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The 2009 Washington State Book Awards were announced yesterday. The awards, which is sponsored by the Washington Center for the Book at the Seattle Public Library, go to outstanding Washington authors for books published the previous year. A "Washington" author is defined as a current resident of the state who has lived here for at least three years, or someone who was born here.
This is the 43rd year for the award, which is given to a book based on the strength of the publication’s literary merit, lasting importance and overall quality. It was formerly called the Governor’s Writers Awards.
The 2009 Washington State Book Award winners are:
Fiction:
All About Lulu by Jonathan Evison, of Bainbridge Island
Fiction Finalists:
- Guernica by Dave Boling, of Federal Way
- Oxygen by Carol Cassella, of Bainbridge Island
- The Other by David Guterson, of Bainbridge Island
- White Jade and Other Stories by Alex Kuo, of Anacortes
Poetry:
· A Map of the Night by David Wagoner, of Edmonds
Poetry Finalists:
- A Moon Over Wings by Thomas Aslin, of Seattle
- Flight: New and Selected Poems by Linda Bierds, of Bainbridge Island
- Friendly Fire by Katrina Roberts, of Walla Walla
- The Radium Watchdial Paiters by D.S. Butterworth, of Spokane.
History/Biography:
Dark Water: Flood and Redemption in the City of Masterpieces by Robert Clark, of Wallingford
History/Biography Finalists:
- Mean and Lowly Things: Snakes, Science, and Survival in the Congo by Kate Jackson, of Walla Walla
- It’s Not About the Hair: And Other Uncertainties of Life & Cancer by Debra Jarvis, of Lake City
- Carl Maxey: A Fighting Life by Jim Kershner, of Spokane
- Finding Chief Kamiakin: The Life and Legacy of a Northwest Patriot by Richard Scheuerman, of Frederickson
General Nonfiction:
S’abadeb: The Gifts: Pacific Coast Salish Arts and Artists, edited by Barbara Brotherton, of Maple Leaf
General Nonfiction Finalists:
- The Owl and the Woodpecker: Encounters with North America’s Most Iconic Birds by Paul Bannick, of Magnolia
- The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman’s Fight to Save the World’s Most Beautiful Bird by Bruce Barcott, of Bainbridge Island
- The Weather of the Pacific Northwest by Cliff Mass, of Matthews Beach
- The Thing About Life is That One Day You’ll Be Dead by David Shields, of Seattle
Scandiuzzi Children’s Book Award:
Picture Book:
What to Do About Alice? How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove Her Father Teddy Crazy! by Barbara Kerley, of McKinleyville, California, and illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham, of Ballard
Honorable Mention:
A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker, of Ravenna, and illustrated by Kady M. Denton, of Peterborough, Ontario
Middle Grades and Young Adults (10- to 18-year-old readers):
·Emperors of the Ice: A True Story of Disaster in the Antarctic, 1910-13 by Richard Farr, of Capitol Hill.
The authors of the six award-winning books, as well as the illustrator of the picture book, will receive a $1,000 honorarium from the Seattle Public Library Foundation and Eulalie and Carlo Scandiuzzi. The jury for the adult awards included Karen Maeda Allman, writer and bookseller, the Elliott Bay Book Co.; Beth Cooley, associate professor of English, Gonzaga University; Michael Coy, manager, Third Place Books Ravenna; Sean McDowell, associate professor of English, Seattle University; and Lorena O’English, social sciences reference and instruction librarian, Washington State University, Pullman. The jury for the Scandiuzzi Children’s Book Award included René Kirkpatrick, bookseller, Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park; Steven Marsh, librarian, John Muir Elementary; and Judy Nelson, youth services coordinator, Pierce County Library System.
These authors will be honored at a public ceremony at 7 p.m. Wednesday, October 14th, at a public ceremony at the Seattle Public Library, at the Central Library branch, in the Microsoft Auditorium. The event, which is presented in partnership with the Elliott Bay Book Co, will feature remarks and readings by the award recipients. Books will be available for purchase and a reception and book signing will follow the program.
Sound off: Have you read any of these? Who do you think should have one? Leave your suggestions in the comments section below!
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