Entries for the 25th annual Nebraska Book Awards are now being accepted!
The competition is open to Nebraska authors, Nebraska publishers, and other authors or publishers of books set in or relating to Nebraska. Books published in 2023, as indicated by the copyright date, are eligible for nomination in 2024. They must be professionally published, have an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), and be bound.
You can submit a book to be entered in one or more of the following categories: Children/Young Adult, Cover/Design/Illustration, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry. Certificates will be awarded to the winners in each category, and they will be invited out 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.
Interested in learning more about previous winners? You can find a complete list of information on all 25 years of Nebraska Book Award winners, including the title, author, publisher, and category won, here: https://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/awards/winners/nebook.html
“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.”
