Spring is right around the corner! If you’re looking for something to do this March, here are some upcoming literary events* that may pique your interest!
March 2nd, 2024 Write on Writers’ Workshop with Heidi Hermanson AV Sorensen Community Center, 4808 Cass St. Omaha, NE, 12:00 – 2:00 pm Taught by Heidi Hermanson, Nebraska author and recipient of the 2021 Nebraska Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship. Improve your skills, meet other writers, and learn new techniques!
March 5, 2024 Barbara Schmitz Poetry Reading & Discussion Zoom, 6:30 – 7:30 pm Barbara has touched many lives through her long and lustrous literary career in Nebraska. Now, she shares her poetry and her wisdom.
March 9, 2024 Poetry Out Loud State Finals Sheldon Museum of Art, 12th and R St. Lincoln, NE, 1:00 – 3:30 pm Poetry Out Loud is a nationwide poetry recitation contest where high school students memorize poems they choose from a list of classic and modern poems and bring them to life by how they deliver them. Seven schools have chosen a representative and the winner will represent Nebraska at the National Finals
March 9, 2024 Book Launch with Alison Pearce Stevens – “Animal Climate Heros” Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S 13th St. Lincoln, NE, 4:30 – 5:30 pm Nebraska Book Award winner Alison Pearce Stevens will be signing books, talking about her new book, and sharing her love of natural science with guests.
March 16, 2024 National Slam Poetry Competition Qualifying Event Larksong, 1600 N Cotner Blvd. Lincoln, NE, 3:00 pm The Nebraska Poetry Society is hosting the Qualifying Slam for residents for the chance to compete at the BlackBerry Peach National Slam Poetry Competition!
March 16, 2024 Visting Author – Chris Harding Thornton – “Little Underworld” Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S 13th St. Lincoln, NE, 4:30 – 5:30 pm Written by seventh-generation Nebraskan Chris Harding Thornton, “Little Underworld” is a darkly funny historical fiction that takes place in Omaha, Nebraska. She will be discussing her new book with Nebraskan author Timothy Schaffert.
March 17, 2024 Poetry Workshop with Nebraska State Poet Matt Mason Crane Trust Nature & Visitor Center, 9325 Alda Rd. S Wood River, NE, 2:00 – 3:00 pm Matt will share his new poem commissioned by Crane Trust, as well as other bird-themed poems. He will also guide a writing exercise for participants to write their own poems.
Check out the NCB Calendar to stay up to date on upcoming literary events happening near you!
*The time, date, and location of these events are subject to change. Some of this month’s events, workshops, or conferences may require registration or charge a fee.
Feel free to contact us if you have an event that you would like to be featured.
“Dancing with the Octopus: A Memoir of a Crime” by Debora Harding is now available on cartridge and for download on BARD, the Braille and Audio Reading Download service. BARD is a service offered by the Nebraska Library Commission Talking Book and Braille Service and the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled at the Library of Congress.
This memoir of native Nebraskan, Debora Harding, is all about a traumatic childhood event, the aftereffects of which would change her family forever. Harding expertly weaves the past with the present in a riveting story of survival and family dynamics.
“With remarkable narrative skill, Harding untangles the lingering effects of family dysfunction and criminal trauma. This is a page-turner with a deep heart and soul, full of forgiveness but demanding of accountability.”
BookPage, “Best Books of 2020: Memoirs”
This title has been selected as the 2024 One Book One Nebraska. The program is now in its 20th year of bringing Nebraskans together for the reading and discussion of one great book written by Nebraska authors or that have a Nebraska theme or setting. Nearly every One Book One Nebraska winner is available on cartridge and for download on BARD.
The narration was done by Connie Healey, who has been volunteering for NLC’s Talking Book and Braille department for 10 years and received a Nebraska Library Association’s Outstanding Volunteer Award in 2022. The recording took over 30 hours in the studio and an additional 20 hours of post-production to prepare for our patrons. Connie has now read three One Book One Nebraska selections, the other two being “The Bones of Paradise” by Jonis Agee and “Prairie Forge” by James J. Kimble.
TBBS borrowers can request “Dancing with the Octopus: A Memoir of a Crime,” DBC02052, or download it from the National Library Service BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) website. If you have high-speed internet access, you can download books to your smartphone or tablet, or onto a flash drive for use with your player. You may also contact your reader’s advisor to have the book mailed to you on cartridge.
The 2024 Nebraska Book Awards program, sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book (NCB) and Nebraska Library Commission, will recognize and honor books that are written by Nebraska authors, published by Nebraska publishers, set in Nebraska, or relate to Nebraska.
Books published in 2023, as indicated by the copyright date, are eligible for nomination. They must be professionally published, have an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), and be bound. Books may be entered in one or more of the following categories: Nonfiction, Fiction, Children/Young Adult, Cover/Design/Illustration, and Poetry. Winners in each category will be invited to participate as featured authors at the October 12th, 2024 Nebraska Celebration of Books in Lincoln. The event will culminate in an awards ceremony for the authors, publishers, and their families, where winning books will be displayed and authors will have the opportunity to read from and sign their books.
Books may be entered in one of two ways, either complete the Online Entry Form and submit payment through PayPal, then mail three copies of the book to the below address. Or, mail the Entry Form [pdf], three copies of the book, and the entry fee via a check made out to the Nebraska Center for the Book to the below address.
NCB Book Awards Competition c/o Nebraska Library Commission The Atrium 1200 N Street, Suite 120 Lincoln, NE 68508-2023
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. Together we 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.”
