OBA REPORT - Literary Arts

2014 OBA
2015 REPORT
The Oregon Book Awards
& Fellowships Program:
• Recognizes and awards excellence in
Oregon writing.
• Builds community and promotes participation
in literary activities.
• Provides financial support and encouragement
to emerging and established writers.
• Increases access to literary programming in
Oregon, especially in rural and underserved
communities.
• Expands the audience for Oregon’s literature
and helps ensure that more literature of high
quality is developed and shared across Oregon.
A Year in the Life of the Oregon Book Awards
OBA Author Tour begins.
The tour takes finalists
to 8-10 towns across the
state in the winter, spring,
and summer.
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A Year in the
Life of the
Oregon Book
Awards
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Oregon Book
Awards ceremony.
The winners are
announced.
Authors submit their books
to the Oregon Book Awards.
Literary Arts sends the books
to out-of-state judges.
MEERR
MM
SSUUM
Judges select finalists
and winners in eight
genres.
NTTEERR W
WIIN
Throughout the year, the
finalists’ and winners’
works are promoted, and
the authors engage with
Oregon’s readers and writers.
In January, Literary Arts
announces the Oregon
Book Award finalists.
OREGON BOOK AWARDS & FELLOWSHIPS supports, promotes, and
celebrates Oregon’s writers and publishers. In addition to financial support, the program
produces the Oregon Book Awards Author Tour, which connects writers and readers
throughout the state with readings, classroom visits, and workshops.
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A Year in the Life of the Oregon Literary Fellowships
Oregon writers and
independent publishers
submit fellowship
applications.
Before the end of the year,
judges select 14 writers
and 3 publishers to
receive fellowships.
Over the summer,
Literary Arts sends
the applications to
out-of-state judges.
FALL
SUMMER
A Year in the Life of the Oregon Literary Fellowships
WINTER
SPRING
Fellowship recipients
are also honored at the
Oregon Book Awards
ceremony in the spring.
Recipients receive
a check in the mail.
In January, fellowship
recipients are announced.
Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships in 2014/2015:
14 writers & 3 publishers awarded
fellowships of $3,000 each.
32 finalists selected for the Oregon
Book Awards.
8 authors chosen as Oregon Book
Award winners each awarded $1,000.
$59,000 total awarded in fellowships
and prizes for Oregon writers.
A record 250
IN CELEBRATION
OF LITERARY
ARTS’ 30TH
ANNIVERSARY,
and in honor of the
newly established Brian
Booth Writers’ Fund,
in 2015 Literary Arts
awarded an additional
$30,000 ($59,000
total) to Oregon writers
and publishers. (See page
10 for more information
on the Brian Booth
Writers’ Fund.)
BOOKS by Oregon writers were submitted to the Oregon Book
Awards. Out-of-state judges selected the finalists and winners.
464 OREGONIANS applied for Oregon Literary Fellowships, more than any
previous year. Out-of-state judges selected the recipients.
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Oregon Literary Fellowships
Oregon Literary Fellowships are intended
to help Oregon writers initiate, develop, or
complete literary projects in poetry, fiction,
literary nonfiction, drama, and young readers’
literature. Fellowships are also awarded to
support Oregon’s independent publishers and
small presses. They are awarded to presses or
magazines that demonstrate a commitment to
literary publishing. There is no charge to apply
for an Oregon Literary fellowship.
2015 Oregon Literary Fellowship Recipients
Poetry
Young Readers Literature
Laura Christina Dunn of Portland
Addie Boswell of Portland, The Edna L. Holmes
Fellowship in Young Readers Literature
Trevino Brings Plenty of Milwaukie, The C. Hamilton
Bailey Fellowship
A. Molotkov of Portland
Hajara Quinn of Portland
Ashley Toliver of Portland, The Oregon Poetry
Community Fellowship
Fiction
Colleen Burner of Portland, Women Writers Fellowship
Airin Miller of Portland, The Friends of the Lake Oswego
Library William Stafford Fellowship
Justin Hocking of Portland
Literary Nonfiction
Otis Haschemeyer of Eugene
Cheston Knapp of Portland
Elena Passarello of Corvallis, The Leslie Bradshaw
Fellowship
The poetry, fiction, and nonfiction fellowships
were judged by a panel of writers:
Tara Ison, Lee Ann Roripaugh, and Matthew
Vollmer.
