September 20, 2016
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Mary Jo Ryan
402-471-3434
800-307-2665
Celebrate with Nebraska’s 2016 Book Award Winners at October 29 Festival
Author readings and an awards presentation ceremony will highlight the Nebraska Center for the Book’s Celebration of Nebraska Books on October 29 at the Nebraska State Historical Society’s Nebraska History Museum at 131 Centennial Mall North, in downtown Lincoln. Winners of the 2016 Nebraska Book Awards will be honored and the celebration will include readings by some of the winning authors, designers and illustrators of books with a Nebraska connection published in 2016. And the winners are: Anthology: A Sandhills Reader: Thirty Years of Great Writing from the Great Plains by Mark Sanders. Publisher: Stephen F. Austin State University Press Chapbook: Hard Times by Lin Brummels. Publisher: Finishing Line Press Children/Young Adult: This Strange Wilderness: The Life and Art of John James Audubon by Nancy Plain. Publisher: University of Nebraska Press Cover/Design/Illustration: Rodeo Nebraska by Mark Harris. Design by N. Putens. Publisher: Nebraska State Historical Society Illustration Honor: The Fishes of Nebraska by Robert A. Hrabik, Steven C. Schainost, Richard H. Stasiak, Edward J. Peters. Illustrated by Justin T. Sipiorski. Design by Jim L. Friesen. Publisher: Conservation and Survey Division of University of Nebraska-Lincoln Creative Nonfiction: The Ordinary Spaceman: from Boyhood Dreams to Astronaut by Clayton C. Anderson. Publisher: University of Nebraska Press Fiction: The Fishermen: A Novel by Chigozie Obioma. Publisher: Back Bay Books Fiction Short Story Honor: A Man in Trouble: Stories by Lon Otto. Publisher: Brighthorse Books Nonfiction Current Biography: Nebrasketball: Coach Tim Miles and a Big Ten Team on the Rise by Scott Winter. Publisher: University of Nebraska Press Nonfiction Historical Biography: A Sister’s Memories: The Life and Work of Grace Abbott from the Writings of Her Sister, Edith Abbott by Edith Abbott and John Sorensen. Publisher: University of Chicago Press Nonfiction Nebraska as Place: New Prairie Kitchen: Stories and Seasonal Recipes from Chefs, Farmers, and Artisans of the Great Plains by Summer Miller. Publisher: Midway Nonfiction Reference: The Fishes of Nebraska by Robert A. Hrabik, Steven C. Schainost, Richard H. Stasiak, Edward J. Peters. Illustrated by Justin T. Sipiorski. Design by Jim L. Friesen. Publisher: Conservation and Survey Division of University of Nebraska-Lincoln Nonfiction True Crime: In Cold Storage: Sex and Murder on the Plains by James W. Hewitt. Publisher: University of Nebraska Press Nonfiction Wildlife: A Chorus of Cranes: The Cranes of North America and the World by Paul A. Johnsgard and Thomas D. Mangelsen. Publisher: University Press of Colorado Nonfiction Wildlife Honor: Hunting for Food: Guide to Harvesting, Field Dressing and Cooking Wild Game by Jenny Nguyen and Rick Wheatley. Publisher: Living Ready Poetry: Breezes on Their Way to Being Winds by Charles Peek. Publisher: Finishing Line Press. Poetry Honor: Quiet City by Susan Aizenberg. Publisher: BkMk Press The celebration, free and open to the public, will also honor winners of the 2016 Jane Geske and Mildred Bennett awards. The Mildred Bennett Award recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution to fostering the literary tradition in Nebraska, reminding us of the literary and intellectual heritage that enriches our lives and molds our world. The Jane Geske Award is presented to Nebraska organizations for exceptional contribution to literacy, books, reading, libraries, or literature in Nebraska. It commemorates Geske’s passion for books, and was established in recognition of her contributions to the well-being of the libraries of Nebraska. The 2016 One Book One Nebraska selection, The Meaning of Names (Red Hen Press) by Karen Gettert Shoemaker, will be featured in a presentation by Shoemaker about this Nebraska-set novel with a World War I backdrop, keynoting the Celebration at 2:45 p.m. The Nebraska Center for the Book Annual Meeting will be held at 1:30 p.m.—just prior to the 2:30-6:30 p.m. Celebration. An awards reception honoring the winning authors, book signings, and the announcement of the 2017 One Book One Nebraska book choice will conclude the festivities. The Celebration of Nebraska Books is sponsored by Nebraska Center for the Book and Nebraska Library Commission, with support from the Friends of the University of Nebraska Press and Nebraska State Historical Society’s Nebraska History Museum. Humanities Nebraska provides support for One Book One Nebraska. 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 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.”###
The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission Website, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.
