Oklahoma Book Awards is this Saturday
It’s that time again! The Oklahoma Center for the Book will be honoring the best of 2011 Oklahoma books and authors on Saturday, April 14 at the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and Jim Thorpe Museum.
We’ll be honoring Young Adult author Anna Myers with the Center’s Arrell Gibson Award for Lifetime Achievement, and we’ll also present an award to Friends of Libraries in Oklahoma for their Oklahoma Literary Landmarks project. And, of course, we’ll have the medalists in our five book categories. Gonna be a fun night!
Here’s the official press release…
Finalists Announced for 2012
Oklahoma Book Awards
Chandler Author Anna Myers is Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
Thirty-five books have been chosen as finalists in the 23rd annual Oklahoma Book Award competition. Winners in the categories of fiction, poetry, design/illustration, children/young adult and non-fiction will be announced at the Oklahoma Book Awards banquet on Saturday, April 14, at the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and Jim Thorpe Museum in Oklahoma City. Author Jay Wilkinson, son of the University of Oklahoma’s legendary football coach, Bud Wilkinson, will serve as master of ceremonies.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Oklahoma Center for the Book, the awards recognize books written the previous year by Oklahomans or about Oklahoma. Of the 35 book finalists, 25 are by authors, designers or illustrators who reside in Oklahoma. This year some 121 books were submitted in the competition.
In addition to the literary awards, Chandler resident and children’s book author Anna Myers will be presented with the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is named for Norman historian Arrell Gibson, who served as the first president of the Oklahoma Center for the Book.
Myers is the author of 19 novels for young people, all published by Walker Books of New York. Most of her books are historical fiction. The recipient of countless honors over the years, Myers’ awards include four Oklahoma Book Awards, New York Public Library’s Best Books for the Teenaged, New York Public Library’s Best 100 Books to Read and Share, Bank Street College’s Best Children’s Books, Parent Choice Awards, the Crown Award by Christian Schools, the American Library Association’s Quick Pick List, Independent Book Sellers Pick of the List and being included more than 20 times on children’s choice lists for various states.
Born in White Face, Texas, Myers was the sixth child of an Oklahoma oilfield-worker father who had been temporarily transferred to west Texas. When Myers was only a few months old, the family moved back to Oklahoma.
Myers attended what is now the University of Central Oklahoma and became an English teacher, but always dreamed of being a writer. In 1969, she married Paul Myers, a poet whom she credits with having a great influence on her writing. The couple had three children, all born within four years, which Myers acknowledges somewhat slowed her journey to becoming a published author.
It took Myers seven years to sell her first book, which was published in 1992. Since then, she has produced a book a year.
In 1999, after 30 years of marriage, her husband Paul died of cancer.
But with the encouragement of her family, which now includes seven grandchildren, the resilient Myers has continued her writing. In 2002, she married John Calvin, a man with whom she had gone to high school. The couple now lives in a house, built in 1925, in Chandler.
The following books are finalists for the 2012 awards:
CHILDREN/YOUNG ADULT
“Stealing Kevin’s Heart,” by M. Scott Carter of Oklahoma City, and published by The RoadRunner Press, Oklahoma City.
“Chikasha Stories, Volume 1: Shared Spirit,” by Glenda Galvan of Sulphur, and published by Chickasaw Press, Ada.
“The Revenant,” by Sonia Gensler of Norman, and published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York City.
“Hereafter,” by Tara Hudson of Choctaw, and published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, New York, N.Y.
“The Grave Robber’s Secret,” by Anna Myers of Chandler, and published by Walker & Co., New York, N.Y.
“The Snow Blew Inn,” by Dian Curtis Regan of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and published by Holiday House, New York, N.Y
“Mr. Duck Means Business,” by Tammi Sauer of Edmond, and published by Simon & Schuster, New York City.