Drama
Peter Malae of McMinnville
Christine Fletcher of Portland, The Walt Morey
Fellowship
Judge: Jo Knowles
Publishers
Big Big Wednesday of Portland
The Masters Review of Portland
Phantom Drift of La Grande
Judge: James McCoy
In March of 2015, Literary Arts arranged for
Kathy Belden, an editor with Scribner books in
New York, to meet one-on-one with 19 Oregon
Book Award authors and Oregon Literary
Fellowship recipients at our downtown center.
She read manuscripts ahead of time and offered
individualized feedback on works in progress.
“
I so enjoyed my day with the
writers. Their varied voices
and passion for the craft were
heartening. You never know
where a writer’s path will lead.
”
—Kathy Belden, Executive Editor, Scribner
Judge: Dare Clubb
For the first time in over two years, I am spending the entire day with my work.
“Finding
the stretch of a day to dedicate to writing is a rare and precious thing.
”
—Ashley Toliver, 2015 Oregon Literary Fellowship Recipient
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The Oregon Book Awards
Oregon Book Awards are given annually for
the finest accomplishments by Oregon’s writers.
Awards in 2015 were given in poetry, fiction,
nonfiction, drama, and young readers’ literature.
Literary Arts also offered a Readers’ Choice
Award, chosen by popular vote by over 2,000
Oregonians statewide.
The finalists for the Oregon Book Awards were
announced in January 2015. The 28th annual
Oregon Book Awards ceremony took place on
April 13, with over 500 people in attendance.
The ceremony was hosted by Mitchell S. Jackson,
author of The Residue Years and a former
Portland resident with long-standing ties to the
community. Awards were given in eight genres,
and special awards were given to Ralph Salisbury,
Tom Spanbauer, and Jann Tankersley for their
contributions to the literary community.
Before the ceremony, for the fifth year in a row,
Literary Arts hosted a fundraiser for the Oregon
Book Awards. The event raised over $62,000 for
the Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships program.
way I see it, Literary Arts is the nexus of
“The
my hometown’s thriving literary community.
”
—Mitchell S. Jackson, 2015 Oregon Book Awards host and author of
The Residue Years
The sold-out crowd at the ceremony on April 13, 2015.
Wendy Chin-Tanner and Cari Luna at the Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships
announcement and reception on January 22, 2015.
5
2015 Oregon Book Award Winners
Eloise Jarvis McGraw Award For
Children’s Literature
Susan Hill Long of Portland
Whistle in the Dark HOLIDAY HOUSE
“I fell in love with this novel from the very first
sentence, and my admiration for it grew with every
subsequent line. Susan Hill Long is a fine writer who
knows how to use the senses to firmly ground the
reader in the world of her story.”
­—Lesléa Newman, Children’s Literature judge
Leslie Bradshaw Award For
Young Adult Literature
Stafford/Hall Award For Poetry
Emily Kendal Frey of Portland
Sorrow Arrow OCTOPUS BOOKS
“Sorrow Arrow and its brilliant author Emily Kendal
Frey are straight shooters. They are very brave: every
single phrase, turn of words, batting of eye and puke
in car and cold egg of her breast matters. Every image
is hard won. It connects. It all adds up to an emotional
and psychological and existential signature—a set of
truths that light up in the mind of the reader. And that
reader
is changed. What a magnificent book.”
­—Brenda Shaughnessy, Poetry judge
April Henry of Portland
The Body In the Woods HENRY HOLT
Ken Kesey Award For Fiction
“Young fans of crime stories and thrillers on
television will be lured into the realm of books
thanks to Henry’s compelling storytelling. Once
they finish The Body in the Woods, they’ll be delighted
to discover that it’s the first of a series.”
