An awards presentation ceremony will highlight the Nebraska Center for the Book’s Celebration of Nebraska Books on November 14 at the Nebraska Library Commission, 1200 N Street, The Atrium, in downtown Lincoln. Winners of the 2015 Nebraska Book Awards will be honored and the celebration will include readings by some of the winning authors, designers and illustrators. And the winners are:

2015 Nebraska Book Award Winners

Anthology
The Wheeling Year: A Poet’s Field Book by Ted Kooser. University of Nebraska Press.  

Cover/Design/Illustration
As All My Fathers Were: A Novel by James A. Misko. Cover and design by Jonathan Friedman. Northwest Ventures Press.  

Cover/Design/Illustration Honor
Intimates and Fools by Laura Madeline Wiseman. Art by Sally Deskins. Internal layout and design by Adam Wagler. Les Femmes Folles Books.  

Fiction
Last Night at the Blue Angel by Rebecca Rotert. William Morrow.  

Fiction: Short Story
In Reach by Pamela Carter Joern. University of Nebraska Press.

Non-Fiction: Investigative Journalism
The Chain: Farm, Factory, and the Fate of Our Food by Ted Genoways. Harper.  

Non-Fiction: Memoir
Leaving the Pink House: A Memoir by Ladette Randolph. University of Iowa Press.  

Non-Fiction: Nebraska as Place
This Place, These People: Life and Shadow on the Great Plains by David Stark and Nancy Warner. Columbia University Press.  

Non-Fiction: Nebraska History
Nebraska POW Camps: A History of World War II Prisoners in the Heartland by Melissa Amateis Marsh. The History Press.   

Non-Fiction: Nebraska Spirit
Prairie Forge: The Extraordinary Story of the Nebraska Scrap Metal Drive of World War II by James J. Kimble. University of Nebraska Press.  

Non-Fiction: Reference
History of Nebraska by Ronald C. Naugle, John J. Montag, and James C. Olson. University of Nebraska Press.  

Poetry
Morning: Last Poems by Don Welch. pigeonpress.  

Poetry Honor
Always the Detail by Barbara Schmitz. Stephen F. Austin State University Press.  

The celebration, free and open to the public, will also feature presentation of the Nebraska Center for the Book’s Jane Geske Award to a Nebraska organization for exceptional contribution to literacy, books, reading, libraries, and literature in Nebraska. The Jane Geske Award commemorates Geske’s passion for books, and was established in recognition of her contributions to the well-being of the libraries of Nebraska. Jane Pope Geske was a founding member of the Nebraska Center for the Book, former director of the Nebraska Library Commission, and a long-time leader in Nebraska library and literary activities.

This year the Celebration marks the eleventh year of One Book One Nebraska, selecting and promoting a book title for Nebraskans to read to celebrate the literary richness of our state. Death Zones & Darling Spies: Seven Years of Vietnam War Reporting, by Beverly Deepe Keever is the 2015 One Book One Nebraska, and Nebraska libraries and other literary and cultural organizations across the state are hosting activities and events to encourage all Nebraskans to read and discuss this book (see http://onebook.nebraska.gov.) The Celebration keynote will be presented by Thomas Berg, PhD, Dept. of History, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, on “Beverly Deepe Keever: An Unconventional Woman for An Unconventional War” at 2:45 p.m.

The Nebraska Center for the Book Annual Meeting will be held at 1:30 p.m.—just prior to the 2:30-6:30 p.m. Celebration. An awards reception honoring the winning authors, book signings, and announcement of the 2016 One Book One Nebraska book choice will conclude the festivities.

The Celebration of Nebraska Books is sponsored by Nebraska Center for the Book and Nebraska Library Commission, with support from the Friends of the University of Nebraska Press. Humanities Nebraska provides support for One Book One Nebraska. The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the Nebraska Library Commission.

As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, “bringing together people and information.”
                                                                                           

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The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission Website, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.