DESIGN/ILLUSTRATION
“The Eugene B. Adkins Collection,” designed by Eric Anderson of Norman, and published by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
“Shooting from the Hip: Photographs and Essays by J. Don Cook,” designed by Julie Rushing and Tony Roberts, both of Norman, and published by OU Press, Norman.
“Route 66 Sightings,” photographed and designed by Shellee Graham, Jerry McClanahan, and Jim Ross, all of Arcadia; and published by Ghost Town Press, Arcadia.
“Forging a Nation: The American History Collection of Gilcrease Museum,” designed by Carol Haralson of Sedona, Ariz., photography by Robert S. Cross of Tulsa, and published by the Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa.
“To Capture the Sun: Gold of Ancient Panama,” designed by Carol Haralson of Sedona, Ariz., photography by Robert S. Cross of Tulsa, and published by the Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa.
“Ilimpa’chi’ (We’re Gonna Eat!): A Chickasaw Cookbook,” with photography by Sanford Mauldin of Norman; designed by Aaron Long of Sulphur and Skip McKinstry of Oklahoma City, and published by Chickasaw Press, Ada.
FICTION
“Cold Glory,” by B. Kent Anderson of Oklahoma City, and published by Forge Books, New York, N.Y.
“Crying Blood,” by Donis Casey of Tempe, Ariz., and published by Poisoned Pen Press, Scottsdale, Ariz..
“The American Café,” by Sara Sue Hoklotubbe of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and published by the University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Ariz.
“Along The Watchtower,” by Constance Squires of Edmond, and published by Penguin Group, New York N.Y.
“Broken Wings,” by Carla Stewart of Tulsa, and published by Faith Words, Nashville, Tenn.
“Strangers & Exiles,” by Marlene Reed Wetzel of Tulsa, and published by Out on a Limb Publishing, Tulsa.
“Dandelion Summer,” by Lisa Wingate of Clifton, Texas, and published by Penguin Group, New York, N.Y.
NON-FICTION
“The Oklahoma State Capitol: A History of Our Seat of Government,” by Bob Burke of Oklahoma City and Charles Ford of Tulsa, and published by Oklahoma State Senate Historical Preservation Fund Inc. and Oklahoma Heritage Association, Oklahoma City.
“The Cherokee Syllabary: Writing the People’s Perseverance,” by Ellen Cushman of Okemos, Mich., and published by OU Press, Norman.
“Stories of Old-Time Oklahoma,” by David Dary of Norman, and published by OU Press, Norman.
“Forging a Nation: The American History Collection at Gilcrease Museum,” by Amanda Lett, Randy Ramer, Kimberly Roblin, and Eric Singleton, all of Tulsa, and published by the Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa.
“Dynamic Chickasaw Women,” by Judy Goforth Parker and Phillip Carroll Morgan, both of Sulphur, and published by Chickasaw Press, Ada.
“An American Betrayal: Cherokee Patriots and the Trail of Tears,” by Daniel Blake Smith of St. Louis, Mo., and published by Henry Holt & Co., New York City.
“David Crockett: The Lion of the West,” by Michael Wallis of Tulsa, and published by W.W. Norton & Co., New York City.
“The Wild West 365,” by Michael Wallis of Tulsa, and published by Abrams Books, New York, N.Y.
“Will Rogers: A Political Life,” by Richard D. White Jr. of Baton Rouge, La., and published by Texas Tech University Press, Lubbock, Texas
POETRY
“The River White: A Confluence of Brush & Quill,” by Ken Hada of Ada, and published by Mongrel Empire Press, Norman.
“Depending on the Weather,” by Abigail Keegan of Oklahoma City, and published by Village Books Press, Cheyenne.
Leaving Holes & Selected New Writings,” by Joe Dale Tate Nevaquaya of Norman, and published by Mongrel Empire Press, Norman.
“Hail Mary, On Two,” by Jim Spurr of Shawnee, and published by Village Books Press, Cheyenne.
“Dreaming Sam Peckinpah,” by W.K. Stratton of Round Rock, Texas, and published by Ink Brush Press, Temple, Texas.
