Public Information and Communication
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 5, 2012
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Tessa Terry
402-471-3434
800-307-2665
Award Winners to be Honored at
November 3 Celebration of Nebraska Books
An awards presentation ceremony will highlight
the Nebraska Center for the Book's Celebration of Nebraska Books
on November 3, 2012 at the Nebraska State Historical Society's Museum of
Nebraska History, 15th and P Streets, in downtown Lincoln. Winners of the
2012 Nebraska Book Awards will be honored and the
celebration will include readings by some of the winning authors. And the
winners are:
2012 Nebraska Book Award Winners
Anthology: Aspects of Robinson:
Homage to Weldon Kees, edited by Christopher Buckley and Christopher Howell.
The Backwaters Press.
Anthology Honor: Women on the
North American Plains, edited by Renee Laegreid and Sandra K. Mathews. Texas
Tech University Press.
Cover/Design/Illustration:
First Telegraph Line across the Continent: Charles Brown's 1861 Diary,
edited by Dennis Mihelich and James E. Potter. Book design by Reigert
Graphics. Nebraska State Historical Society Books.
Cover/Design/Illustration Honor:
Flushed During Play: 51 Pet Rodent Deaths, compiled by Jeff Lacey. Artwork
by Calvin Banks.
Fiction: To Be Sung Underwater,
by Tom McNeal. Little, Brown and Company.
Nonfiction Biography:
Rattlesnake Daddy: A Son's Search For His Father, by Brent Spencer. The
Backwaters Press.
Nonfiction History: The Rhythm
Boys of Omaha Central: High School Basketball at the '68 Racial Divide, by
Steve Marantz. University of Nebraska Press.
Nonfiction Nebraska as Place:
Portraits of the Prairie: The Land That Inspired Willa Cather, by Richard
Schilling. University of Nebraska Press.
Nonfiction Reference: Field
Guide to Wildflowers of Nebraska and the Great Plains, by Jon Farrar.
University of Iowa Press.
Poetry: Dirt Songs: A Plains
Duet, by Twyla M. Hansen and Linda M. Hasselstrom. The Backwaters Press.
The celebration, free and open to the public,
will also feature presentation of the Nebraska Center for the Book's Jane Geske Award to an organization, business, library, school, association, or
group that has made an exceptional contribution to literacy, books, reading,
libraries, or literature in Nebraska. The Jane Geske Award commemorates
Geske's passion for books, and was established in recognition of her
contributions to the well-being of the libraries of Nebraska. Jane Pope
Geske was a founding member of the Nebraska Center for the Book, former
director of the Nebraska Library Commission, and a long-time leader in
Nebraska library and literary activities.
This year the Celebration marks the eighth year
of One Book One Nebraska, selecting and promoting a title for Nebraskans to
read to celebrate the literary richness of our state. "I Am a Man:" Chief
Standing Bear's Journey for Justice is the 2012 One Book One Nebraska and
Nebraska libraries and other literary and cultural organizations across the
state are hosting activities and events to encourage all Nebraskans to read
and discuss the same book (see
http://onebook.nebraska.gov/2012/index.aspx).
Author Joe Starita will speak about the book and his experience discussing
his book with Nebraskans across the state through the One Book One Nebraska
program.
The Nebraska Center for the Book Annual Meeting
will be held at 2:30 p.m.-just prior to the 3:30-6:30 p.m. Celebration. An
Awards Reception honoring the winning authors, book signings, and
announcement of the 2013 One Book One Nebraska book choice will conclude the
festivities.
The Celebration of Nebraska Books is sponsored
by Nebraska Center for the Book, Nebraska Humanities Council, and Nebraska
Library Commission, in partnership with the Nebraska State Historical
Society, Museum of Nebraska History, and the Friends of the University of
Nebraska Press. 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.
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The most up-to-date news releases from the
Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission
website,
www.nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases