Finalists for 2018 One Book One Nebraska Announced

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 27, 2017 FOR MORE INFORMATION: Mary Jo Ryan 402-471-3434 800-307-2665 Finalists for 2018 One Book One Nebraska Announced What book will all Nebraskans be encouraged to read in 2018? We will all find out on October 21. Two poetry collections, one memoir, and two novels—all stories with ties to Nebraska and the Great Plains—are the finalists for the 2018 One Book One Nebraska statewide reading program. The finalists are:

• The Bones of Paradise by Jonis Agee, William Morrow (2016)
• Nebraska Poetry: A Sesquicentennial Anthology 1867-2017 edited by Daniel Simon, Stephen F. Austin University Press (2017)
• Nebraska Presence: An Anthology of Poetry edited by Greg Kosmicki and Mary K. Stillwell, The Backwaters Press (2007)
• Ordinary Spaceman: From Boyhood Dreams to Astronaut by Clayton Anderson, University of Nebraska Press (2015)
• Swan Gondola: A Novel by Timothy Schaffert, Riverhead Books (2015)

The One Book One Nebraska reading program, now in its thirteenth year, is sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book, Humanities Nebraska, and Nebraska Library Commission. It encourages Nebraskans across the state to read and discuss the same book, chosen from books written by Nebraska authors or that have a Nebraska theme or setting. A Nebraska Center for the Book committee selected the five finalists from a list of twenty-six titles nominated by Nebraskans. In the coming weeks, Nebraska Center for the Book board members will vote on the 2018 selection. Nebraskans are invited to attend the Celebration of Nebraska Books on October 21, where the choice for the 2018 One Book One Nebraska will be announced at 5:30 p.m. at the Nebraska State Historical Society’s Nebraska History Museum, 131 Centennial Mall North, in downtown Lincoln. This year’s One Book One Nebraska selection, Black Elk Speaks (University of Nebraska Press, 2014) by John G. Neihardt will be featured in a keynote presentation by Timothy G. Anderson, author of the biography Lonesome Dreamer: The Life of John G. Neihardt (University of Nebraska Press, 2016) at 2:45 p.m. See http://onebook.nebraska.gov or https://www.facebook.com/OneBookOneNebraska for more information about ongoing 2017 One Book One Nebraska activities. The October 21 Celebration of Nebraska Books is scheduled for 2:30 – 6:30 p.m., with the Nebraska Center for the Book Annual Meeting to be held at 1:30 p.m. Awards will be presented to the winners of the 2017 Nebraska Book Awards, and some of the winning authors will read from their work. A list of Nebraska Book Award winners is posted at http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/awards.html. The Celebration of Nebraska Books is sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book and Nebraska Library Commission with support from the Nebraska State Historical Society’s Nebraska History Museum. Humanities Nebraska provides support for the One Book One Nebraska keynote presentation. For more information, contact Mary Jo Ryan, maryjo.ryan@nebraska.gov, 402-471-3434 or 800-307-2665. Confirmed presenters will be announced at www.centerforthebook.nebraska.gov and http://www.facebook.com/NebraskaCenterfortheBook in advance of the Celebration. 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. PLEASE NOTE: Nebraska Presence: An Anthology of Poetry (The Backwaters Press, 2007) edited by Greg Kosmicki and Mary K. Stillwell was selected as the 2018 One Book One Nebraska. Poems by more than eighty contemporary Nebraska poets are featured in the collection. This includes Pulitzer Prize winner and former Poet Laureate of the United States Ted Kooser, Nebraska State Poet Twyla Hansen, former State Poet William Kloefkorn, and many others. Support materials to assist with local reading/discussion activities will be available after January 1, 2018 at  http://onebook.nebraska.gov. Updates and activity listings will be posted on the One Book One Nebraska Facebook page at  http://www.facebook.com/onebookonenebraska.