An awards presentation ceremony will highlight the Nebraska Center for the Book’s Celebration of Nebraska Books on November 8 at the Nebraska Library Commission, 1200 N Street, in downtown Lincoln. Winners of the 2014 Nebraska Book Awards will be honored and the celebration will include readings by some of the winning authors. And the winners are:

2014 Nebraska Book Award Winners  

Anthology
The Untidy Season: An Anthology of Nebraska Women Poets, by Heidi Hermanson, Liz Kay, Jen Lambert, and Sarah McKinstry-Brown, Editors. The Backwaters Press.  

Anthology Honor
The Northwoods Hymnal, by Luke A. Hawley. River Otter Press.  

Children
Simpson’s Sheep Won’t Go to Sleep!, by Bruce Arant. Peter Pauper Press, Inc.  

Cover/Design/Illustration
Simpson’s Sheep Won’t Go to Sleep!, by Bruce Arant. Peter Pauper Press, Inc.  

Fiction
Stranded, by Alex Kava. Doubleday.  

Fiction Honor
Haven’s Wake, by Ladette Randolph. University of Nebraska Press.  

Non-Fiction: Biography
Black Print with a White Carnation: Mildred Brown and the Omaha Star Newspaper, 1938-1989, by Amy Helene Forss. University of Nebraska Press.  

Non-Fiction: History
The Last Days of the Rainbelt, by David J. Wishart, University of Nebraska Press.  

Non-Fiction: Natural History
Yellowstone Wildlife: Ecology and Natural History of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, by Paul A. Johnsgard and photographs by Thomas D. Mangelsen. University Press of Colorado.  

Non-Fiction: Reference
Witness: A Húnkpapȟa Historian’s Strong-Heart Song of the Lakotas, by Josephine Waggoner and Emily Levine Editor. University of Nebraska Press.  

Poetry
Saving Singletrees, by Leo Dangel. WSC Press.  

Young Adult
Eleanor & Park, by Rainbow Rowell. St. Martin’s Griffin.

The celebration, free and open to the public, will also feature presentation of the Nebraska Center for the Book’s Jane Geske Award to a Nebraska organization for exceptional contribution to literacy, books, reading, libraries, and 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 tenth year of One Book One Nebraska, selecting and promoting a book title for Nebraskans to read to celebrate the literary richness of our state. Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen by Bob Greene is the 2014 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 this book (see http://onebook.nebraska.gov.)

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 2015 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 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, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.