TIN HOUSE BOOKS
­—Mitali Perkins, Young Adult Literature judge
Frances Fuller Victor Award For
General Nonfiction
Alex Tizon of Eugene
Big Little Man: In Search of My Asian Self
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT
“In precise, forceful prose, Alex Tizon casts an
unrelenting gaze at his own experiences as a
brown-skinned citizen of the United States, where
conventional notions of “American” seldom differ from
“white.” While chronicling his personal journey, he
effectively contrasts the reality of Asian culture with
stereotypes that have influenced and maligned the Asian
experience. Tizon dives in headfirst and surfaces with
insights that enrich us all.”
­—Jabari Asim, General Nonfiction judge
Sarah Winnemucca Award For
Creative Nonfiction
Justin Hocking of Portland
The Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld
GRAYWOLF PRESS
“Cast against Melville’s metaphorical cacophony, Justin
Hocking’s Floodgates almost seems a study in restraint
itself: a lovely, measured, and complex examination
of how we manage to heal ourselves amidst the messy
tumult of the world around us—a quiet and brilliant
achievement of both emotion and technique.”
—John D’Agata, Creative Nonfiction judge
Cari Luna of Portland
The Revolution of Every Day
“Luna’s prose is by turns gritty, lyrical, and workaday,
as suits her material, but the novel also possesses
that ineffable quality of radical empathy for humanity
in all its flawed, striving glory. I dare you not to fall
in love with every character here.”
—Stacey D’Erasmo, Fiction judge
Angus L. Bowmer Award For Drama
Andrea Stolowitz of Portland
Ithaka
“Ithaka is a bracingly original retelling of Homer’s
Odyssey. In Stolowitz’s revisioning of this ancient
story, the Odysseus character is a female Marine
captain returning from a tour in Afghanistan.
Grappling with the effects of PTSD, this returning
veteran is having trouble re-entering her life back
home. The play’s journey is as much figurative as
it is literal. It asks timely and necessary questions
about how to make sense of loss, how to put to rest
traumatic memories, and how to find a way home
after the experience of war.”
—Naomi Iizuka, Drama judge
Reader’s Choice Award
Willy Vlautin of Scappoose
The Free HARPER PERENNIAL
In The Free, Willy Vlautin gives us a portrait of
American life that is so hard and so heartbreaking
that it should be unbearable, but it isn’t. The
straightforward beauty of Vlautin’s writing, and the
tender care he shows his characters, turn a story of
struggle into indispensable reading.
Oregon’s readers voted online for the Readers’
Choice Award.
DONATED TITLES DISTRIBUTED TO LIBRARIES
Literary Arts distributed copies of 15 of the finalists’ books, donated by publishers, to 25 libraries
in 20 counties across Oregon. The libraries chosen were primarily those in rural communities
with high circulation rates and limited resources for new book purchases.
6
Oregon Book Awards Author Tour
The Oregon Book Awards Author Tour visits 8-10 towns in Oregon every year. The tour includes
public readings, writing workshops, and school visits. All tour events are free and open to the public.
This year the tour responded to community requests and, whenever possible, tailored programming to
suit the community’s needs. Some towns were most interested in hearing an author read and talk about
their work; other communities were more interested in school visits or writing workshops. 255 unique
individuals in all communities visited participated in tour events. They ranged in age from elementary
school students to retirement age adults.
In 2014/2015, the tour visited:
ENTERPRISE
LA GRANDE
BAKER CITY
NEWBERG
NEWPORT
BEND
11 Oregon Book Award authors
participated in the tour. The authors came from
Salem, Scappoose, Corvallis, and Portland.
KLAMATH FALLS
BONANZA
MALIN
SPECIAL AWARDS
C.E.S Wood Distinguished Writer Award
Walt Morey Young Readers Literary Legacy Award
Ralph Salisbury of Eugene
Ralph Salisbury is Professor Emeritus at University of Oregon. His
collections of poetry include Going to the Water: Poems of a Cherokee
Heritage (1983), Rainbows of Stone (2000), War in the Genes (2005),
Blind Pumper at the Well (2008), and Light from a Bullet Hole: Poems
New and Selected (2009). Salisbury has also published short story
collections, including The Last Rattlesnake Throw and Other Stories
(1998) and The Indian Who Bombed Berlin and Other Stories (2009).
