Finalists for the 2010-2011 Oregon Book Awards

Congratulations to all of this year's finalists for the 2010-2011 Oregon Book Awards, just announced this week by Literary Arts. The winners will be announced at the award ceremony on April 25 at the Gerding Theater at the Armory. Kurt Andersen, novelist, journalist, and host of the radio program "Studio 360" will serve as master of ceremonies for the evening.

In addition to the seven categories, this year there is a Reader's Choice award that lets YOU vote for your favorite of all the finalists across the categories. Here's the link you can use to vote. I've already cast my ballot. It was a tough call, I must say. I won't tell you which one I voted for, but if you know me you might be able to guess....

Here are the finalists:

Ken Kesey Award for Fiction:

• Emily Chenoweth, Hello Goodbye
• K.B. Dixon, A Painter's Life
• Jane Kirkpatrick, A Flickering Light
• Scott Sadil, Lost in Wyoming
• Willy Vlautin, Lean on Pete

Frances Fuller Victor Award for General Nonfiction:

• Paul Collins, The Book of William
• Tom Krattenmaker, Onward Christian Athletes
• Barry Sanders, Unsuspecting Souls and The Green Zone
• Paul VanDevelder, Savages and Scoundrels

Sarah Winnemucca Award for Creative Nonfiction:

• Carol Ann Bassett, Galapagos at the Crossroads
• Tom Bissell, Extra Lives
• John Daniel, The Far Corner
• Lisa Ohlen Harris, Through the Veil
• Kathleen Dean Moore, Wild Comfort

Stafford/Hall Award for Poetry:

• David Biespiel, The Book of Men and Women
• Donna Henderson, The Eddy Fence
• Henry Hughes, Moist Meridian
• Jennifer Richter, Threshold
• Zachary Schomburg, Scary No Scary

Angus L. Bowmer Award for Drama:

• Marc Acito and C.S. Whitcomb, Holidazed
• Wayne Harrel, Second Bloom
• Susan Mach, The Lost Boy
• George Taylor, Good Citizen
• Molly  Best Tinsley, Glacial Genes

Eloise Jarvis McGraw Award for Children's Literature:

• Dale E. Basye, Rapacia: The Second Circle of Heck
• Dawn Babb Prochovnic, The Nest Where I Like to Rest
• Graham Salisbury, Calvin Coconut: The Zippy Fix
• Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen, A Small Brown Dog with a Wet Pink Nose
• Barbara Kerley, The Extraordinary Mark Twain

Leslie Bradshaw Award for Young Adult Literature:

• Scott William Carter, The Last Great Getaway of the Water Balloon Boys
• Kerry Cohen Hoffman, It's Not You, It's Me
• Anne Osterlund, Academy 7
• L.K. Madigan, Flash Burnout
• Emily Whitman, Radiant Darkness

How rich we are in Oregon with wonderful authors and wonderful local publishers and wonderful literary organizations and wonderful independent bookstores -- ok, I might be just a little biased on this last one! Don't forget to vote for your favorite from all of the finalists before the ceremony. If you want to attend the ceremony, you can find ticket information here.