Literary Arts is thrilled to announce this year’s Oregon Book Award winners! Thirty-seven Oregonians across seven genre categories were chosen as finalists by panels of out-of-state judges, from a total of 190 submitted titles.
Winners were announced live at the 2024 Oregon Book Awards Ceremony, hosted by Kwame Alexander, at Portland Center Stage at The Armory on Monday, April 8, 2024.
Click here for photos from the event.
KEN KESEY AWARD FOR FICTION
Patrick deWitt of Portland
The Librarianist
(Ecco Books)
Judges: Allison Escoto, Morgan Talty, Jacinda Townsend
STAFFORD/HALL AWARD FOR POETRY
Daniela Naomi Molnar of Portland
CHORUS
(Omnidawn)
Judges: Abigail Chabitnoy, Eleni Sikelianos, Mark Wunderlich
AWARD FOR GRAPHIC LITERATURE
Kerilynn Wilson of Oregon City
The Faint of Heart
Judges: Michael Gianfrancesco, Roberta Gregory, Marjorie Liu
FRANCES FULLER VICTOR AWARD FOR GENERAL NONFICTION
Josephine Woolington of Portland
Where We Call Home: Lands, Seas, and Skies of the Pacific Northwest
(Ooligan Press)
Judges: Timothy Denevi, Chris Mathers Jackson, Steve Olson
SARAH WINNEMUCCA AWARD FOR CREATIVE NONFICTION
Erica Berry of Portland
Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear
(Flatiron Books)
Judges: Rachel Louise Martin, Molly McCully Brown, Jared Yates Sexton
LESLIE BRADSHAW AWARD FOR YOUNG ADULT & MIDDLE GRADE LITERATURE
Waka T. Brown of West Linn
The Very Unfortunate Wish of Melony Yoshimura
(HarperCollins/Quill Tree Books)
Judges: Ellen Hagan, Jennifer Longo, Kathryn Reiss
ELOISE JARVIS MCGRAW AWARD FOR CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
Nora Ericson of Portland
Too Early
(Abrams Books for Young Readers)
Judges: Kari Allen, Lindsey Craig, Gary Golio
You can find the winners’ (and all of the Oregon Book Awards finalists‘) books at our page on Bookshop.org!
SPECIAL AWARDS
In addition to recognizing the finest achievements of Oregon authors in several genres, Literary Arts recognizes individual contributions with special awards.
THE STEWART H. HOLBROOK LITERARY LEGACY AWARD
Ellen Waterston of Bend
About Literary Arts
Literary Arts is a nonprofit literary organization founded in 1984 and based in Portland, OR. Our mission is to engage readers, support writers, and inspire the next generation with great literature. Programs include Portland Arts & Lectures, Portland Book Festival, Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships, writing classes, readers seminars, and programs for youth including Writers in the Schools, College Essay Exchange, and youth slam poetry programming. Our radio show and podcast, The Archive Project, can be heard on NPR affiliate station OPB Sundays at 7:00 p.m., or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more at literary-arts.org.
Since 1987 our Oregon Book Awards and Fellowships program has given more than $1.5 million to over 1,000 authors.
