ON THE TENTH SEASON OF THE ARCHIVE PROJECT, ENJOY DISCUSSIONS FROM PORTLAND ARTS & LECTURES, PORTLAND BOOK FESTIVAL, AND OTHER COMMUNITY EVENTS FROM OUR HOME IN PORTLAND, OREGON AND BEYOND.
Honoring Oregon’s writers and independent publishers through public recognition and financial support.
Literary Arts’ Oregon Book Awards program honors the state’s finest accomplishments by Oregon writers who work in genres of poetry, fiction, graphic literature, drama, literary nonfiction, and literature for young readers.
“The Oregon Book Awards Ceremony is a reminder that contemporary literature is vital to culture, a way to help us expand and deepen our worldviews.”
Lysley Tenorio, 2017 Oregon Book Awards Ceremony Host
2025 Oregon Book Awards
2025 Oregon Book Awards finalists will be announced in January 2025.
Special Awards
Nominate an individual who has made significant contributions to Oregon’s literary culture.
The 2025 Oregon Book Awards ceremony will be Monday, April 28, 2025 at Portland Center Stage.
Oregon Book Awards Author Tour
In addition to financial support, the program produces the Oregon Book Awards Author Tour to connect local writers and literary organizations in all parts of Oregon. Each year, Oregon Book Awards finalists and winners travel to towns across Oregon for readings, school visits, and free writing workshops.
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)
Special Awards:
Charles Erskine Scott Wood Distinguished Writer Award
C.E.S. Wood (1852-1944) was a writer, poet, soldier, lawyer, orator, bibliophile, social critic, painter and patron of the arts. He is known for his satirical work Heavenly Discourse and The Poetry in the Desert. The Charles Erskine Scott Wood Distinguished Writer Award is presented to an Oregon author in recognition of an enduring, substantial literary career.
Scroll to see past award winners >
2021
Molly Gloss of Portland
2020
Lawson Fusao Inada of Ashland
2017
Jarold Ramsey of Madras
2015
Ralph Salisbury of Eugene
2014
Vern Rutsala of Portland
2008
Barry Lopez of Finn Rock, writer
2006
Ursula Le Guin of Portland, writer
2003
George Hitchcock of Harrisburg, poet, writer, teacher and editor of kayak magazine
1999
Ken Kesey of Pleasant Hill, writer
1998
Priscilla Knuth, librarian
1996
Eloise Jarvis McGraw of Portland, children’s writer
1995
Damon Knight of Eugene, science fiction writer
1994
Earl Pomeroy of Eugene, historian
1993
Alvin M. Josephy, Jr. of Joseph, historian and founder of Fishtrap
1992
Terence O’Donnell of Portland, historian and lecturer
1991
Walt Morey of Sherwood, author
1990
Janet Stevenson of Hammond, writer and civic leader
1989
Vi Gale of Portland, poet and publisher, Prescott Street Press
1988
Dr. Dorothy Johansen of Portland, historian and Reed College professor
1987
George Belknap of Eugene, bibliographer and editor, University of Oregon
Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award
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 Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award is presented to a person or organization in recognition of significant contributions that have enriched Oregon’s literary community.
Scroll to see past award winners >
2024
Ellen Waterston of Bend
2023
Gary Miranda of Redmond
2021
Elizabeth Lyon of Eugene
2020
Write Around Portland
2019
José González of Portland
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
Tracy 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
Walt Morey Young Readers Literary Legacy Award
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.
Scroll to see past award winners >
2023
Dawn Babb Prochovnic
2021
PlayWrite, Inc.
2020
Reading Results
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
Other Special Award Recipients:
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
Brian Booth Writers’ Fund
The Brian Booth Writers’ Fund is an endowment of Literary Arts and is managed by the Oregon Community Foundation. The Fund provides an ongoing, annual source of support for the Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships, which in turn provide financial support and public recognition to some of Oregon’s most talented writers. Make your investment in the creative future of Oregon today.
