The Washington Center for the Book announced the winners of the 58th annual 2024 Washington State Book Awards. Congratulations!
Books for adults
Creative Nonfiction/Memoir: “Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City” by Jane Wong, Seattle (Tin House Books)
Fiction: “The Laughter” by Sonora Jha, Seattle (HarperVia)
General Nonfiction/Biography: “A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them” by Timothy Egan, Seattle (Viking)
Poetry: “I Sing the Salmon Home: Poems from Washington State” edited by Rena Priest, of Lummi Nation, Bellingham (Empty Bowl Press)
Books for youth
Picture Books: “Ploof” by Ben Clanton and Andy Chou Musser, Seattle (Tundra Books)
Books for Young Readers: “Duel” by Jessixa Bagley, illustrated by Aaron Bagley, Seattle (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Young Adult Literature: “Painted Devils” by Margaret Owen, Seattle (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers)
ABOUT THE AWARDS
The Washington State Book Awards are presented by the Washington Center for the Book (an affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book administered by Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State). The 2024 awards are administered by Sara Peté, Director of the Washington Center for the Book.
These awards honor outstanding books published by Washington authors in 2023. An award is given based on the strength of the publication’s literary merit, lasting importance and overall quality to an author who is a current resident of Washington state. For the 2024 book awards, judges read and evaluated 292 books.
Submissions for the 2025 awards cycle are being accepted at this time. For more information, see the Washington Center for the Book’s website.
JUDGES
2024 WSBA Judges are librarians, authors, and independent booksellers.
Judges for adult titles:
Jennie Diaz, Seattle Public Library
Marcus Harrison Green, 2022 WSBA Finalist, Publisher, Author, Columnist, Speaker, & Podcaster
Sarah Jaffa, Kitsap Regional Library
Valerie McBeth, Northwest Indian College Lummi Library
Alex Yokom, Browsers Bookshop (Olympia, WA)
Judges for youth titles:
Lauren Kessel, Teacher-Librarian, Kent Elementary School
Jane López-Santillana, Librarian, Sno-Isle Libraries
Avery Mead, Teacher-Librarian, East Valley High School Library