Jann Tankersley
Jann Tankersley is a library teacher at Dayton Elementary School
and a member of the Oregon Association of School Libraries. She
implemented the creation of The Beverly Cleary Children’s Choice
Award (BCCCA) in 2002. Nominations include books targeted
to the reading ability of second and third graders or transitional
readers. In addition to implementing the award, Tankersley has
also served on the BCCCA committee for 11 years and continues
to oversee the voting and marketing of the BCCCA materials. To
date, over 22,000 elementary school students have participated in
the award by voting for their favorite titles.
Stewart Holbrook Literary Legacy Award
Tom Spanbauer of Portland
Tom Spanbauer created Portland’s Dangerous Writers writing
workshop in Portland in 1990. Over 30 of Tom’s students over the
last 20 years have published and moved on to their own literary
and teaching careers, including Chuck Palahnuik, Monica Drake,
Robert Hill, Joanna Rose, Amy Schutzer, and Jennifer Lauck.
7
Oregon Book Awards Author Tour
September 22, 2014
“
The organization and funding of this tour by
Literary Arts is such a gift to Oregon. Elena
Passarello and Kari Luna were a wonderful
pairing, and they gave our patrons a dynamic
experience.
BEND POPULATION: 8, 236
25 individuals attended
the reading.
”
Bend
—Tina Walker Davis, Community Relations
Coordinator, Deschutes Public Library
Cari Luna and Elena Passarello visited the
Deschutes Public Library for a reading.
October 18, 2014
NEWPORT POPULATION:
10,117
45 individuals attended the reading.
Newport
C.B. Bernard and Jay Ponteri appeared at
the Writers on the Edge reading series, and
community members participated in an open
mic that evening.
“
We had a packed house for the Oregon Book Award authors. Attendees were
fascinated by their stories and had plenty of questions, which the authors
answered with quips and sound advice.
—Sue Lick, Nye Beach Writers
”
March 6-7, 2015
NEWBERG POPULATION: 22,508
30 unique individuals participated in
the reading and the workshop.
Newberg
April Henry appeared at the Chehalem Cultural
Center for a reading on March 6. The next day she
offered a free writing workshop at the Newberg
Public Library.
8
“
Thanks to the Oregon Book Awards,
I met a wide cross-section of people,
from teens to octogenarians, but
they were all people who loved books
and words and stories. It was such a
pleasure to share with them.
—April Henry,
Oregon Book Award winner
”
May 20-21, 2015
BONANZA POPULATION: 405
MALIN POPULATION: 792
KLAMATH FALLS POPULATION:
21,207
“
It was an amazing opportunity for
writers in our rural county to have
free access to a resource that might
usually be more available in other
areas of the state.
75 unique individuals participated in
tour events
”
Bonanza • Malin • Klamath Falls
Lisa Ohlen Harris offered a free two-day
workshop on writing memoir at the Klamath
County Library. Kristin Ohlson visited schools
in Bonanza and Malin. Both writers gave a free
reading at the Klamath County Library.
—Charla Oppenlander,
Klamath County Library
“
Kristin Ohlson was the only author
visitor we have had in several years at
the high school level.
”
—Delena Heidrich, Bonanza Schools
“
I’ve given many talks about my book,
but never to high school students—
and certainly not to students whose
families are engaged in agriculture,
which is the subject of my book.
—Kristin Ohlson,
Oregon Book Award finalist
”
May 28-29, 2015
LA GRANDE POPULATION: 13,074
BAKER CITY POPULATION: 9,769
ENTERPRISE POPULATION: 1,884
95 unique individuals participated in
tour events
La Grande • Baker City • Enterprise
Dawn Diez Willis, Justin Hocking, and Cari Luna
visited Eastern Oregon University and gave a reading
as part of the Ars Poetica Series. Dawn Diez Willis
visited a poetry class at Eastern Oregon University.
The authors read at the Fishtrap house in Enterprise
the next day, and the following day, Willy Vlautin
appeared with Dawn Diez Willis and Cari Luna at
Crossroads Art Center.
“
I moved to Portland in 2007, but before the
Oregon Book Awards Tour, I knew nothing
about Oregon east of the Cascades.
