Literary Arts is thrilled to announce this year’s Oregon Book Awards Winners.
Winners across seven categories were announced live at the 2026 Oregon Book Awards Ceremony on Monday, April 20, hosted by Kimberly King Parsons.
Thirty-five titles from Oregon writers were chosen as finalists by panels of out-of-state  judges from a total of 212 submitted entries. These authors represent the richness of Oregon’s literary community and exemplify the power of storytelling to illuminate the human experience.
KEN KESEY AWARD FOR FICTION
Judges: Laird Hunt, Isle McElroy, Tara Roberts
Ling Ling Huang of Portland, Immaculate Conception: A Novel (Dutton)
STAFFORD/HALL AWARD FOR POETRY
Judges: Sumita Chakraborty, Timothy Donnelly, Jenny Molberg
Jennifer Perrine of Portland, Beautiful Outlaw (Kelsey Street Press)
FRANCES FULLER VICTOR AWARD FOR GENERAL NONFICTION
Judges: Lucas Bessire, Evan Hughes, Shahnaz Habib
Leah Sottile of Portland, Blazing Eye Sees All: Love Has Won, False Prophets, and the Fever Dream of the American New Age (Hachette Book Group/Grand Central Publishing)
SARAH WINNEMUCCA AWARD FOR CREATIVE NONFICTION
Judges: Deborah Jackson Taffa, Joseph Earl Thomas, Meline Touman
Judith Barrington of Portland, Virginia’s Apple: Collected Memoirs (Oregon State University Press)
LESLIE BRADSHAW AWARD FOR MIDDLE GRADE AND YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE
Judges: Evan Griffith, Jewell Parker Rhodes, Corey Ann Haydu
Rosanne Parry of Portland, A Wolf Called Fire (Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins)
ELOISE JARVIS MCGRAW AWARD FOR CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
Judges: Bonny Becker, Lauren Rizzuto, Benson Shum
Michelle Sumovich of Portland, I Have Three Cats… (Penguin Random House)
AWARD FOR GRAPHIC LITERATURE
Judges: Kiku Hughes, Tessa Hulls, Joshua Neufeld
David F. Walker of Portland, Big Jim and the White Boy (Ten Speed Graphic)
SPECIAL AWARD
In 2026, Literary Arts will honor the following organization with the Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award, in recognition of outstanding, long-term support of Oregon’s literary community:
STEWART H. HOLBROOK LITERARY LEGACY AWARD
Willamette Writers of Portland, Oregon
About the Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships Program
Since 1987, Literary Arts has honored over 900 Oregon writers and publishers and distributed over $1 million in fellowships and award monies through the Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships program. Literary Arts created The Brian Booth Writers’ Fund to ensure a future funding source for these programs for Oregon writers.
