Oregon Book Awards

Ken Kesey (1935-2001) is best known for his novels One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Sometimes a Great Notion. He was a finalist for the 1987 Oregon Book Award in Literary Nonfiction for Demon Box and the 1993 Oregon Book Award in Fiction for Sailor Song. The state of Oregon honored him with a Distinguished Service Award in 1978; Literary Arts awarded him the C.E.S. Wood Retrospective Award in 1993.

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2021

Vanessa Veselka of Portland, The Great Offshore Grounds (Alfred A. Knopf) 

Finalists:
Chelsea Bieker of Portland, Godshot (Catapult Press)
Genevieve Hudson of Portland, Boys of Alabama (Liveright Publishing, W.W. Norton)
Mark Savage of Portland, Fictional Film Club (Deep Overstock)
Lidia Yuknavitch of Milwaukie, Verge (Riverhead Books, Penguin Random House PPG)

2020

Kesha Ajose Fisher of Portland, No God like the Mother (Inkwater Press) 

Finalists:
Kimberly King Parsons of Portland, Black Light: Stories (Vintage)
Peter Rock of Portland, The Night Swimmers (Soho Press)
Karen Thompson Walker, The Dreamers (Random House)
Gabriel Urza of Hood River, The White Death: An Illusion (Nouvella)

2019

Leni Zumas of Portland, Red Clocks (Little,Brown) 

Finalists:
Patrick deWitt of Portland, French Exit (Ecco)
Nick Dybek of Corvallis, The Verdun Affair (Scribner)
John Larison of Monroe, Whiskey When We’re Dry (Penguin Random House)
Taylor Zajonc of Portland, The Maw (Skyhorse Publishing)

2018

Omar El Akkad of Portland, American War (Knopf)

Finalists:
Wayne Harrison of Springfield, Wrench and Other Stories (New American Press)
Victor Lodato of Ashland, Edgar and Lucy (St. Martin’s Press)
Matthew Robinson of Portland, The Horse Latitudes (Propeller Books)
Lydia Yuknavitch of Portland, The Book of Joan (Harper Collins)

2017

Joyce Cherry Cresswell of Portland, A Great Length of Time (Mountain View Press) 

Finalists:
Mo Daviau of Portland, Every Anxious Wave (St. Martin’s Press)
Mary Emerick of Joseph, The Geography of Water (University of Alaska Press)
Scott Nadelson of Salem, Between You and Me (Engine Books)
Gina Ochsner of Keizer, The Hidden Letters of Velta B. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

2016

Lidia Yuknavitch of Portland,The Small Backs of Children (HarperCollins)

Finalists:
Arthur Bradford of Portland, Turtleface and Beyond (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux)
Gail Chehab of Portland, The Tunnel (Media Aria)
Valerie Geary of Portland, Crooked River (William Morrow)
Molly Gloss of Portland, Falling from Horses (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

2015

Cari Luna of Portland, The Revolution of Every Day (Tin House Books)

Finalists:
Smith Henderson of Portland, Fourth of July Creek (Ecco)
Lindsay Hill of Portland, Sea of Hooks (McPherson and Co.)
Amy Schutzer of Portland, Spheres of Disturbance (Arktoi Books)
Willy Vlautin of Scappoose, The Free (Harper Perennial)

2014

Ursula K. Le Guin of Portland, The Unreal and The Real: Collected Stories: Volume 1 and 2 (Small Beer Press)

Finalists:
Whitney Otto of Portland, Eight Girls Taking Pictures (Scribner)
Amanda Coplin of Portland, The Orchardist (Harper Perennial)
Roger Hobbs of Portland, Ghostman (Knopf)

2013

Ismet Prcic of Portland, Shards (Grove/Atlantic)

Finalists:
Brian Doyle of Portland, Bin Laden’s Bald Spot (Red Hen Press)
Carter Sickels of Portland, The Evening Hour (Bloomsbury)
Alexis Smith of Portland, Glaciers (Tin House Books)
Leni Zumas of Portland, The Listeners (Tin House Books)

2012

Patrick deWitt of Portland, The Sisters Brothers (Ecco)

Finalists:
Dan DeWeese of Portland, You Don’t Love This Man (Harper Perennial)
Brian Doyle of Portland, Mink River (Oregon State University Press)
Matthew Stadler of Portland, Chloe Jarren’s La Cucaracha (Publication Studio)
Vanessa Veselka of Portland,  Zazen (Red Lemonade)

2011

Willy Vlautin of Portland, Lean on Pete (Harper Perennial)

Finalists:
Emily Chenoweth of Portland, Hello Goodbye (Random House)
K.B. Dixon of Portland, A Painter’s Life (Inkwater Press)
Jane Kirkpatrick of Moro, A Flickering Light (WaterBrook Press)
Scott Sadil of Hood River, Lost in Wyoming (Barclay Creek Press)

2009/2010

Jon Raymond of Portland, Livability: Stories  (Bloomsbury)

Finalists:
Miriam Gershow of Eugene, The Local News  (Spiegel & Grau)
Gina Ochsner  of  Keizer, The Russian Dreambook of Color and Flight (Portobello Books)
Barbara Pope of Eugene, Cezanne’s Quarry (Pegasus Books)
Leslie What  of  Eugene, Crazy Love: Stories (Wordcraft of Oregon)

2008

Ehud Havazelet of Corvallis, Bearing the Body (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Finalists:
K.B. Dixon of Portland, The Sum of His Syndromes (Inkwater Press)
Molly Gloss of Portland, The Hearts of Horses (Houghton Mifflin)
Lee Montgomery of Portland, Whose World is This? (University of Iowa Press)

2007 – Novel

Alison Clement of Corvallis,Twenty Questions (Atria Books)

Finalists:
Monica Drake of Portland,Clown Girl(Hawthorne Books)
Robert Hill of Portland, When All Is Said and Done (Graywolf Press)

2007 – Short Fiction

Charles D’Ambrosio, The Dead Fish Museum (Alfred A. Knopf)

2006 – Novel

Justin Tussing, The Best People in the World (HarperCollins)

Finalists:
Laila Lalami, Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits (Algonquin Books)
Peter Rock, The Bewildered (MacAdam Cage)

2006 – Short Fiction

Gina Ochsner, People I Wanted to Be (Houghton Mifflin)

Finalists:
Tracy Daugherty, Late in the Standoff (Southern Methodist University Press)
Scott Nadelson, The Cantor’s Daughter (Hawthorne Books)
Geronimo G. Tagatac, The Weight of the Sun (Ooligan Press)

2005 – Novel

Marc Acito of Portland, How I Paid for College (Broadway Books)

Finalists:
Kassten Alonso of Portland, Core (Hawthorne Books)
Phillip Margolin of Portland, Lost Lake (HarperCollins)
Kris Nelscott of Lincoln City, War at Home (St. Martin’s Minotaur)
Michael Strelow of Salem, The Greening of Ben Brown (Hawthorne Books)

2005 – Short Fiction

Barry Lopez of Finn Rock, Resistance (Alfred A. Knopf)

Finalists:
David Pinson of Portland, A Moment To Organize My Face (Helicon West)

2004 – Novel

Tracy Daugherty of Corvallis, Axeman’s Jazz

Finalists:
David Farris of Portland, Lie Still
Michael Curtis Ford of Salem, The Last King
Kris Nelscott of Lincoln City, Stone Cribs

2004 – Short Fiction

Scott Nadelson of Portland, Saving Stanley

Finalists:
Marjorie Sandor of Corvallis, Portrait of My Mother, Who Posed Nude in Wartime

2003 – Novel

Cai Emmons of Eugene, His Mother’s Son

Finalists:
April Henry of Portland, Learning to Fly
Jane Kirkpatrick of Moro, A Name of Her Own
Alan Siporin of Eugene, Fire’s Edge

2003 – Short Fiction

Tracy Daugherty of Corvallis, It Takes a Worried Man

Finalists:
Douglas Rennie of Portland, Badlands
Lidia Yuknavitch of Corbett, Real to Reel

2002

Gina Ochsner of Keizer, The Necessary Grace to Fall

Finalists:
Kate Bernheimer of Portland, The Complete Tales of Ketzia Gold
Peter Rock of Portland, The Ambidextrist

2001

Molly Best Tinsley of Ashland, Throwing Knives

Finalists:
Barry Lopez of Finn Rock, Light Action in the Caribbean
Phillip Margolin of Portland, Wild Justice
Mark Jude Poirier of Portland, Goats
Doe Tabor of Eugene, Do Drums Beat There

2000

Craig Lesley of Portland, Storm Riders

Finalists:
Jody Seay of Portland, The Second Coming of Curly Red
Kathleen Tyau of Gaston, Makai