“In the Shadow of Asclepius: Poems from American Medicine,” by Howard F. Stein of Oklahoma City, and published by Dog Ear Publishing, Indianapolis, Ind.
OK Center for the Book Awards FINALISTS and Honorees announced
Finalist Announced for 2010 Oklahoma Book Awards
David G. Fitzgerald is Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
Stan Hoig to be honored with Ralph Ellison Award
Thirty-three books have been chosen as finalists in the Twenty-first annual Oklahoma Book Award competition. Winners in the categories of fiction, poetry, design/illustration, children/young adult, and non-fiction will be announced at the Oklahoma Book Award banquet on Saturday, April 17, at the Edward L. Gaylord – T. Boone Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. Master of ceremonies at the event will be former Miss America, journalist, and author Jane Jayroe.
Sponsored by the Oklahoma Center for the Book, the awards recognize books written the previous year by Oklahomans or about Oklahoma. This year one 115 books were entered in the competition.
In addition to the literary awards, photographer David G. Fitzgerald will be presented the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is named for the Norman historian Arrell Gibson who served as the first president of the Oklahoma Center for the Book.
Lifelong Oklahoma resident and award-winning photographer David G. Fitzgerald’s career expands over four decades. Fitzgerald’s work began receiving national attention in the late 1970s. In 1979 the coffee-table book Oklahoma was published, the first of many to come featuring his photographs. Books that followed include Ozarks, Israel: Land of Promise, Oklahoma (the Land Run Centennial edition), Mansion Fare, Oklahoma II, Portrait of the Ozarks, Oklahoma Crossroads, Bison: Monarch of the Plains, Cherokee, Chickasaw: Unconquered and Unconquerable, Oklahoma 3, and Cherokee Trail of Tears.
Award winning author and historian Stan Hoig will be honored posthumously with the Ralph Ellison Award. Hoig began his career writing articles and books on the American West in the 1950s. His first book, The Humor of the American Cowboy was published in 1958 and remains in print today. Hoig published a wide variety of articles in magazines and professional journals such as the Chronicles of Oklahoma and Encyclopedia of the American West. Moreover, he had twenty-five books published and listed with the Library of Congress including The Sand Creek Massacre, The Battle of the Washita, Perilous Pursuit: The U.S. Calvary and the Northern Cheyennes, and The Chouteaus: First Family of the Fur Trade.
The following books which are listed in alphabetical order according to the last name of the lead author, designer or illustrator, have been selected as finalists of the 2010 awards.
Children/Young Adult
Annie Glover is Not a Tree Lover by Darleen Bailey Beard, Farrar, Straus, Giroux publisher
For a Girl Becoming by Joy Harjo, The University of Arizona Press
Paris Pan takes the Dare by Cynthea Liu, G.P. Putnam’s Sons publisher
Time of the Witches by Anna Myers, Walker & Company publisher
Chicken Dance by Tammi Sauer, Sterling Publishing Company Inc.
