Nebraska Authors to Speak at October 26 Celebration of Nebraska Books

Readings by winning Nebraska writers and book designers will highlight the Nebraska Center for the Book’s Celebration of Nebraska Books on October 26 at the Nebraska State Historical Society’s Museum of Nebraska History, 15th and P Streets, in downtown Lincoln. Presenters will include the following 2013 Nebraska Book Award Winners: Fiction writers: Joy Castro, Hell or High Water and Sean Doolittle, Lake Country: A Novel. Non-fiction writers: Ron Hull, Backstage: Stories from My Life in Public Television; Lisa Knopp, What the River Carries: Encounters with the Mississippi, Missouri, and Platte; Tom Lynch and Susan Maher, Artifacts & Illuminations: Critical Essays on Loren Eiseley; James Potter, Standing Firmly by the Flag:  Nebraska Territory and the Civil War, 1861-1867; and Robert Puschendorf, Nebraska’s Post Office Murals: Born of the Depression, Fostered by the New Deal. Writers of books for children and youth: Ted Kooser, House Held Up by Trees and Nancy Plain, Light on the Prairie: Solomon D. Butcher, Photographer of Nebraska’s Pioneer Days. Cover/Design/Illustration artists: Elysia Mann, In Times of Considerable Wars and Interludes by Don Welch and Nathan Putens, Nebraska’s Post Office Murals: Born of the Depression, Fostered by the New Deal by Robert Puschendorf. 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 Nebraska Library Commission 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 ninth year of One Book One Nebraska, selecting and promoting a book title for Nebraskans to read to celebrate the literary richness of our state. O Pioneers! is the 2013 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.) 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 2014 One Book One Nebraska book choice will conclude the festivities. The Celebration of Nebraska Books is sponsored by Nebraska Center for the Book, Humanities Nebraska, 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.