1999

Ehud Havazelet of Corvallis, Like Never Before

Finalists:
Tracy Daugherty of Corvallis, The Boy Orator
Sheila Evans of Yachats, Northport
Chuck Palahniuk of Portland, Survivor

1998

Peter Ho Davies, The Ugliest House in the World

Finalists:
Molly Gloss, The Dazzle of Day
Sandra Scofield, Plain Seeing
Floyd Skloot, The Open Door
Gus Van Sant, Pink

1997

Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

Finalists:
Ann Copeland, Season of Apples
Gregg Kleiner, Where River Turns to Sky
Joanna Rose, Little Miss Strange
Sandra Scofield, A Chance to See Egypt

1996

Tracy Daugherty, What Falls Away

Finalists:
Craig Lesley, The Sky Fisherman
Kathleen Tyau, A Little Too Much Is Enough

1995

Chang-rae Lee, Native Speaker

Finalists:
Jennifer C. Cornell, Departures
Ann Packer, Mendocino and Other Stories

1994

Diana Abu-Jaber, Arabian Jazz

Finalists:
Alison Baker, How I Came West, and Why I Stayed
George Herman, Carnival of Saints
Whitney Otto, Now You See Her
Sandra Scofield, More Than Allies

1993

Diane Simmons, Dreams Like Thunder

Finalists:
Annie Dawid, York Ferry
David Duncan, The Brothers K
Ken Kesey, Sailor Song
Kim Stafford, Wind on the Waves

1992

Ursula Le Guin, Searoad

Finalists:
Karen Karbo, The Diamond Lane
Tom Spanbauer, The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon
Kate Wilhelm, Death Qualified

1990

Molly Gloss, The Jump-off Creek

Finalists:
Hillary Johnson, Physical Culture
Craig Lesley, River Song

1989

Hob Broun, Cardinal Numbers

Finalist:
Sharon Doubiago, The Book of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes

1988

Todd Grimson, Within Normal Limits

Finalists:
A.B. Paulson, Watchman Tell Us of the Night
Fred Pfeil, Shine On

1987

Russell Working, Resurrectionists

Finalist:
Rick Borsten, The Great Equalizer

William Stafford (1914-1993) is the author of more than 50 books and a recipient of the National Book Award for Traveling Through the Dark. After serving as Poet Laureate to the Library of Congress in 1970, he was named Oregon’s Poet Laureate in 1975.

Remembered as the “Emily Dickinson of Oregon,” the reclusive Hazel Hall (1886-1924) lived in Northwest Portland. Her books include Curtains, Walkers, and Cry of Time.

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2019

Matthew Minicucci of Portland, Small Gods (New Issues Poetry & Prose)

Finalists:
José Angel Araguz of McMinnville, Until We Are Level Again (Mongrel Empire Press)
Eliza Rotterman of Portland, Dirt Eaters (Tupelo Press)
Wendy Willis of Portland, A Long Late Pledge(Bear Star Press)
Beth Wood of Portland, Ladder to the Light (Mezcalita Press)

2018

Samiya Bashir of Portland, Field Theories (Nightboat Books)

Finalists:
manuel arturo abreu of Portland, transtrender (Quimérica Books)
Allison Cobb of Portland, After We All Died (New Series) (Ahasahta Press)
Stephen Lackaye of Beaverton, Self-Portrait in Dystopian Landscape (Unicorn Press)
Ed Skoog of Portland, Run the Red Lights (Copper Canyon Press)

2017

Joe Wilkins of McMinnville, When We Were Birds (University of Arkansas Press)

Finalists:
Danielle Cadena Deulen of Salem, Our Emotions Get Carried Away Beyond Us (Barrow Street Press)
Alicia Jo Rabins of Portland, Divinity School (The American Poetry Review)
Jennifer Richter of Corvallis, No Acute Distress (Crab Orchard Review & Southern Illinois University Press)
Floyd Skloot of Portland, Approaching Winter (Louisiana State University Press)

2016

Carl Adamshick of Portland, Saint Friend (McSweeney’s)

Finalists:
Jessica Johnson of Portland, In Absolutes We Seek Each Other (New Michigan Press)
Andrew Michael Roberts of Portland, Good Beast (Burnside Review)
Pepper Trail of Ashland, Cascade-Siskiyou (Painted Thrush Press)
John Witte of Eugene, Disquiet (University of Washington Press)

2015

Emily Kendal Frey of Portland, Sorrow Arrow (Octopus Books)

Finalists:
Wendy Chin-Tanner of Portland, Turn (Sibling Rivalry Press)
Endi Bogue Hartigan of Portland, Pool [5 choruses] (Omnidawn)
Zachary Schomburg of Portland, The Book of Joshua (Black Ocean)
Dawn Diez Willis of Salem, Still Life with Judas & Lightning (Airlie Press)

2014

Mary Szybist of Portland, Incarnadine (Graywolf)

Finalists:
Jennifer Boyden of Milton-Freewater, The Declarable Future (University of Wisconsin Press)
Matthew Dickman of Portland, Mayakovsky¹s Revolver (Norton)
Andrea Hollander of Portland, Landscape with Female Figure: New and Selected Poems, 1982-2012 (Autumn House Press)
Ralph Salisbury of Eugene, Like the Sun in Storm (The Habits of Rainy Nights Press)

2013

Zachary Schomburg of Portland, Fjords Vol 1 (Black Ocean)

Finalists:
Jean Esteve of Waldport, Off-Key (Finishing Line Press)
Toni Hanner of Eugene, Gertrude: Poems and Other Objects (Traprock Books)
Alan Peterson of Ashland, Fragile Acts (McSweeney’s)
Carrie Seitzinger of Portland, Fall Ill Medicine (Small Doggies Press)

2012

Carl Adamshick of Portland, Curses and Wishes (Louisiana State University Press)

Finalists:
Geri Doran of Eugene, Sanderlings (Tupelo Press)
Emily Kendal Frey of Portland, The Grief Performance (Cleveland State University Press)
Daniel Skach-Mills of Portland, The Hut Beneath the Pine (Daniel Skach-Mills)
Ursula K. Le Guin of Portland and Roger Dorband of Astoria, Out Here (Raven Studio)

2011

David Biespiel of Portland, The Book of Men and Women (University of Washington Press)

Finalists:
Donna Henderson of Monmouth, The Eddy Fence (Airlie Press)
Henry Hughes of Falls City, Moist Meridian (Mammoth Books)
Jennifer Richter of Corvallis, Threshold (Southern Illinois University Press)
Zachary Schomburg of Portland, Scary No Scary (Black Ocean)

2010/2019

Matthew Dickman of Portland, All-American Poem  (American Poetry Review)

Finalists:
Alicia Cohen of Portland, Debts and Obligations (O Press)
Endi Bogue Hartigan of Portland, One Sun Storm (Center for Literary Publishing)
Andrew Michael Roberts of Portland, something has to happen Next (University of Iowa Press)
Crystal Williams  of Portland, Troubled Tongues (Lotus Press)

2008

Penelope Scambly Schott of Portland, A Is for Anne: Mistress Hutchinson Disturbs the Commonwealth (Turning Point)

Finalists:
Judith Barrington of Portland, Postcard from the Bottom of the Sea (The Eighth Mountain Press)
Brian Doyle of Portland, Thirsty for the Joy (One Day Hill)
Kate Gray of Portland, Another Sunset We Survive (Cedar House Books)
John C. Morrison of Portland, Heaven of the Moment (Fairweather Books)

2007

Tom Blood of Portland, The Sky Position (Marriage Records Publishing House)

Finalists:
Kathleen Halme of Portland, Drift and Pulse (Carnegie Mellon University Press)
Paul Merchant of Portland, Some Business of Affinity (Five Seasons Press)
Floyd Skloot of Portland, The End of Dreams (Louisiana State Univeristy Press)

2006

Dorianne Laux of Eugene, Facts About the Moon (Norton)

Finalists:
David Axelrod of La Grande, The Cartographer’s Melancholy (Eastern Washington University Press)
Paulann Petersen of Portland, A Bride of Narrow Escape (Cloudbank Books)
Vern Rutsala of Portland, How We Spent Our Time (The University of Akron Press)
Floyd Skloot of Amity, Approximately Paradise (Tupelo Press)
Matt Yurdana of Portland, Public Gestures (University of Tampa Press)

2005

Laton Carter of Eugene, Leaving (The University of Chicago Press)

Finalists:
Judith Barrington of Portland, Horses and the Human Soul (Story Line Press)
Vern Rutsala of Portland, A Handbook for Writers (White Line Press)
Maxine Scates of Eugene, Black Loam (Cherry Grove Collections)

2004

Henry Hughes of Monmouth, Men Holding Eggs

Finalists:
David Biespiel of Portland, Wild Civility
James Grabill of Portland, An Indigo Scent After the Rain
Christopher Johnston of Ashland, Violent Homeland
Lisa M. Steinman of Portland, Carslaw’s Sequences

