The Oregon Book Awards are presented annually by the
Portland, Oregon
Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
, United States–based organization Literary Arts, Inc. to honor 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."
Oregon Book Award was founded in 1987 by Brian Booth and Oregon Institute for Literary Arts (OILA). In 1993, Literary Arts, Inc., a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of Oregonians through language and literature, joined with the OILA and continued to support and promote Oregon's authors with the book awards and Oregon Literary Fellowships. Award winners are selected based solely on literary merit by out-of-state judges who change each year.
In 2005, the award ceremony was moved from Portland's Scottish Rite Center to the
Wonder Ballroom, in an effort to make it more lively and fun. Since 2009, the awards ceremony has been held at the Gerding Theatre at the Armory, the home of
Portland Center Stage
Portland Center Stage at The Armory is a theater company based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Theater productions are presented at The Armory in Portland's Pearl District. Portland Center Stage at The Armory was founded in 1988 as the no ...
.
Recipients
Book Awards
Stafford
Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...
/
Hall
In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and the Early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gre ...
Award for Poetry
Award for Fiction
=
Ken Kesey
Ken Elton Kesey (; September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and Counterculture of the 1960s, countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies o ...
Award for the Novel=
=
Ken Kesey
Ken Elton Kesey (; September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and Counterculture of the 1960s, countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies o ...
Award for Fiction=
= H. L. Davis Award for Short Fiction
=
Award for Literary Nonfiction
= Frances Fuller Victor Award for General Nonfiction
=
= Sarah Winnemucca Award for Creative
Nonfiction
Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to present topics objectively ...
=
Angus L. Bowmer Award for Drama
Award for Young Readers Literature
=
Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Eloise Jarvis McGraw (December 9, 1915 – November 30, 2000) was an American author of children's books and young adult novels.
Early life
Eloise Jarvis McGraw was born on December 9, 1915 in Houston, Texas. At age 8 her family moved to Oklaho ...
Award for Children's Literature=
= Leslie Bradshaw Award for Young Adult Literature
=
Pacific Northwest College of Art
The Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) is an art school of Willamette University and is located in Portland, Oregon. Established in 1909, the art school grants Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees and graduate degrees including the Master of Fine ...
Graphic Literature Award
Readers Choice Award
Special Awards
:1988:
William Everson
:1989: George Venn
:1990:
Mary Barnard
:1991: Don James
:1992: Paul Pintarich
:1994:
Ralph Friedman
:1995: Wilma Erwin
Charles Erskine Scott Wood Distinguished Writer Award
:1987: George Belknap
:1988:
Dorothy Johansen
Dorothy Olga Johansen (19 May 1904 – 13 December 1999) was an American historian of the Pacific Northwest.
Life and work
Dorothy Johansen was born in Seaside, Oregon on 19 May 1904. She taught school in Oregon from 1922 to 1927 and then in Y ...
:1989:
Vi Gale
:1990:
Janet Stevenson
:1991:
Walt Morey
Walter Morey (February 3, 1907 – January 12, 1992), was a writer of numerous works of children's fiction, set in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and Alaska, the places where Morey lived for all of his life. His book ''Gentle Ben'' was the basis fo ...
:1992:
Terence O'Donnell
:1993:
Alvin M. Josephy, Jr.
:1994:
Earl Pomeroy
Earl Ralph Pomeroy III (born September 2, 1952) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1993 to 2011. He is a member of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party. He currently serves as senior counsel fo ...
:1995:
Damon Knight
Damon Francis Knight (September 19, 1922 – April 15, 2002) was an American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He is the author of " To Serve Man", a 1950 short story adapted for ''The Twilight Zone''.Stanyard, ''Dimensions Behind ...
:1996:
Eloise McGraw
:1998: Priscilla Knuth
:1999:
Ken Kesey
Ken Elton Kesey (; September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and Counterculture of the 1960s, countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies o ...
:2003:
George Hitchcock
:2006:
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin ( ; Kroeber; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author. She is best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the ''Earthsea'' fantas ...
:2008:
Barry Lopez
Barry Holstun Lopez (January 6, 1945 – December 25, 2020) was an American author, essayist, nature writer, and fiction writer whose work is known for its humanitarian and environmental concerns. In a career spanning over 50 years, he ...
:2014:
Vern Rutsala
:2015:
Ralph Salisbury
:2017: Jarold Ramsey
:2020:
Lawson Fusao Inada
:2021:
Molly Gloss
Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award
:1987: ''
Northwest Review
The University of Oregon has a diverse array of student-run and non-student-run media outlets.
Newspapers
''Daily Emerald''
The ''Daily Emerald'', published Monday through Friday, primarily features news items and commentary pertaining to the Un ...
