Author Archives: Jennifer Wrampe

One Book One Nebraska 2011 invites citizens across the state to read Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian Alps (University of Nebraska Press, 2002) by Ted Kooser, of Garland, Nebraska. Kooser is one of America’s most highly regarded poets and served as the United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004 – 2006. He is the author of numerous full-length collections of poetry, including the 2005 Pulitzer Prize-winning Delights and Shadows (Copper Canyon Press, 2004).
Kooser’s first book of prose, Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian Alps (University of Nebraska Press, 2002), won the Nebraska Book Award for Nonfiction in 2003 and Third Place in the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award in Nonfiction for 2002. The book was chosen as the Best Book Written by a Midwestern Writer for 2002 by Friends of American Writers. It also won the Gold Award for Autobiography in ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Awards. In Local Wonders, Kooser describes with exquisite detail and humor the place he calls home in the rolling hills of southeastern Nebraska—an area known as the Bohemian Alps. Nothing is too big or too small for his attention. Memories of his grandmother’s cooking are juxtaposed with reflections about the old-fashioned outhouse on his property.
After receiving nominations from across the state, the Nebraska Center for the Book board announced Local Wonders as Nebraska’s statewide reading choice at Saturday’s Celebration of Nebraska Books in Lincoln.
One Book One Nebraska 2011 is sponsored by a coalition of organizations including the Nebraska Center for the Book, Nebraska Humanities Council, Nebraska Library Association, Nebraska Library Commission, and University of Nebraska Press.
Libraries across Nebraska will join the Nebraska Center for the Book and other literary and cultural organizations in planning book discussions, activities, and events that will encourage Nebraskans to read and discuss this book.
As they are developed, support materials to assist with local reading/discussion activities will be available at http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/programs/onebook.html. Updates and activity listings will be made on the One Book One Nebraska Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=281641340948.
For more information contact Mary Jo Ryan, Nebraska Library Commission Communications Coordinator, 402-471-3434, 800-307-2665.

Nebraska Book Award winners will read from their works at the Celebration of Nebraska Books, 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Nebraska History Museum, 131 Centennial Mall North in downtown Lincoln. The event, which is free and open to the public, also will highlight the 2010 One Book One Nebraska selection, honor winners of the 2010 Jane Geske Award and include the announcement of the 2011 One Book One Nebraska selection.
The Nebraska Book Awards honor authors and publishers with Nebraska connections who published books in 2009. The following winners or their representatives are expected to attend. Some will read from their work and sign copies of their books.
    • Joe Starita, winner for non-fiction for “I Am a Man: Chief Standing Bear’s Journey for Justice,” the 2010 One Book One Lincoln selection.
    • Paige Namuth for Robert Cochran, winner of the non-fiction honor for “Louise Pound: Scholar, Athlete, Feminist Pioneer.”
    • Dwaine Spieker, winner for poetry for “Garden of Stars.”
    • Bruce A. Glasrud and Charles A. Braithwaite, winners for anthology for “African Americans on the Great Plains: An Anthology.”
    • A representative of the Loren Eiseley Society, winner of the anthology honor for “The Loren Eiseley Reader.”
    • Kimberli A. Lee of Texas Tech University Press, winner for cover/design/illustration for “I Do Not Apologize for the Length of This Letter: The Mari Sandoz Letters on Native American Rights, 1940-1965.”
• Michael Forsberg, winner of the cover/design/illustration honor for “Great Plains: America’s Lingering Wild.”
Representatives from Plainsongs poetry magazine and Hastings College will accept the Jane Geske Award, which recognizes a Nebraska association, organization, business, library, school, or other group for exceptional contributions to literacy, books, reading, libraries, or literature in Nebraska.
Joseph Wydeven of the Nebraska Humanities Council Speakers Bureau will discuss the writing and photography of Wright Morris’ “The Home Place,” the 2010 One Book One Nebraska selection.
The Nebraska History Museum will open at 1 p.m. for visitors to view exhibits, including “Willa Cather: A Matter of Appearances.”
The Celebration of Nebraska Books is sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book, Nebraska Humanities Council, Nebraska Library Commission and Nebraska State Historical Society. For more information, contact Mary Jo Ryan at 402-471-3434, 800-307-2665 or visit http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/.
Schedule for 2010 Celebration of Nebraska Books:
2:30 p.m. Nebraska Center for the Book annual membership meeting
3:00 p.m. Program: 2010 One Book One Nebraska, The Home Place, by Wright Morris, with Joseph Wydeven
3:30 p.m. Presentation of 2010 Jane Geske Award and 2010 Nebraska Book Awards, with remarks and readings by winning authors
5:00 p.m. Announcement of the 2011 One Book One Nebraska book selection
5:30 p.m. Wine and cheese reception and author signings
6:30 p.m. Closing

