Nebraskans should bookmark their calendars for the 2025 Nebraska Celebration of Books (N.COB) Literary Festival. Held on Saturday, November 15th, from 10:00am-5:30pm, this literary event will be on the second floor of the UNL City Campus Union and Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center in downtown Lincoln. The event aims to celebrate Nebraska’s literary heritage and contemporary authors, the festival will honor the 2025 Nebraska Book Award authors, and will feature the State Poet Jewel Rodgers and past State Poet Matt Mason, 2025 One Book One Nebraska author Tosca Lee, writing workshops, book vendors, publishers, independent authors, presentation of the Nebraska Center for the Book’s Nebraska Book Awards, Mildred Bennett Award and Jane Geske Award, and announcement of the 2026 One Book One Nebraska selection.
Winners of the 2025 Nebraska Book Awards will be honored at the celebration which will include author roundtables, book signings, and a reception, with the awards ceremony directly after at 4:30. The ceremony will feature short acceptance speeches and readings by the winning authors and illustrators. Book award categories include fiction, nonfiction, children/young adult, poetry, and cover/design/illustration, all winning books have a Nebraska connection and were published in 2024. The ceremony will also feature the presentation of the Mildred Bennett and Jane Geske Awards. For more information about the festival and to stay up to date on the featured authors and speakers visit bookfestival.nebraska.gov
The festival will have a kickoff event Friday evening at White Elm Brewing, 720 Van Dorn Street in Lincoln. This event begins at 5:30 and will feature literary trivia, drinks, and good conversations.
The Nebraska Celebration of Books (NCOB) sponsors include Nebraska Center for the Book, Nebraska Library Commission, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln City Libraries, Omaha Public Library, Francie and Finch Bookshop, Flatwater Free Press, and Great Plains Audiobooks. Humanities Nebraska provides support for One Book One Nebraska program.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Tessa Timperley Communications Coordinator Nebraska Library Commission Email
Rosemary Sekora Marketing and Sales Manager University of Nebraska Press rsekora@unl.edu
Announcing a New Literary Festival Event to Take Place this Fall
Book lovers, get your calendars to save the date. A new literary festival is taking place in Lincoln.
The 2024 Nebraska Celebration of Books (NCOB) will take place on Oct. 12, 2024, in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln City Campus Union at 1400 R Street. Two presentations, a writing workshop, and a slam poetry competition will take place on second floor leading up to the presentation of the Nebraska Book Awards at 3:30 p.m. NCOB will also host local bookstores and other vendors throughout the day beginning at 10:00 a.m.
The event will officially kick off on Oct. 11 at White Elm Brewing with a literary trivia night at 5:30 p.m.
All events are free and open to the public. NCOB would like to thank the following organizations for making this new event possible: Nebraska Center for the Book, Zero Street Fiction series, Larksong Writers Place, Nebraska Writers Collective, Nebraska Library Commission, Lincoln City Libraries, and the University of Nebraska Press.
