Award Winners to be Present 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, 15
th and P Streets, in downtown Lincoln. Winners of the
2012 Nebraska Book Awards will be honored and the celebration will include readings and signings by some of the winning authors. The authors that will be present to read from their books include:
- Sandra K. Mathews, Anthology Honor Award for Women on the North American Plains, edited by Renee Laegreid and Sandra K. Mathews. Texas Tech University Press.
- Tim Reigert, Dennis Mihelich and David Bristow, Cover/Design/Illustration Award Winner for 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.
- Calvin Banks and Jeff Lacey, Cover/Design/Illustration Honor Award for Flushed During Play: 51 Pet Rodent Deaths, compiled by Jeff Lacey. Artwork by Calvin Banks.
- Tom McNeal, Fiction Award Winner for To Be Sung Underwater, by Tom McNeal. Little, Brown and Company.
- Brent Spencer, Non-Fiction Biography Award Winner for Rattlesnake Daddy: A Son’s Search For His Father, by Brent Spencer. The Backwaters Press.
- Richard Schilling, Non-Fiction Nebraska as Place Award Winner for Portraits of the Prairie: The Land That Inspired Willa Cather, by Richard Schilling. University of Nebraska Press.
- Twyla Hansen, Poetry Award Winner for 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 the Bess Streeter Aldrich Foundation for their exceptional contribution to literacy, books, reading, libraries, or literature in Nebraska. The Jane Geske Award commemorates Jane Pope 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.
