessa Terry
402-471-3434
800-307-2665
Shortlist for 2024 One Book One Nebraska Announced
What book will all Nebraskans be encouraged to read in 2024? We will all
find out on October 14th at the Celebration of Nebraska Books. A
collection of essays by a Nebraska authors, a memoir, a novel set in the
Sand Hills, and a Midwest thriller—all stories with ties to Nebraska and the
Great Plains—are the finalists for the 2024 One Book One Nebraska statewide
reading program. The finalists are:
·
The Big Empty: Contemporary Nebraska Nonfiction Writers
edited by Ladette Randolph and Nina Shevchuk-Murray, Bison Books, 2007.
·
Dancing with the Octopus: A Memoir
by Debora Harding, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020.
·
The Echo Maker
by Richard Powers, Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Picador, 2006.
·
The Line Between
by Tosca Lee, Howard Books, 2019.
The One Book One Nebraska reading program is sponsored by the Nebraska
Center for the Book, Humanities Nebraska, and Nebraska Library Commission.
It encourages Nebraskans across the state to read and discuss the same book,
chosen from books written by Nebraska authors or that have a Nebraska theme
or setting. A Nebraska Center for the Book committee selected the three
finalists from a list of nineteen titles nominated by Nebraskans. In the
coming weeks, Nebraska Center for the Book board members will vote on the
2024 selection.
The Celebration of Nebraska Books, on October 14th, will also
honor winners of the 2023 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 recognizes an organization known for
exceptional contributions to literacy, books, reading, libraries, and
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.
Nebraskans are invited to take part in the
Celebration of Nebraska Books on October 14th, at the Nebraska City
Campus Union’s Regency Suite in downtown Lincoln, where the choice for the
2024 One Book One Nebraska will be announced. This year’s One Book One
Nebraska selection will be featured in a key note presentation by Professor
Rick Cypert on Mignon Eberhart and her novel The Mystery of Hunting’s End
(Bison Books, 1998.) See
http://onebook.nebraska.gov or
https://www.facebook.com/OneBookOneNebraska for more information about
ongoing 2023 One Book One Nebraska activities.
The Celebration of
Nebraska Books will include readings by the winners of the 2023 Nebraska
Book Awards, with book
signings by the authors after the event. A list of Nebraska Book
Award winners is posted at
http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/awards.html. The Celebration of
Nebraska Books is sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book and Nebraska
Library Commission. Humanities Nebraska provides support for the One Book
One Nebraska keynote presentation.
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.