Washington Center for the Book Announces 2009 Washington State Book Award Winners

The Washington Center for the Book at The Seattle Public Library has announced the winners of the 2009 Washington State Book Awards.

These authors will be honored at a public ceremony at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14, at a public ceremony at The Seattle Public Library, Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., Microsoft Auditorium, Level 1.

The program is free and open to the public. Parking will be available in the Central Library garage for a $5 special event rate.

The event will feature remarks and readings by the award recipients. A reception and book signing will follow the program.

This is the 43rd year of the program, formerly called the Governor’s Writers Awards.

A book award is given based on the strength of the publication’s literary merit, lasting importance and overall quality.

The 2009 Washington State Book Award winners are:

Fiction:

- “All About Lulu” by Jonathan Evison, of Bainbridge Island (Soft Skull Press)

Fiction Finalists:

- “Guernica” by Dave Boling, of Federal Way (Bloomsbury)

- “Oxygen” by Carol Cassella, of Bainbridge Island (Simon & Schuster)

- “The Other” by David Guterson, of Bainbridge Island (Alfred A. Knopf)

- “White Jade and Other Stories” by Alex Kuo, of Anacortes (Wordcraft)

Poetry:

- “A Map of the Night” by David Wagoner, of Edmonds (University of Illinois Press)

Poetry Finalists:

- “A Moon Over Wings” by Thomas Aslin, of Seattle (Clark City Press)

- “Flight: New and Selected Poems” by Linda Bierds, of Bainbridge Island (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

- “Friendly Fire” by Katrina Roberts, of Walla Walla (Lost Horse Press)

History/Biography:

- “Dark Water: Flood and Redemption in the City of Masterpieces” by Robert Clark, of Wallingford (Doubleday)

History/Biography Finalists:

- “Mean and Lowly Things: Snakes, Science, and Survival in the Congo” by Kate Jackson, of Walla Walla (Harvard University Press)

- “It’s Not About the Hair: And Other Uncertainties of Life & Cancer” by Debra Jarvis, of Lake City (Sasquatch Books)

- “Carl Maxey: A Fighting Life” by Jim Kershner, of Spokane (University of Washington Press)

- “Finding Chief Kamiakin: The Life and Legacy of a Northwest Patriot” by Richard Scheuerman, of Frederickson (Washington State University Press)

General Nonfiction:

- “S’abadeb: The Gifts: Pacific Coast Salish Arts and Artists,” edited by Barbara Brotherton, of Maple Leaf (Seattle Art Museum/University of Washington Press)

General Nonfiction Finalists:

- “The Owl and the Woodpecker: Encounters with North America’s Most Iconic Birds” by Paul Bannick, of Magnolia (Mountaineers Books)

- “The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman’s Fight to Save the World’s Most Beautiful Bird” by Bruce Barcott, of Bainbridge Island (Random House)

- “The Weather of the Pacific Northwest” by Cliff Mass, of Matthews Beach (University of Washington Press)

- “The Thing About Life is That One Day You’ll Be Dead” by David Shields, of Seattle (Alfred A. Knopf)

The winners of the Scandiuzzi Children’s Book Award are:

Picture Book:

- “What to Do About Alice? How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove Her Father Teddy Crazy!” by Barbara Kerley, of McKinleyville, Calif., and illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham, of Ballard

Honorable Mention:

- “A Visitor for Bear” by Bonny Becker, of Ravenna, and illustrated by Kady M. Denton, of Peterborough, Ont. (Candlewick Press)

Middle Grades and Young Adults (10- to 18-year-old readers):

- “Emperors of the Ice: A True Story of Disaster in the Antarctic, 1910-13” by Richard Farr, of Capitol Hill (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

The authors of the six award-winning books, as well as the illustrator of the picture book, will receive a $1,000 honorarium, thanks to the generous support of The Seattle Public Library Foundation and Eulalie and Carlo Scandiuzzi.

The jury for the adult awards included Karen Maeda Allman, writer and bookseller, the Elliott Bay Book Co.; Beth Cooley, associate professor of English, Gonzaga University; Michael Coy, manager, Third Place Books Ravenna; Sean McDowell, associate professor of English, Seattle University; and Lorena O’English, social sciences reference and instruction librarian, Washington State University, Pullman.

The jury for the Scandiuzzi Children’s Book Award included René Kirkpatrick, bookseller, Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park; Steven Marsh, librarian, John Muir Elementary; and Judy Nelson, youth services coordinator, Pierce County Library System.

The event is presented in partnership with the Elliott Bay Book Co. Books will be available for purchase and signing at a reception following the program.

For more information, call The Seattle Public Library at 206-386-4636.