''
:1988: ''
Calyx, A Journal of Art & Literature''
:1989: Katharine McCanna
:1990: Sandra Williams
:1991:
Walt Curtis
:1992: Clyde Rice
:1993: Penny Avila
:1994: George Venn
:1995: Tom Ferte
:1996: Brian Booth
:1997: Ruth Gundle & Judith Barrington
:1998: Dennis & Linny Stovall
:1999:
Peter Sears
:2000: Rich Wandschneider
:2001: Erik Muller
:2002: Carla Perry
:2003: David Hedges
:2004: David Milholland
:2005: Barbara LaMorticella
:2006:
Paulann Petersen
:2007:
Kim Stafford
:2008: Marlene Howard
:2009: Matt Love
:2011: John Laursen
:2013:
Larry Colton
:2014: Vince & Patty Wixon
:2015:
Tom Spanbauer
:2016: Douglas Spangle
:2017: The
Independent Publishing Resource Center
:2018: Tracey Daugherty and Marjorie Sandor
:2019: José González
:2020: Write Around Portland
:2021: Elizabeth Lyon
:2023: Gary Miranda
:2024: Ellen Waterston
Walt Morey
Walter Morey (February 3, 1907 – January 12, 1992), was a writer of numerous works of children's fiction, set in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and Alaska, the places where Morey lived for all of his life. His book ''Gentle Ben'' was the basis fo ...
Young Readers Literary Legacy Award
:1998: Barbara J. McKillip
:1999: Claudia Jones
:2000:
Cathy Schneider
:2001: Oregon advisory boards of
First Book
:2002: Ready to Learn
:2003: Jerry Isom
:2004: Patricia R. Gallagher
:2005: Carol Brown
:2006: John Monteverde
:2007: Mark Mizell
:2008: Young Writers Association
:2009: The Dove Lewis Read to the Dogs Program
:2011: The Children's Book Bank
:2012: Ulrich Hardt
:2013: Oregon Battle of the Books
:2014: Ellen Fader
:2015: Jann Tankersley
:2016: Curtis Kiefer
:2017: The SMART (
Start Making A Reader Today) Program
:2018: Carmen T. Bernier-Grand
:2020: Reading Results
:2021: PlayWrite, Inc.
:2023: Dawn Babb Prochovnic
Literary Fellowships
C. Hamilton Bailey Fellowship in Poetry
:2018:
Matthew Minicucci
:2019: Pamela K. Santos
:2020:
Alicia Jo Rabins
:2021: Amy Miller
Edna L. Homes Fellowship in Young Readers
:2018: Erica A. Briggs
:2019: Amy Baskin
:2020: Kelly Garrett
:2021: Shana Targosz
Fellowship in Fiction
:2018:
Omar El Akkad
Omar El Akkad (born 1982) is an Egyptian-Canadian novelist and journalist, whose novel '' What Strange Paradise'' was the winner of the 2021 Giller Prize.
Early life and education
Omar El Akkad was born in Cairo, Egypt, and grew up in Doha, ...
and Adair V
Fellowship in Poetry
:2018: manuel arturo abreu,
Danielle Cadena Deulen, and Milo R. Muise
Fellowship in Publishing
:2018: ''
Clackamas Literary Review'' and ''Pacifica: Poetry International''
:2019: ''Atelier 26 Books'' and ''Opossum: A Literary Marsupial''
:2020: ''Fonograf Editions'' and ''Octopus Books''
:2021: ''Forest Avenue Press'' and ''Northwest Review''
Fellowship in Nonfiction
:2018: Elizabeth Enslin, Susan Shepard, and Brian Trapp
:2019: Sterling Cunio and Justin Taylor
:2020: Garet Lahvis
Laurell Swails and Donald Monroe Memorial Fellowship in Fiction
:2018: Takashi L. Kendrick and Mika Tanner
:2019:
Ana-Maurine Lara and Chris Stuck
:2020: Cynthia L. Brown and Taylor Koekkoek
:2021: Pedro Hoffmeister and Emily Woodworth
Leslie Bradshaw Fellowship
:2018: Alberto Yáñez (for nonfiction)
:2019: Chelsea Biondolillo (for nonfiction)
:2020: Rachael Carnes (for drama)
:2021: Sara Jean Accuardi (for drama)
Oregon Arts Commission Fellowship
:2018: Jacob Aiello and Jake Vermaas
:2019: Karen Luper and Marcus Lund
:2020:
Marjorie Celona and Gabriel Urza
Oregon Literary Career Fellowship
:2020: Beth Alvarado and Dao Strom
:2021: Annie Sheppard and Sandy Tanaka
Oregon Poetry Community Fellowship
:2019: Jennifer Perrine
:2021: Alyssa Ogi
Walt Morey Fellowship
:2018: Cindy Baldwin (for drama)
:2019: Stacy Brewster (for drama)
:2020: Jamie Cooper (for poetry)
:2021: Scott Korb (for nonfiction)
Women Writers Fellowship
:2018: Naomi Ulsted
:2019: Natalie Hirt
:2020: Eliza Rotterman
:2021: A. M. Rosales
Writers of Color Fellowship
:2018: Reema Zaman
:2019: Christopher Rose
:2020: Olufunke Grace Bankole
:2021: Kesha Ajose-Fisher
External links
Complete list of literary award finalists and winners for all yearsComplete list of literary fellowship winners for all years
References
{{reflist
Awards established in 1987
American fiction awards
American poetry awards
Oregon culture
Culture of Portland, Oregon