2003

Rita Ott Ramstad of Brightwood, The Play of Dark and Light

Finalists:
Jane Bailey of Salem, The Fine Art of Postponement
Casey Kwang of Ashland, Copia
Robert McDowell of Talent, On Foot, in Flames
Clemens Starck of Dallas, China Basin

2002

Willa Schneberg of Portland, In The Margins Of The World

Finalists:
Lois Baker of Portland, Man Covered With Bees
Joseph Millar of Eugene, Overtime
Carolyn Reynolds Miller of Salem, Rising and Falling

2001

Floyd Skloot of Amity, The Evening Light

Finalists:
Karen Braucher of Portland, Sending Messages Over Inconceivable Distances
Tom Bremer of Portland, Just Once
Dorianne Laux of Eugene, Smoke
Ralph Salisbury of Eugene, Rainbows of Stone

2000

Judith Montgomery of Portland, Passion

Finalists:
Bill Deemer of Eugene, Variations
Jeff Meyers of Portland, Hereafter
Primus St. John of West Linn, Communion
George Venn of La Grande, West of Paradise

1999

Pimone Triplett of Eugene, Ruining the Picture

Finalists:
casey l.b. kwang of Talent, on blue felix paper
Kim Stafford of Portland, A Thousand Friends of Rain
Clemens Starck of Dallas, Studying Russian on Company Time

1998

Sandra Stone of Portland, Cocktails with Brueghel at the Museum Café

Finalists:
Diane Averill of Beavercreek, Beautiful Obstacles
Michele Glazer of Portland, It Is Hard to Look At What We Came to Think We’d Come to See
James Grabill of Portland, Listening to the Leaves Form
Robert Hill Long of Eugene, The Effigies

1997

Lawson Fusao Inada of Ashland, Drawing the Line

Finalists:
David Biespiel of Portland, Shattering Air
Donna Henderson of Monmouth, Transparent Woman
T.R. Hummer of Eugene, Walt Whitman in Hell
Lisa M. Steinman of Portland, Ordinary Songs

1996

Clemens Starck, Journeyman’s Wages

Finalists:
Barbara LaMorticella, Rain on Waterless Mountain
Carlos Reyes, A Suitcase Full of Crows
Jim Shugrue, Small Things Screaming

1995

James Grabill, Poem Rising Out of the Earth and Standing Up in Someone

Finalists:
Vern Rutsala, Little-known Sports
Floyd Skloot, Music Appreciation
Elizabeth Woody, Luminaries of the Humble

1994

Tom Crawford, Lauds

Finalists:
Henry Carlile, Rain
Jane Glazer, Some Trick of Light
Doug Marx, Sufficiency
Steven Sher, Traveler’s Advisory
Floyd Skloot, Poppies

1993

Lisa M. Steinman, A Book of Other Days

Finalists:
Lois Baker, Tracers
Lawson Inada, Legends from Camp
Peter Jensen, Erik Muller and David Johnson, Confluence

1992

Vern Rutsala, Selected Poems

Finalists:
James B. Hall, Bereavements
Christopher Howell, Sweet Afton

1991

Sharon Doubiago, Psyche Drives the Coast

Finalists:
Diane Averill, Branches Doubled Over with Fruit
Robert A. Davies, Tracks in Oregon
Nan Hannon, Sky River

1990 (two winners)

Primus St. John, Dreamer
Maxine Scates, Toluca Street 

1989

Lex Runciman, The Admiration’s

Finalists:
Judith Barrington, History and Geography
John Daniel, Common Ground
Lisa M. Steinman, All That Comes to Light

1988

Ingrid Wendt, Singing the Mozart Requiem

Finalists:
Tom Bremer, A Bird That Changes Trees
Sharon Doubiago, Oedipus Drowned

1987

John Haislip, Seal Rock

Finalists:
Vern Rutsala, Ruined Cities

Frances Fuller Victor Award for General Nonfiction

Frances Fuller Victor (1826-1902) spent 35 years traveling throughout Oregon, interviewing pioneers, and writing the history of the Northwest. Her works include The River of the West, Early Indian Wars of Oregon, and All Over Oregon and Washington.

Sarah Winnemucca Award for Creative Nonfiction

Sarah Winnemucca (1844-1891) left her native Nevada when the federal government relocated the Paiute to a reservation in Malheur, Oregon. The daughter of a Paiute tribal leader, she became an official interpreter to the U.S. military and an outspoken supporter of Native American rights in Washington, D.C. Her influential book, Life Among the Paiutes: Their Wrongs and Claims, remains a significant historical and political account.

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2019 – General Nonfiction

Kenneth R. Coleman of Portland, Dangerous Subjects: James D. Saules and the Rise of Black Exclusion in Oregon (OSU Press)

Finalists:
Katrine Barber of Portland, In Defense of Wyam: Native-White Alliances and the Struggle for Celilo Village (University of Washington Press)
Brook Colley of Phoenix, Power in the Telling: Grand Ronde, Warm Springs, and Intertribal Relations in the Casino Era (University of Washington Press)
Mary DeMocker of Eugene, The Parents’ Guide to Climate Revolution: 100 Ways to Build a Fossil-Free Future, Raise Empowered Kids, and Still Get a Good Night’s Sleep (New World Library)
Noah Strycker of Creswell, Birding Without Borders: An Obsession, a Quest

2019 – Creative Nonfiction

Apricot Irving of Corbett, The Gospel of Trees (Simon & Schuster)

Finalists:
manuel arturo abreu of Portland, Incalculable Loss (Institute for New Connotative Action Press)
David Biespiel of Portland, The Education of a Young Poet  (Counterpoint Press)
Dionisia Morales of Corvallis, Homing Instincts (OSU Press)
Meaghan O’Connell of Portland, And Now We Have Everything (Little Brown)

2018 – General Nonfiction

Lee van der Voo of Portland, Fish Market (St. Martin’s Press)

Finalists:
G.A. Bradshaw of Jacksonville, Carnivore Minds (Yale University Press)
Peter Ames Carlin of Portland, Homeward Bound (Henry Holt and Company)
Edward Hershey of Portland, The Scorekeeper (Joy Media LLC)
Gary Leiser of Sisters, Prostitution in the Eastern Mediterranean World: The Economics of Sex in the Late Antique and Medieval Middle East (I.B. Tauris)

2018 – Creative Nonfiction

Elena Passarello of Corvallis, Animals Strike Curious Poses (Sarabande Books)

Finalists:
Michael Copperman of Eugene, Teacher: Two Years in the Mississippi Delta (University Press of Mississippi)
Tracy Daugherty of Corvallis, Let Us Build Us a City (University of Georgia Press)
Aaron Gilbreath of Portland, Everything We Don’t Know (Curbside Splendor Publishing)
Mike Lankford of Bend, Becoming Leonardo: An Exploded View of the Life of Leonardo Da Vinci (Melville Hourse Publishing)

2017 – General Nonfiction

Tracy Daugherty of Corvallis, The Last Love Song: A Biography of Joan Didion (St. Martin’s Press)

Finalists:
Sue Armitage of Portland, Shaping the Public Good: Women Making History in the Pacific Northwest (OSU Press)
Bill Lascher of Portland, Eve of a Hundred Midnights: The Star-Crossed Love Story of Two WWII Correspondents and Their Epic Escape Across the Pacific (William Morrow)
Kathleen Dean Moore of Corvallis, Great Tide Rising: Towards Clarity and Moral Courage in a Time of Planetary Change (Counterpoint)
Andi Zeisler of Portland, We Were Feminists Once: From Riot Grrrl to CoverGirl©, The Buying and Selling of a Political Movement (PublicAffairs)

2017 – Creative Nonfiction

Walidah Imarisha of Portland, Angels With Dirty Faces (AK Press)

Finalists:
Carrie Brownstein of Portland, Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl (Riverhead)
Martha Grover of Portland, The End of My Career (Perfect Day Publishing)

2016 – General Nonfiction

David Biespiel of Portland, A Long High Whistle (Antilever Press)

Finalists:
Lily Brooks-Dalton of Portland, Motorcycles I’ve Loved (Riverhead Books)
William Deresiewicz of Portland, Excellent Sheep (Simon & Schuster)
Rosemarie Ostlerof Eugene, Founding Grammars (St. Martin’s Press)
Tim Palmer of Orford, Field Guide to Oregon Rivers (OSU Press)

2016 – Creative Nonfiction

Kate Carroll de Gutes of Portland, Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear (Ovenbird Books)

Finalists:
Barbara Drake of Yamhill, Morning Light (OSU Press)
Brian Doyle of Lake Oswego, Children and Other Wild Animals (OSU Press)
Elizabeth Enslin of Enterprise, While the Gods Were Sleeping (Seal Press)
Nick Jaina of Portland, Get It While You Can (Perfect Day Publishing)

2015 – General Nonfiction

Alex Tizon of Eugene, Big Little Man: In Search of My Asian Self (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Finalists:
Kristin Ohlson of Portland, The Soil Will Save Us: How Scientists, Farmers, and Foodies are Healing the Soil to Save the Planet (Rodale Press)
Robert Sitton of Portland, Lady In The Dark: Iris Barry and the Art of Film (Columbia University Press)
Cameron Stauth of Portland, In The Name Of God: The True Story of the Fight to Save Children from Faith-Healing Homicide (Thomas Dunne/St. Martin’s Press)
Noah Strycker of Creswell, The Thing With Feathers: The Surprising Lives of Birds and What They Reveal About Being Human (Riverhead)

2015 – Creative Nonfiction

Justin Hocking of Portland, The Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld (Graywolf Press)

Finalists:
Lisa Ohlen Harris of Newberg, The Fifth Season (Texas Tech University Press)
Floyd Skloot of Portland, Revertigo (University of Wisconsin Press)

2014 – General Nonfiction

Paul Collins of Portland, Duel with the Devil (Crown Publishers)

Finalists:
C. B. Bernard of Portland, Chasing Alaska (Lyons Press)
William J. Bernstein of Portland, Masters of the Word (Grove Press)
R. Gregory Nokes of West Linn, Breaking Chains (OSU Press)
Martin N. Raitiere of Portland, The Complicity of Friends (Bucknell University Press)

2014 – Creative Nonfiction

Jay Ponteri of Portland, Wedlocked (Hawthorne Books)

Finalists:
Scott Nadelson of Salem, The Next Scott Nadelson (Hawthorne Books)
Elena Passarello of Corvallis, Let Me Clear My Throat (Sarabande Books)
Kim Stafford of Portland, 100 Tricks Every Boy Can Do (Trinity University Press)
Sandra Stone of Portland, The Inmost House (Prospect Cove Press)

2013 – General Nonfiction

Kent Hartman of Portland, The Wrecking Crew (St. Martin’s Press)

Finalists:
Nicholas Buccola of McMinnville, The Political Thought of Frederick Douglass: In Pursuit of American Liberty (NYU Press)
Kerry Cohen of Portland, Dirty Little Secrets: Breaking the Silence on Teenage Girls and Promiscuity (Sourcebooks)
Scott Farris of Portland, Almost President (Lyons Press)
Steven Green of Salem, The Bible, the School, and the Constitution (Oxford University Press)

2013 – Creative Nonfiction

Storm Large of Portland, Crazy Enough (Free Press)

Finalists:
Kerry Cohen of Portland, Seeing Ezra (Seal Press)
Aria Minu-Sepehr of Corvallis, We Heard the Heavens Then (Free Press)
Cheryl Strayed of Portland, Wild (Knopf)
Ceiridwen Terrill of Portland, Part Wild (Scribner)

2012 – General Nonfiction

Kenneth J. Ruoff of Portland, Imperial Japan At Its Zenith: The Wartime Celebration of the Empire’s 2600th Anniversary (Cornell University Press)

Finalists:
Glenn Anthony May of Eugene, Sonny Montes and Mexican American Activism in Oregon (Oregon State University Press)
Roger J. Porter of Portland, Bureau of Missing Persons: Writing the Secret Lives of Fathers (Cornell University Press)

2012 – Creative Nonfiction

George Estreich of Corvallis, The Shape of the Eye: Down Syndrome, Family, and the Stories We Inherit (Southern Methodist University Press)

Finalists:
Jennifer Lauck of Portland, Found (Seal Press)
Sarahlee Lawrence of Portland, River House (Tin House Books)
Marjorie Sandor of Corvallis, The Late Interiors (Arcade Publishing)
Lidia Yuknavitch of Portland, The Chronology of Water (Hawthorne Books)

2011 – General Nonfiction

Paul VanDevelder of Corvallis, Savages and Scoundrels (Yale University Press)

Finalists:
Paul Collins of Portland, The Book of William (Bloomsbury)
Tom Krattenmaker, Onward Christian Athletes (Bowman & Littlefield)
Barry Sanders of Portland, Unsuspecting Souls (Counterpoint Press)
Barry Sanders of Portland, The Green Zone (AK Press)

2011 – Creative Nonfiction

John Daniel of Elmira, The Far Corner (Counterpoint Press)

Finalists:
Carol Ann Bassett of Eugene, Galapagos at the Crossroads (National Geographic)
Tom Bissel of Portland, Extra Lives (Pantheon Books)
Lisa Ohlen Harris of Newberg, Through the Veil (Canonpress)
Kathleen Dean Moore of Corvallis, Wild Comfort (Trumpeter Books)

2010/2009 – General Nonfiction

Tracy Daugherty of Corvallis, Hiding Man: A Biography of Donald Barthelme (St. Martin’s Press)

Finalists:
Bonnie Henderson of Eugene, Strand: An Odyssey of Pacific Ocean Debris (OSU Press)
John Laursen of Portland, Wild Beauty (OSU Press)
Donna Matrazzo of Portland, Wild Things: Adventures of a Grassroots Environmentalist (IUniverse)
Jeffrey St. Clair of Oregon City, Born Under a Bad Sky: Notes from the Dark Side of the Earth (AK Press)

2010/2009 – Creative Nonfiction

John Kroger of Salem, Convictions: A Prosecutor’s Battles Against Mafia Killers, Drug Kingpins, and Enron Thieves (Farrar, Strauss, Giroux)

Finalists:
Bibi Gaston of The Dalles, The Loveliest Woman in America: A Tragic Actress, Her Lost Diaries, and Her Granddaughter’s Search for Home (William Morrow)
Debra Gwartney of Finn Rock, Live Through This: A Mother’s Memoir of Runaway Daughters and Reclaimed Love (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Floyd Skloot of Portland, The Wink of the Zenith: The Shaping of a Writer’s Life (University of Nebraska Press)

2008 – General Nonfiction

Steven W. Bender of Portland, One Night in America: Robert Kennedy, Cesar Chavez, and the Dream of Dignity (Paradigm Publishers)

Finalists:
Neil W. Browne of Bend, The World in Which We Occur: John Dewey, Pragmatist Ecology, and American Ecological Writing in the Twentieth Century (University of Alabama Press)
Pamela Smith Hill of Portland, Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Writer’s Life (South Dakota State Historical Society)
Kimberly Jensen of Monmouth, Mobilizing Minerva: American Women in the First World War (University of Illinois Press)
Darius Rejali of Portland, Torture and Democracy (Princeton University Press)

2008 – Creative Nonfiction

Lauren Kessler of Eugene, Dancing with Rose: Finding Life in the Land of Alzheimer’s (Viking Adult)

Finalists:
Beren deMotier of Portland, The Brides of March: Memoir of a Same-Sex Marriage (iUniverse, Inc)
Jill Kelly of Portland, Sober Truths: The Making of an Honest Woman (iUniverse, Inc.)
Christopher Van Tilburg of Hood River, Mountain Rescue Doctor: Wilderness Medicine in the Extremes of Nature (St. Martin’s Press)

2007 – General Nonfiction

Garrett Epps of Eugene, Democracy Reborn: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Fight for Equal Rights in Post-Civil War America (Henry Holt)

Finalists:
Rene Denfeld of Portland, All God’s Children: Inside the Dark and Violent World of Street Families (PublicAffairs)
John Bellamy Foster of Eugene, Naked Imperialism: The U.S. Pursuit of Global Dominance (Monthly Review Press)
Ben Saunders of Eugene, Desiring Donne: Poetry, Sexuality, Interpretation (Harvard University Press)
Kristian Williams of Portland, American Methods: Torture and the Logic of Domination (South End Press)

2007 – Creative Nonfiction

Lee Montgomery of Portland,The Things Between Us (Free Press)

Finalists:
Jeff Lee Manthos of Corvallis, Steel Beach: My Life As A Naval Aircrewman 1972—1976 (Inkwater Press)
Joel Preston Smith of Portland, Night of a Thousand Stars and Other Portraits of Iraq (Nazraeli Press)

2006 – General Nonfiction

Andrew Bernstein, Modern Passings: Death Rites, Politics, and Social Change in Imperial Japan (University of Hawaii Press)

Finalists:
Edwin L. Battistella, Bad Language: Are Some Words Better than Others? (Oxford University Press)
Judy Blankenship, Cañar: A Year in the Highlands of Ecuador (University of Texas Press)
William G. Robbins, Oregon: This Storied Land (Oregon Historical Society Press)
Dick Weissman, Which Side Are You On? An Inside History of the Folk Music Revival in America (Continuum)

2006 – Creative Nonfiction

George Aguilar, When the River Ran Wild! Indian Traditions on the Mid-Columbia and the Warm Springs Reservation (University of Washington Press)

Finalists:
Brian Doyle, The Grail: A Year Ambling & Shambling Through an Oregon Vineyard in Pursuit of the Best Pinot Noir in the World (Oregon State University Press)
Kristin Kaye, Iron Maidens: The Celebration of the Most Awesome Female Muscle in the World (Thunder’s Mouth Press)

2005 – General Nonfiction

James C. Mohr of Eugene, Plague and Fire (Oxford University Press)

Finalists:
Gillian Klucas of Portland, Leadville (Island Press)
William G. Robbins of Corvallis, Landscapes of Conflict (University of Washington Press)
Bob Welch of Eugene, American Nightingale (Atria Books)

2005 – Creative Nonfiction

Kathleen Dean Moore of Corvallis, The Pine Island Paradox (Milkweed Editions)

Finalists:
Diana Abu-Jaber of Portland, The Language of Baklava (Pantheon Books)
Maura Conlon-McIvor of Portland, FBI girl (Warner Books)
Charles D’Ambrosio of Portland, Orphans (Clear Cut Press)
Brian Doyle of Lake Oswego, Spirited Men (Cowley Publications)

2004 – General Nonfiction

Ellen Morris Bishop of Enterprise, In Search of Ancient Oregon

Finalists:
Lauren Kessler of Eugene, Clever Girl
Elinor Langer of Portland, A Hundred Little Hitlers
Jewel Lansing of Portland, Portland
Jeffrey St. Clair of Oregon City, Been Brown So Long It Looked Like Green to Me

2004 – Creative Nonfiction

Karen Karbo of Portland, The Stuff of Life

Finalists:
Brian Doyle of Portland, Leaping
Ariel Gore of Portland, Atlas of the Human Heart
Bette Lynch Husted of Pendleton, Above the Clearwater

2003 – General Nonfiction

Barbara S. Mahoney of Wilsonville, Dispatches and Dictators

Finalists:
Rick Harmon of Portland, Crater Lake National Park
Kim Stafford of Portland, The Muses Among Us

2003 – Creative Nonfiction

Chris Chester of Portland, Providence of a Sparrow
Floyd Skloot of Amity, In The Shadow Of Memory

Finalists:
Carol Ann Bassett of Eugene, A Gathering of Stones
Gabrielle Glaser of Portland, The Nose
Kim Stafford of Portland, Early Morning
(two winners)

2002 – General Nonfiction

Alfred Habegger of Enterprise, My Wars Are Laid Away in Books

Finalists:
K.P. Burke of Salem, Proof through the Night
Paul Collins of Portland, Banvard’s Folly
Karen Karbo of Portland, Generation Ex
Jennifer Lauck of Portland, Still Waters

2001

Chanrithy Him of Eugene, When Broken Glass Floats

Finalists: Larry Colton of Portland, Counting Coup
Lauren Kessler of Eugene, The Happy Bottom Riding Club
Jennifer Lauck of Portland, Blackbird

2000

Marjorie Sandor of Corvallis, The Night Gardener

Finalists:
Judith Barrington of Portland, Lifesaving
Andrew X. Pham of Portland, Catfish and Mandala

1999

William Ashworth of Ashland, The Left Hand of Eden

Finalists:
Diana Coogle of Applegate, Fire from the Dragon’s Tongue
Barbara Drake of Yamhill, Peace at Heart
Barry Lopez of Finn Rock, About This Life
Jeff Taylor of Independence, Tools of the Earth

1998

Lars Nordström of Beavercreek, Making It Home

Finalists:
Richard Peck of Portland, A Morbid Fascination
William G. Robbins of Corvallis, Landscapes of Promise
Quintard Taylor of Eugene, In Search of the Racial Frontier

1997

John Daniel of Elmira, Looking After

Finalist:
Floyd Skloot of Amity, The Night-Side

1996

Garrett Hongo, Volcano

Finalists:
Susan Butruille, Women’s Voices from the Western Frontier
Thomas Hager, Force of Nature
Robert Leo Heilman, Overstory Zero
Kathleen Dean Moore, Riverwalking

1995

Robin Cody, Voyage of a Summer Sun

Finalists:
James Grabill, Through the Green Fire
Marcy Houle, The Prairie Keepers
Alvin M. Josephy, 500 Nations
Quintard Taylor, The Forging of a Black Community

1994

Lauren Kessler, Stubborn Twig

Finalists:
Chris Anderson, Edge Effects
Rick Steber, Oregon Trail
Theodore Stern, Chiefs and Chief Traders
Linda Tamura, The Hood River Issei

1993

John Daniel, The Trail Home

Finalists:
Larry Colton, Goat Brothers
David A. Johnson, Founding the Far West
Jonathan Nicholas, On the Oregon Trail

1992

Richard M. Brown, No Duty to Retreat

Finalists:
Richard Kraus, Brushes with Power
Terence O’Donnell, An Arrow in the Earth
Sallie Tisdale, Stepping Westward

1991

Marcy Cottrell Houle, Wings for My Flight
Mary Ann Humphrey, My Country, My Right to Serve (two winners)

Finalists:
Peter Byrne, Tula Hatti
Robert Grudin, The Grace of Great Things
Kim Stafford, Entering the Grove (commendation)

1990

Robin Carey, Baja Journey

Finalist:
William Merritt, Where the Rivers Ran Backward

1989

Luther S. Cressman, A Golden Journey

Finalists:
Shannon Applegate, Skookum
Ursula Le Guin, Dancing on the Edge of the World
William L. Sullivan, Listening for Coyote

1988

Cynthia Stowell, Faces of a Reservation

Finalists:
Jack Estes, A Field of Innocence
Barry Lopez, Crossing Open Ground
Edward Malin, Totem Poles
Sam McKinney, Reach of Tide, Ring of History

1987

Barry Lopez, Arctic Dreams

Finalists:
Ken Kesey, Demon Box
Kim Stafford, Having Everything Right

Angus Bowmer founded the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. His enthusiasm and determination led to an increase in festival attendance, from 500 people in 1935 to more than 320,000 by the late 1980s. He directed 30 productions and performed 32 Shakespearean roles in 43 stagings at the festival. This award is given every two years.

Scroll to see past award winners >

2019

Andrea Stolowitz of Portland, Successful Strategies

2017

Cindy Williams Gutiérrez of Portland, Words That Burn

Finalists:
Sue Mach of Portland, The Yellow Wallpaper
Nancy Moss of Portland, Deception
Rich Rubin of Portland, Caesar’s Blood
Andrea Stolowitz of Portland, Berlin Diary

2015

Andrea Stolowitz of Portland, Ithaka

Finalists:
Rich Rubin of Portland, September Twelfth
Sandra Stone of Portland, Absurdist Or, Is It?: 3 Inter-related Plays
George Taylor of Beaverton, Ghosts in the Canvas
Nick Zagone of Portland, Blood on the Books or The Powell’s Play

2013

Andrea Stolowitz of Portland, Antarktikos

Finalists:
Susan Mach of Portland, A Noble Failure
Steve Patterson of Portland, Immaterial Matters
Rich Rubin of Portland, Costa Rehab
C.S. Whitcomb of Wilsonville, Lear’s Follies

2011

Susan Mach of Portland, The Lost Boy

Finalists:
Marc Acito of Portland & C.S. Whitcomb of Wilsonville, Holidazed
Wayne Harrel of Portland, Second Bloom
George Taylor of Beaverton, Good Citizens
Molly Best Tinsley of Ashland, Glacial Genes

2008

Steve Patterson of Portland, Lost Wavelengths

Finalists:
Dori Appel of Ashland, Hat Tricks
Jacklyn Maddux of Portland, Strange Sightings in the Great Southwest
Francesca Sanders of Portland, I Become a Guitar
George Taylor of Beaverton, Renaissance

2006

Richard Moeschl, Arthur’s Dreams

Finalists:
Doug Baldwin, Wrestling with Charlotte
Shelly Lipkin, Sylver Beaches
Keith J. Scales, What Mad Pursuit
Molly Best Tinsley, Fission

2004

Shelly Lipkin of Lake Oswego, Louanne Moldovan &
Sherry Lamoreaux of Portland, Vitriol and Violets

Finalists:
Gay Monteverde of Portland, The Arabian Nights
Steve Patterson of Portland, Altered States of America

2001

Dori Appel of Ashland, Lost and Found

Finalists:
Timothy E. Craig of McMinnville, Oregon Dawn
Charles Deemer of Portland, Seven Plays
Nancy Masaitis of Portland, Awe & Wonder
Barbara Pongracz of Lake Oswego, 3rd Time’s the Charm

2000

Melinda Pittman of Portland, Wonderbroads

Finalists:
Sandra de Helen of Portland, The Bobbsey Twins Go to Hell
William Sharp of Portland, Ain’t Nothin’ But a Bunch of Bull

1999

Dori Appel of Ashland, The Lunatic Within

Finalists:
Dori Appel of Ashland, Mother, Tree, Cat
Bryan Marvis of Oceanside, Dream True
Bryan Marvis of Oceanside, The Loner

1998

Dori Appel of Ashland, Freud’s Girls

Finalists:
Charles Deemer, Bedrooms and Bars
Charles Deemer, Famililly
Dorothy Velasco, Ever the Dragon

1997

Doug Baldwin of Portland, Drawing Down Clio

Finalists:
Wayne Harrel of Portland, Song of the Bow
Merilee Karr of Portland, The Diamond Orchard

1996

D. Roberts, Picasso in the Backseat

Finalists:
Jan Baross, Mata Hari
Susan Mach, Angle of View
Dorothy Velasco, Mother May I
Sharon Whitney, The Amazing Adventures of Coco-Kab

1994

Jessica Litwak, A Pirate’s Lullaby

Finalists:
Rachael Burchard, Alone
Myra Donnelley, Still Life
Greg Tozian, Fort Byron
Sharon Whitney, Rumpelstiltskin

1992

E.J. Westlake, The Disappearance and Death of Amelia Earhart

Finalists:
Nancy Klementowski, After the Light Goes
Steve Patterson, Bombardment

1990

Sharon Whitney, Five Minute Wars

Finalists:
George Evans, Swimming in Grace
Charles van Steenburgh, The Lonely Treble

1989

Dan Duling, Holding Patterns

Finalists:
Jan Baross, The Woman Who Walked with a List
Tad Savinar, The 4 Mickies

1988

Carolyn Gage, The Second Coming of Joan of Arc

Finalists:
Nancy Klementowski, Small Combo Blues
Tad Savinar, Brushfires

In 2011, with the support of the Pacific Northwest College of Art, Literary Arts established a new award for graphic literature. This award is given every two years.

Scroll to see past award winners >

2018

Nicole J. Georges of Portland, Fetch: How A Bad Dog Brought Me Home
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Finalists:
Jonathan Case of Portland, The New Deal (Dark Horse Comics)
Kelly Sue Deconnick of Portland, Bitch Planet Volume 2: President Bitch (Image Comics)
Barry Deutsch of Portland, Hereville: How Mirka Caught A Fish (Amulet Books)
Paul Tobin of Portland, Bandette: Volume 3: The House of the Green Mask (Dark Horse Comics)

2016

Ariel Cohn and Aron Nels Steinke of Portland
The Zoo Box (First Second Books)

Finalists:
Erika Moen of Portland, Oh Joy, Sex Toy (Erika Moen Comics & Illustration)
Jeff Parker of Portland, Meteor Men (Oni Press)
Elizabeth Rusch and Mike Lawrence of Portland, Muddy Max (Andrews McMeel Publishing)
Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover of Portland, Bandette Volume 2: Stealers Keepers (Dark Horse Comics)

2014

Barry Deutsch of Portland, Hereville: How Mirka Met a Meteorite (Amulet Books)

Finalists:
Steve Duin and Shannon Wheeler of Portland, Oil and Water (Fantagraphics Books)
Natalie Nourigat of Portland, Between Gears (Image Comics)
Joe Sacco of Portland, Journalism (Metropolitan Books)
Craig Thompson of Portland, Habibi (Pantheon)

2012

Joe Sacco Portland Footnotes in Gaza (Metropolitan Books)

Finalists:
Graham Annable Portland Book of Grickle (Dark Horse Comics)
Aidan Koch Portland The Whale (Gaze Books)
Sarah Oleksyk Portland Ivy (Oni Press)
Greg Rucka Portland Stumptown (Oni Press)

ELOISE JARVIS MCGRAW AWARD FOR CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

Eloise McGraw’s (1915-2000) books for children include The Striped Ships, which received an Oregon Book Award in 1992, and The Moorchild, which received an Oregon Book Award and a Newbery Award in 1997.

Leslie Bradshaw Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Literature

This award was created in 1999 by friends and family to honor a devoted lover of literature, Leslie Bradshaw (1952-1998). Bradshaw was well known within her community for sharing a passion for reading and love of a good story. She inspired many children at Beaver Acres Elementary School in Beaverton to become engaged with books. (note: beginning with 2023, the Leslie Bradshaw Award includes Middle Grade and Young Adult Literature).

Scroll to see past award winners >

2019 – Children’s Literature

Emily Whitman of Portland,The Turning (Greenwillow Books)

Finalists:
Kate Berube of Portland, Mae’s First Day of School (Abrams Books)
Barbara Herkert of Newport, A Boy, a Mouse, and a Spider: The Story of E.B. White (Henry Holt and Co.)
Michelle Roehm McCann of Portland, More Girls Who Rocked the World (Aladdin/Beyond Words)
Deborah Hopkinson of West Linn, Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen (Balzer & Bray)

2019 – Young Adult Literature

Shea Ernshaw of Bend, The Wicked Deep (Simon & Schuster)

Finalists:
Fonda Lee of Portland, Cross Fire: An Exo Novel (Scholastic Press)
Shelley Pearson of Portland, Book Smarts & Tender Hearts (Ingram Spark)
Emily Suvada of Portland, This Mortal Coil (Simon & Schuster)

2018 – Children’s Literature

Patricia Bailey of Klamath Falls, The Tragically True Adventures of Kit Donovan (Albert Whitman & Company)

Finalists:
Kurt Cyrus of McMinnville, Shake A Leg, Egg (Beach Lane Books)
Diane Rios of Portland, Bridge of The Gods (She Writes Press)
Elizabeth Rusch of Portland, The Music of Life (Atheneum Books)
Cynthia Rylant of Portland, Life (Beach Lane Books)

2018 – Young Adult Literature

Laini Taylor of Portland, Strange the Dreamer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Finalists:
Kenn Amdahl of Eugene, Jumper and the Apple Crate (Clearwater Publishing Company)
Kelly Garrett of Portland, The Last to Die (Poisoned Pen Press)
Fonda Lee of Portland, Exo (Scholastic)
Paula Stokes of Portland, This is How it Happened (Harper Teen)

2017 – Children’s Literature

Kate Berube of Portland, Hannah and Sugar (Abrams Books for Young Readers)

Finalists:
Cathy Camper of Portland, Lowriders to the Center of the Earth (Chronicle Books)
Deborah Hopkinson of West Linn, Steamboat School (Disney-Hyperion)
Kathleen Lane of Portland, The Best Worst Thing (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Cynthia Rylant of Portland, The Otter (Beach Lane Books)

2017 – Young Adult Literature

Deborah Hopkinson of West Linn, Courage & Defiance: Stories of Spies, Saboteurs, and Survivors in World War II Denmark (Scholastic)

Finalists:
Amber J. Keyser of Bend, The Way Back from Broken (Carolrhoda LAB)
David Levine of Portland, Arabella of Mars (Tor)
Eliot Treichel of Eugene, A Series of Small Maneuvers (Ooligan Press)

2016 – Children’s Literature

Barbara Kerley of Portland, With a Friend by Your Side (National Geographic Society)

Finalists:
Kim Griswell of Ashland, Rufus Goes to Sea (Sterling Publishing)
Marie and Roland Smith of Wilsonville, T is For Time (Sleeping Bear Press)
Heather Vogel Frederick of Portland, Absolutely Truly: A Pumpkin Falls Mystery (Simon & Schuster)

2016 – Young Adult Literature

Brian Doyle of Lake Oswego, Martin Marten (St. Martin’s Press)

Finalists:
Fonda Lee of Portland, Zeroboxer (Flux)
William Ritter of Springfield, Jackaby (Algonquin Young Readers)
Graham Salisbury of Lake Oswego, Hunt for the Bamboo Rat (Wendy Lamb Books)
Hilary T. Smith of Portland, A Sense of the Infinite (Harper Collins)

2015 – Children’s Literature

Susan Hill Long of Portland, Whistle in the Dark (Holiday House)

Finalists:
Kim T. Griswell of Ashland, Rufus Goes to School (Sterling Children’s Books)
H. Joseph Hopkins of Portland, The Tree Lady (Beach Lane Books)
Deborah Hopkinson of West Linn, The Great Trouble: A Mystery of London, The Blue Death, and a Boy Called Eel (Alfred A. Knopf)
Elizabeth Rusch of Portland, Electrical Wizard: How Nikola Tesla Lit Up the World
(Candlewick Press)

2015 – Young Adult Literature

April Henry of Portland, The Body In the Woods (Henry Holt)

Finalists:
Robin Herrera of Portland, Hope is a Ferris Wheel (Amulet Books)
Lisa Schroeder of Beaverton, The Bridge From Me To You (Scholastic)
Christina Struyk-Bonn of Portland, Whisper (Orca Book Publishers)

2014 – Children’s Literature

Graham Salisbury of Lake Oswego, Calvin Coconut: Extra Famous (Wendy Lamb Books)

Finalists:
Scott William Carter of Salem, Wooden Bones (Simon & Schuster)
Deborah Hopkinson of West Linn, Knit Your Bit (G.P. Putnam)
Barbara Kerley of Portland, The World Is Waiting for You (National Geographic)
Allen Say of Portland, The Favorite Daughter (Arthur A. Levine)

2014 – Young Adult Literature

Kari Luna of Portland, The Theory of Everything (Philomel Books)

Finalists:
Kelly Moore, Larkin Reed and Tucker Reed of Jacksonville, Amber House (Arthur A. Levine)
Rosanne Parry of Portland, Written in Stone (Random House)

2013 – Children’s Literature

Allen Say of Portland, Drawing From Memory (Scholastic Press)

Finalists:
Heather Vogel Frederick of Portland, Once Upon a Toad (Simon & Schuster)
Deborah Hopkinson of West Linn, Annie and Helen (Schwartz & Wade)
Graham Salisbury of Lake Oswego, Calvin Coconut: Man Trip (Wendy Lamb Books)
J.H. Shapiro of Portland, Magic Trash: A Story of Tyree Guyton and His Art (Charlesbridge)

2013 – Young Adult Literature

Ruth Tenzer Feldman of Portland, Blue Thread (Ooligan Press)

Finalists:
Brian Doyle of Portland, Cat’s Foot (Corby Books)
Katie Kacvinsky of Corvallis, First Comes Love (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

2012 – Children’s Literature

Graham Salisbury of Lake Oswego, Calvin Coconut: Hero of Hawaii (Wendy Lamb Books)

Finalists:
Nancy Coffelt of Portland, Catch That Baby! (Simon & Schuster)
Judy Cox of Ontario, Nora and the Texas Terror (Holiday House)
Eric A. Kimmel of Portland, Medio Pollito (Marshall Cavendish)
Cynthia Rylant of Portland, Brownie and Pearl Take a Dip (Simon & Schuster)

2012 – Young Adult Literature

Emily Whitman of Portland, Wildwing (Greenwillow Books)

Finalists:
Heather Vogel Frederick of Portland, Pies and Prejudice (Simon & Schuster)
April Henry of Portland, Girl, Stolen (Henry Holt)
Lisa Schroeder of Beaverton, The Day Before (Simon Pulse)
Jen Violi of Portland, Putting Makeup on Dead People (Hyperion)

2011 – Children’s Literature

Graham Salisbury of Lake Oswego, Calvin Coconut: The Zippy Fix (Wendy Lamb Books)

Finalists:
Dale E. Basye of Portland, Rapacia: The Second Circle of Heck (Random House)
Dawn Babb Prochovnic of Portland, The Nest Where I Like to Rest (Magic Wagon)
Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen of Hines, A Small Brown Dog with Wet Pink Nose (Little Brown and Company)
Barbara Kerley of Portland, The Extraordinary Mark Twain (Scholastic Press)

2011 – Young Adult Literature

Scott William Carter of Salem, The Last Great Getaway of the Water Balloon Boys (Simon and Schuster)

Finalists:
Kerry Cohen Hoffman of Portland, It’s Not You, It’s Me (Random House)
Anne Osterlund of Ione, Academy 7 (Penguin Group)
L.K. Madigan of Portland, Flash Burnout (Houghton Mifflin)
Emily Whitman of Portland, Radiant Darkness (Greenwillow/Harper Collins)

2010/2009 – Children’s Literature

Deborah Hopkinson of Corvallis, Keep on! The Story of Matthew Henson, Co-discoverer of the North Pole (Peach Tree

2010/2009 – Young Adult Literature

Roland Smith of Wilsonville, IQ Book One: Independence Hall (Harcourt Paperbacks)

Finalists:
Carmen Bernier-Grand of Portland, Diego: Bigger Than Life (Marshall Cavendish)
David Greenberg of Portland, A Tugging String (Dutton)
Graham Salisbury of Lake Oswego, Calvin Coconut, Trouble Magnet (Wendy Lamb Books)
Virginia Euwer Wolff of Oregon City, This Full House (Harper Teen)

2008 – Children’s Literature

Elizabeth Rusch of Portland, A Day With No Crayons (Rising Moon)

Finalists:
Lori Ries of Tigard, Punk Wig (Boyd’s Mill Press)
Elizabeth Rusch of Portland, The Planet Hunter: The Story Behind What Happened to Pluto (Rising Moon)
Cynthia Rylant of Eugene, Alligator Boy (Harcourt Children’s Books)
Cynthia Rylant of Eugene, Puppies and Piggies (Harcourt Children’s Books)

2008 – Young Adult Literature

Sara Ryan of Portland, The Rules for Hearts (Viking Juvenile)

Linda Zuckerman of Portland, A Taste for Rabbit (Arthur A. Levine Books)

Finalists:
Graham Salisbury of Lake Oswego, Night of the Howling Dogs (Wendy Lamb Books)
Roland Smith of Wilsonville, Peak (Harcourt Paperbacks)

2007 – Children’s Literature

Shannon Riggs of Salem, Not In Room 204 (Albert Whitman & Company)

Finalists:
Deborah Hopkinson of Corvallis, Up Before Daybreak: Cotton and People in America (Scholastic Nonfiction)
Lori Ries of Tigard, Aggie and Ben: Three Stories (Charlesbridge)
Margriet Ruurs of Shedd, In My Backyard (Tundra Books)
Elizabeth Rusch of Portland, Will It Blow? Become a Volcano Detective at Mount St. Helens (Sasquatch Books)

2007 – Young Adult Literature

Susan Fletcher of Wilsonville, Alphabet of Dreams (Atheneum)

Finalists:
Margaret J. Anderson of Corvallis, Olla-Piska: Tales of David Douglas (Oregon Historical Society Press)
Kerry Cohen Hoffman of Portland, Easy (Simon and Schuster)
Graham Salisbury of Portland,House of the Red Fish (Wendy Lamb Books)

2006 – Children’s Literature

Diane Siebert, Tour America (Chronicle Books)

Finalists:
Susan Hill, Ruby Paints a Picture (HarperCollins)
Deborah Hopkinson, Sky Boys (Schwartz and Wade Books)
Allen Say, Kamishibai Man (Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books)

2006 – Young Adult Literature

Graham Salisbury, Eyes of the Emperor (Random House)

Finalist:
Heather Vogel Frederick, Spy Mice: For Your Paws Only (Simon and Schuster)

2005 – Children’s Literature

Henry Sayre of Bend, Cave Paintings to Picasso (Chronicle Books)

Finalists:
Carmen T. Bernier-Grand of Portland, César (Marshall Cavendish)
Deborah Hopkinson of Corvallis, Apples to Oregon (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
Angelyn Ray (as Captain Cliff) of Lakeview, Fables by the Sea, Volume One (The Aenor Trust)
Nicole Rubel of Aurora, Twice As Nice (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

2005 – Young Adult Literature

Linda Crew of Corvallis, A Heart for Any Fate (Oregon Historical Society Press)

Finalist:
Roland Smith of Wilsonville, Cryptid Hunters (Hyperion Books for Children)

2004 – Children’s Literature

Michelle McCann of Portland, Luba

Finalists:
Marie & Roland Smith of Wilsonville, B Is for Beaver
Andrea U’Ren of Portland, Mary Smith
Leah Wilcox of Redmond, Falling for Rapunzel

2004 – Young Adult Literature

Susanna Vance of Portland, Deep

Finalist:
Nancy Osa of Eagle Creek, Cuba 15

2003 – Children’s Literature

Eric A. Kimmel of Portland, Three Samurai Cats

Finalists:
Petra Mathers of Astoria, Herbie’s Secret Santa
Valerie Rapp of Portland, Life in a River
Nicole Rubel of Aurora, No More Vegetables!
Cynthia Rylant of Portland, Henry and Mudge and the Tall Tree House

2003 – Young Adult Literature

Heather Vogel Frederick of Portland, The Voyage of Patience Goodspeed

Finalists:
Brian A. Connolly of Bend, Wolf Journal
Kezi Matthews of Portland, Flying Lessons
Elizabeth Rusch of Portland, Generation Fix
Graham Salisbury of Lake Oswego, Island Boyz

2002

Sara Ryan of Portland, Empress of the World

Finalists:
Monte Killingsworth of Applegate, Equinox
Graham Salisbury of Portland, Lord of the Deep
Roland Smith of Tualatin, Zach’s Lie

2001

Virginia Euwer Wolff of Oregon City, True Believer

2000

Ellen Howard of Salem, The Gate in the Wall

Finalists:
Carmen Bernier-Grand of Portland, In the Shade of the Níspero Tree
Roland Smith of Wilsonville, The Last Lobo

1999

Pamela Smith Hill of Portland, A Voice from the Border

Finalist:
Susan Fletcher of Lake Oswego, Shadow Spinner

1998

Graham Salisbury of Portland, Shark Bait

Finalists:
Linda Crew of Corvallis, Long Time Passing
Gretchen Olson of Amity, Joyride
Judy Sierra of Eugene, The Mean Hyena
Roland Smith of Tualatin, Sasquatch

1997

Eloise Jarvis McGraw of Lake Oswego, The Moorchild

Finalists:
Rodger Larson of Portland, What I Know Now

1996

Roland Smith, Journey of the Red Wolf

Finalists:
David Delamare, The Man in the Moon and the Hot Air Balloon
Rebecca Hickox Ayres, Per and the Dala Horse
Eric A. Kimmel, The Adventures of Hershel of Ostropol
Roland Smith, Thunder Cave

1995

Graham Salisbury, Under the Blood-Red Sun

Finalists:
Margaret Bechard, Really No Big Deal
Robert Crum, On the Powwow Trail with a Young Grass Dancer
Rita Grauer, Vasalisa and Her Magic Doll

1994

Virginia Euwer Wolff, Make Lemonade

Finalists:
Susan Fletcher, Flight of the Dragon Kyn
Eric Kimmel, Anasi and the Talking Melon

1993

Graham Salisbury, Blue Skin of the Sea

Finalists:
Rebecca Hickox Ayres, Matreshka
Margaret Bechard, Tory and Me and the Spirit of True Love
Eric Kimmel, The Spotted Pony

1992

Eloise Jarvis McGraw, The Striped Ships

Finalists:
Virginia Euwer Wolff, The Mozart Season

1991

Eric Kimmel, Four Dollars and Fifty Cents

Finalists:
Linda Crew, Someday I’ll Laugh About This
Eric Kimmel, The Chanukkah Guest

1990

Susan Fletcher, Dragon’s Milk

Finalists:
Eric Kimmel, Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins
Dorothy Nafus Morrison, Vanishing Act

Since 2011, Oregonians have cast their vote for their favorite Oregon Book Award finalist through the Readers’ Choice Award survey. 

Scroll to see past award winners >

2019

Beth Wood of Portland, Ladder to the Light (Mezcalita Press)

Finalists:
Kate Berube of Portland, Mae’s First Day of School (Abrams Books)
Barbara Herkert of Newport, A Boy, a Mouse, and a Spider: The Story of E.B. White (Henry Holt and Co.)
Michelle Roehm McCann of Portland, More Girls Who Rocked the World (Aladdin/Beyond Words)Deborah
Hopkinson of West Linn, Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen (Balzer & Bray)

2018

Nicole J. Georges of Portland, Fetch: How A Bad Dog Brought Me Home (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

2017

Eliot Treichel of Eugene, A Series of Small Maneuvers (Ooligan Press)

2016

Lidia Yuknavitch, The Small Backs of Children: A Novel (HarperPerennial)

2015

Willy Vlautin of Scappoose, The Free (HarperPerennial)

2014

Amanda Coplin of Portland, The Orchardist (Harper Perennial)

2013

Cheryl Strayed of Portland, Wild (Knopf)

2012

Lidia Yuknavitch of Portland, Chronology of Water (Hawthorne Books)

2011

Willy Vlautin of Portland, Lean on Pete (HarperPerennial)

Stewart Holbrook (1893-1964) was the Pacific Northwest’s foremost storyteller, one of the nation’s most popular historians and a humorous social critic. Among the best known of his 35 books are The Age of Moguls, The Columbia, Holy Old Mackinaw and Lost Men of American History. The Steward H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award is presented to a person or organization in recognition of significant contributions that have enriched Oregon’s literary community.

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2019

José González

José González’s founded Miracle Theatre Group in 1985 with his wife, Dañel Malán. José holds an MFA in theatre arts from UCLA and a BA in humanities with an emphasis in philosophy and art history from the University of Santa Clara. He has studied in Vienna and traveled through Europe and the Middle East. In 1997, José was recognized as a Community Treasure by TACS-PGE/Enron. He has also received awards for “Outstanding Contribution to the Hispanic Community” from IMAGE of Washington County, 1992, and a Dramalogue Award for Excellence in Set Design. Under the pseudonym Martín Milagro, he has written five full-length plays produced by the Miracle Theatre Group and penned two Spanish-language screenplays

2018

Tracey Daugherty and Marjorie Sandor of Corvallis

2017

The IPRC of Portland

2016

Douglas Spangle of Portland

2015

Tom Spanbauer of Portland

2014

Vince and Patty Wixon of Ashland

2013

Larry Colton

2011

John Laursen of Portland

2009

Matt Love

2008

Marlene Howard of Portland

2007

Kim Stafford of Portland

2006

Paulann Petersen of Portland

2005

Barbara LaMorticella of Portland, editor and co-host of KBOO’s “The Talking Earth”

2004

David Milholland of Portland, co-founder of the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission

2003

David Hedges of Portland, literary activist and past president of the Oregon State Poetry Association

2002

Carla Perry of Newport, founder and director of Nye Beach Writers’ Series

2001

Erik Muller of Eugene, co-founder of the literary magazine Fireweed and president of the Lane Literary Guild

2000

Rich Wandschneider, director of Fishtrap

1999

Peter Sears of Corvallis, founder of the Oregon Literary Coalition

1998

Dennis & Linny Stovall (Portland), founders of Blue Heron Publishers

1997

Ruth Gundle & Judith Barrington of Portland, founders of Soapstone and Flight of the Mind

1996

Brian Booth of Portland, founder of the Oregon Institute for Literary Arts

1995

Tom Ferte, publisher of Calapooya Collage

1994

George Venn of La Grande, editor of 6-volume Oregon Literature Series

1993

Penny Avila of Portland, poet and literary advocate

1992

Clyde Rice of Clackamas, award-winning author of novels set in Oregon

1991

Walt Curtis of Portland, poet and advocate for Oregon authors

1990

Sandra Williams of Portland, poet, educator and co-founder/director of the Mountain Writer Series

1989

Katharine McCanna of Portland, book distributor specializing in Northwest authors

1988

Calyx of Corvallis, literary journal

1987

Northwest Review of Eugene, University of Oregon literary journal

A man who created deeply loved books for young readers, Walt Morey (1900-1992) is known worldwide for his book, Gentle Ben. Other books include Home is the North, Kavik the Wolf Dog, Runaway Stallion, Gloomy Gus, Year of the Black Pony, Scrub Dog of Alaska, and Deep Trouble. The Walt Morey Young Readers Literary Legacy Award is presented to a person or organization in recognition of significant contributions that have enriched Oregon’s young readers.

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2018

Carmen T. Bernier-Grand of Portland

2017

SMART (Start Making A Reader Today)

2016

Curtis Kiefer of Corvallis

2015

Jann Tankersley of Dayton

2014

Ellen Fader of Portland

2013

Oregon Battle of the Books

2012

Dr. Ulrich Hardt of Portland

2011

The Children’s Book Bank (Portland)

2009

The Dove Lewis Animal Hospital Read to the Dogs Program of Portland

2008

Young Writers Association of Eugene

2007

Mark Mizell of Seaside, teacher

2006

John Monteverde of Portland, artistic director, Northwest Children’s Theater

2005

Carol Brown of Corvallis, retired teacher and president of Oregon Reading Association

2004

Patricia R. Gallagher of Monmouth, award winning teacher

2003

Jerry Isom, executive director of Books for Kids

2002

Ready to Learn, pro-literacy program of Oregon Public Broadcasting

2001

Oregon advisory boards of First Book, pro-literacy organization

2000

Cathy Schneider (Portland), coordinator of Books-2-U with the Multnomah County Library

1999

Claudia Jones (Enterprise), Wallowa County Libarian and founder of Bookmobile project

1998

Barbara J. McKillip, founder of the Libri Foundation

1995

Wilma Erwin, Haiku poet, grass-roots leader and advocate of Oregon writers

1994

Ralph Friedman, author of Oregon landscape and local history books

1992

Paul Pintarich, The Oregonian

1991

Don James of Portland, author and teacher

1990

Mary Barnard, Oregon-born poet

1989

George Venn of La Grande, for Marking the Magic Circle (Oregon State University Press)

1988

William Everson, poet and printer who spent World War II in a conscientious-objector camp in Waldport

“Writing is a solitary activity, but its ultimate goal is always communication and community. Literary Arts has worked tirelessly to build and maintain Oregon’s literary community, to help us all feel less alone, to help us communicate across valleys, mountains, rivers, and deserts, up the coast and through the woods.”

Tracy Daugherty, Oregon Book Award Winner