Literary Arts has announced the finalists for the 2020 Oregon Book Awards.
The Oregon Book Award winners will be announced live at the 33rd annual Oregon Book Awards Ceremony on Monday, April 27 at Portland Center Stage at The Armory. Omar El Akkad and Elena Passarello will host the ceremony. Tickets are available for this year’s celebration.
Finalists were selected by a panel of out-of-state writers in seven categories: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, general nonfiction, children’s literature, young adult literature, and graphic literature.
2020 Oregon Book Awards Finalists
KEN KESEY AWARD FOR FICTION
Judges: Natashia Deón, Brandon Hobson, Rick Moody
Kesha Ajọsẹ Fisher of Portland, No God like the Mother (Inkwater Press)
Kimberly King Parsons of Portland, Black Light: Stories (Vintage)
Peter Rock of Portland, The Night Swimmers (Soho Press)
Karen Thompson Walker of Portland, The Dreamers (Random House)
Gabriel Urza of Hood River, The White Death: An Illusion (Nouvella)
STAFFORD/HALL AWARD FOR POETRY
Judges: Megan Fernandes, Nick Flynn, Marcus Wicker
Carl Adamshick of Portland, Birches (Four Way Books)
Shaindel Beers of Pendleton, Secure Your Own Mask (White Pine Press)
Lynn Otto of Newberg, Real Daughter (Unicorn Press)
Allan Peterson of Ashland, This Luminous: New and Selected Poems (Panhandler Books)
Ashley Toliver of Portland, Spectra (Coffee House Press)
FRANCES FULLER VICTOR AWARD FOR GENERAL NONFICTION
Judges: Amy Bhatt, Thor Hanson, Sophia Scott
Carol Barrett of Portland, Pansies (Sonder Press)
George Estreich of Corvallis, Fables and Futures: Biotechnology, Disability, and the Stories We Tell Ourselves (MIT Press)
Barry Lopez of Finn Rock, Horizon (Alfred A. Knopf)
Rebecca M. Robinson of Portland, Voices from Bears Ears: Seeking Common Ground on Sacred Land (The University of Arizona Press)
David Wolman and Julian Smith of Portland, Aloha Rodeo: Three Hawaiian Cowboys, the World’s Greatest Rodeo, and a Hidden History of the American West (William Morrow)
SARAH WINNEMUCCA AWARD FOR CREATIVE NONFICTION
Judges: Lacy M. Johnson, Nishta J. Mehra, Rob Spillman
Beth Alvarado of Bend, Anxious Attachments (Autumn House Press)
Debra Gwartney of Finn Rock, I Am a Stranger Here Myself (University of New Mexico Press)
Rebecca Lawton of Summer Lake, The Oasis This Time: Living and Dying with Water in the West (Torrey House Press)
Liz Prato of Portland, Volcanoes, Palm Trees, and Privilege: Essays on Hawai’i (Overcup Press)
Wendy Willis of Portland, These Are Strange Times, My Dear: Field Notes from the Republic (Counterpoint)
ELOISE JARVIS MCGRAW AWARD FOR CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
Judges: Pablo Cartaya, Amy Pattee, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
Cathy Camper of Portland, Lowriders: Blast from the Past (Chronicle Books)
Deborah Hopkinson of West Linn, Carter Reads the Newspaper (Peachtree Publishing Company)
Jody J. Little of Portland, Mostly the Honest Truth (HarperCollins)
Rosanne Parry of Portland, A Wolf Called Wander (Greenwillow Books)
Rebecca Stefoff of Portland, Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
LESLIE BRADSHAW AWARD FOR YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE
Judges: Susan Campbell Bartoletti, David Macinnis Gill, Traci L. Jones
Deborah Hopkinson of West Linn, How I Became a Spy: A Mystery of WWII London (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
April Henry of Portland, The Lonely Dead (Henry Holt & Company)
Connie King Leonard of Milwaukie, Sleeping in My Jeans (Ooligan Press)
Rosanne Parry of Portland, Last of the Name (Carolrhoda Books)
Nancy Richardson Fischer of Hood River, When Elephants Fly (HarperCollins/ Inkyard Press)
AWARD FOR GRAPHIC LITERATURE
Judges: Adrienne Celt, Jason Lutes, MariNaomi
Cat Farris of Portland, My Boyfriend is a Bear (Oni Press)
Maria Capelle Frantz of Portland, The Chancellor and the Citadel (Iron Circus Comics)
Greg Means and MK Reed of Portland, Penny Nichols (Top Shelf Productions)
Dylan Meconis of Portland, Queen of the Sea (Walker Books)
Aron Nels Steinke of Portland, Mystery Club (Mr. Wolf’s Class #2) (Graphix)
SPECIAL AWARDS:
These three additional Special Awards recognize significant contributions to Oregon’s literary culture. These individuals and organizations were nominated by community members and selected by the Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships Advisory Council.
Walt Morey Young Readers Literary Legacy Award
Reading Results of Portland
Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award
Write Around Portland of Portland
Charles Erskine Scott Wood Distinguished Writer Award
Lawson Fusao Inada of Ashland
2020 Oregon Book Awards Ceremony
April 27 at 7:30 p.m.
Portland Center Stage at the Armory
Tickets start at $12