Night Fires by George Edward Stanley, Simon & Schuster/Aladdin Imprint publisher
Design/Illustration
Lanterns on the Prairie: The Blackfeet Photographs of Walter McClintock by Eric H. Anderson and Karen Hayes-Thumann, University of Oklahoma Press
Skirvin by Carl Brune, Full Circle Press
Roots from the Cherokees, Promises for our Future: The Chronicle of Northeastern State University by Buffy Cooper, Mullerhaus Publishing Group
Willard Stone by Carol Haralson, University of Tulsa/Gilcrease Museum publisher
Sonic: The History of America’s Drive-In by Skip McKinstry, Cottonwood Publications
Where to Sleep by Kandy Radzinski, Sleeping Bear Press
Fiction
Nemesis: The Final Case of Eliot Ness by William Bernhardt, Ballantine Books publisher
Confessions of a Former Rock Queen by Kirk Bjornsgaard, 4RV Publishing
The Sky Took Him by Donis Casey, Poisoned Pen Press
The Wind Comes Sweeping by Marcia Preston, Mira Books publisher
The Yard Dog by Sheldon Russell, Minotaur Books publisher
The Sound of Honor by Jim Stovall, Hawk Publishing
Non-Fiction
Sonic: The History of America’s Drive-In by Bob L. Blackburn, Cottonwood Publications
Divided Hearts: The Presbyterian Journey through Oklahoma History by Michael Cassity and Danney Goble, University of Oklahoma Press
Indian Tribes of Oklahoma: A Guide by Blue Clark, University of Oklahoma Press
Coach Tommy Thompson and the Boys of Sequoyah by Patti Dickinson, University of Oklahoma Press
Tar Creek: A History of the Quapaw Indians, the World’s Largest Lead and Zinc Discovery, and the Tar Creek Superfund Site by Larry G. Johnson, Tate Publishing & Enterprises
Choctaw Crime and Punishment, 1884-1907 by Devon Abbott Mihesuah, University of Oklahoma Press
Skirvin by Jack Money and Steve Lackmeyer, Full Circle Press
Another Hot Oklahoma Night: A Rock and Roll Story by Jeff Moore and
Larry O’Dell, Oklahoma Historical Society publisher
Thomas Gilcrease by Randy Ramer, Carole Klein, Kimberly Roblin, Eric Singleton, Anne Morand, Gary Moore, and April Miller, University of Tulsa/Gilcrease Museum publisher
Poetry
Fault Line: Vulnerable Landscapes by Karen Coody Cooper, Soddenbank Press
Contrapuntal by Carol Hamilton, Finishing Line Press
Work is Love Made Visible: Poetry and Family Photographs by Jeanetta
Calhoun Mish, West End Press
In the Presence of the Sun: Stories and Poems, 1961-1991 by N. Scott Momaday,
University of New Mexico Press
Too Long a Solitude by James Ragan, University of Oklahoma Press
After the Aftermath by Renata Treitel, Out on a Limb Publishing
For more information on the book awards or the award ceremony or to purchase tickets to the event visit the website at www.odl.state.ok.us/ocb or contact Connie Armstrong, executive director, Oklahoma Center for the Book, Oklahoma Department of Libraries, 200 NE 18th Street, Oklahoma City, OK, 73105, or call 405-522-3383.
—–Pick your favorites and meet me back here after the Book Award ceremony and we’ll compare notes.
Carolyn D. Wall, Sweeping Up Glass
The most powerful novel I have read this year is Carolyn Wall’s Sweeping Up Glass.
Currently published by Poisoned Pen Press (hardback), with Random House picking it up and releasing it in paperback, August 2009.
ISBN-10: 1-59058-512-7 (1590585127) Poisoned Pen Press
ISBN: 978-0-385-34303-9 (0-385-34303-5) Random House (paperback)
Sweeping Up Glass is set in 1938 Kentucky, dirt poor times and determined folks barely hanging on. Olivia Harker lives with her abandoned grandson, and her crazy mom Ida, who inhabits the shack out behind their tiny country store. Olivia has her own mothering issues, her daughter has left her and her son behind. Will’m is the only bright light in Olivia’s life. This is a tale of poverty, race, love lost and found, failed relationships, and somewhere in it all the possibility of hope.
The most poignant parts of the novel are the interplay of race relations as it affects the characters particularly Olivia during her childhood and latter the decisions she must make. What we see and fail to see determined by the color of our skin. The catalyst for the story is the needless slaughter of the silver faced wolves and the mirroring of cruelty of man against man.
The story is a strong one, but in my opinion what makes this an outstanding debut novel are the characters. Olivia and Ida, Will’m and Pap, Junk and Love Alice, and the Cott’ners filled with hate. The ending will startle you, jar you, and hold you spell bound through the final chapters. I won’t spoil any of it for you.