An awards presentation ceremony will highlight the Nebraska Center for the Book’s Celebration of Nebraska Books on November 6 at the Nebraska State Historical Society’s Nebraska History Museum, 131 Centennial Mall North in downtown Lincoln.
Winners of the 2010 Nebraska Book Awards will be honored and the celebration will include readings by some of the winning authors. And the winners are:
2010 Nebraska Book Award Winners
Anthology: Bruce A. Glasrud and Charles A. Braithwaite. African Americans on the Great Plains: An Anthology. University of Nebraska Press.
Anthology Honor: Loren C. Eiseley, Ray Bradbury, and Aaron Franco. The Loren Eiseley Reader. Abbatia Press/Infusionmedia Publishing.
Young Adult: Chloe Neill. Some Girls Bite. New American Library.
Fiction: Ladette Randolph. A Sandhills Ballad. University of New Mexico Press.
Nonfiction: Joe Starita. “I Am a Man”: Chief Standing Bear’s Journey for Justice. St. Martin’s Press.
Nonfiction Honor: Robert Cochran. Louise Pound: Scholar, Athlete, Feminist Pioneer. University of Nebraska Press.
Poetry: Dwaine Spieker. Garden of Stars. All Along Press.
Cover/Design/Illustration: Mari Sandoz and Kimberli A. Lee. “I Do Not Apologize for the Length of This Letter”: The Mari Sandoz Letters on Native American Rights, 1940-1965. Texas Tech University Press. Designer: Lindsay Starr. Cover photos: Courtesy Caroline Sandoz Pifer Collection, Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center, Chadron State College
Cover/Design/Illustration Honor: Forsberg, Michael. Great Plains: America’s Lingering Wild. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
The 2010 Jane Geske award will be presented to Plainsongs and Hastings College. The Jane Geske Award recognizes a Nebraska association, organization, business, library, school, academic institution, or other group that has made an exceptional, long-term contribution to one or more of these fields in Nebraska: Literacy, Reading, Book Selling, Books, Libraries, and/or Writing in Nebraska.
Originating in 1980 at Peru State College and moving to Hastings College in 1983, Plainsongs has been a rare survivor among small poetry magazines. It has published three issues per year for thirty years, maintaining a quality poetry journal in Nebraska and encouraging poets from within, as well as outside, Nebraska to submit their works. Plainsongs is indexed by Humanities International Complete. The dedication of Dwight Marsh, former editor and professor at Hastings College, and the support of Hastings College, particularly the English Department, has allowed this outstanding periodical to grow into a venue for poets at all levels of expertise. The current editor is Laura Marvel Wunderlich, who has retained the integrity of the journal in both appearance and content.
The Celebration of Nebraska Books will highlight the 2010 One Book One Nebraska book selection with a 3:00 p.m. program by Dr. Joseph Wydeven on The Home Place by Wright Morris, and announce the choice for the 2011 One Book One Nebraska.
The Celebration of Nebraska Books and One Book One Nebraska are presented by the Nebraska Center for the Book in collaboration with the Nebraska Humanities Council and Nebraska Library Commission, with additional support from the Nebraska State Historical Society, University of Nebraska Press and Nebraska Cultural Endowment. The 2010 One Book One Nebraska is hosted by the Lone Tree Literary Society. For more information, contact Mary Jo Ryan, celebration coordinator, 402-471-3434 or 800-307-2665 . Confirmed presenters will be announced at centerforthebook.nebraska.gov and on the Facebook pages of the Nebraska Center for the Book, Nebraska Humanities Council, and Nebraska Library Commission.