Wallowa County is located in far
northeast Oregon. Our access to the
best in Oregon’s arts and culture is
limited by geography, population, and
socioeconomic factors. Having the
Oregon Book Awards Tour come to
our corner of the state is an invaluable
asset to our community by exposing
local residents to the world of quality
homegrown literature and writing.
—Cari Luna,
Oregon Book Award winner
—Mike Midlo, Interim Executive Director,
Fishtrap
“
”
”
9
Brian Booth Writers’ Fund
Over the years, the Oregon Book Awards
& Fellowships program has provided financial
support and recognition to hundreds of authors,
including Cheryl Strayed, Ursula Le Guin, Barry
Lopez, Chang-Rae Lee, Ken Kesey, Gina Ochsner,
Tracy Daugherty, and Molly Gloss.
We thank the following donors for their generous
gifts as we work to raise $2 million to permanently
fund this program. The following donors have pledged
gifts of $3,000 or more as of May 31, 2015.
RAISED TO DATE:
$1,322,103
Brian Booth created the Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships program
“to assist writers and promote the literary arts in the Pacific Northwest.”
Campaign Honor Roll
Anonymous
Gray Family Fund
Jan & Steve Oliva
Ray & Jean Auel
In Memory of Dorothy D. Hirsch
PGE Foundation
Gwyneth Gamble Booth
The Estate of Dorothy D. Hirsch
Diane Ponti & Ward Greene
Tom Booth & Megan Holden
Bob & Ceil Huntington
Amy Prosenjak & Steven Guy
Nancy & Roderick Boutin
Susheela Jayapal
Halle M. & Rick Sadle
Charles Cameron & Lyn Davidson
Cameron
R.B. Keller
Robert D. Scanlan
Ursula & Charles Le Guin
Arlene Schnitzer
The Literary Arts Board of Directors
Spark Fund of the Oregon Community
Foundation
Joan Cirillo & Roger Cooke
Rick Comandich & Maya Muir
The Concordia Foundation
Rocky & Julie Strasser Dixon
Bart & Jill Eberwein
Carol Edelman
Gale Family Trust
Brian Gard
Bob Geddes
Christopher Lord
Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund
The Mancini Family
Phillip M. Margolin
Anne Mendel & Mark Henry
Lora & Jim Meyer
Katherine O'Neil & Toby Graff
Corrine Oishi & Lindley Morton
Storms Family Foundation
Tonkon Torp LLP
U.S. Bank
Kristin & Nick Walrod
Dan Wieden & Priscilla Bernard Wieden
Tom & Marcia Wood
Wyss Foundation
Show support for Oregon’s writers and publishers by donating to the Brian Booth Writers’
Fund today at literary-arts.org/donate. If you would like to pledge your support through gifts
of securities, bequests, life insurance, IRAs, retirement funds, etc., please contact Literary Arts’
Director of Development, Lydah DeBin, at 503-227-2583 x106.
10
A letter from the Oregon Book Awards
& Fellowships Program Director:
In addition to the statewide tour, the Oregon Book Awards &
Fellowships program builds community around literature with programming
at our center in downtown Portland, where we offer tuition-based writing
classes and free literary events. Our writing classes are small in size and
focus on specific writing goals. We hire Oregon Book Award authors to
teach many of these classes, which is another way that we offer financial
support to writers. Most students are from the Portland area, but some
students have come from as far as Ashland to attend our classes in Portland.
In 2014/15 we also began offering tuition-based storytelling classes with
local and visiting professional storytellers in partnership with Back Fence
PDX, a live storytelling series. Through collaborations with local and national
organizations like Burnside Review, Coffee House Press, Four Way Books,
Late Night Library, and Los Porteños, we’ve presented Oregon Book Award
authors alongside other local authors and visiting authors from around the
country. In 2014/15, over 735 people attended events in our space and 188
students participated in classes.
As a result of the initial success of our literary programming for Oregon’s
writers and readers in our downtown center, in October 2015 we will finish
work on an expansion of our center. The new expansion creates an additional
larger event space and doubles our venue capacity; it also allows us to
increase the number of free events and tuition-based classes we offer, gives
us more flexibility in our literary programming, and expands our downtown
presence as a community resource.
A student in Mindy Nettifee’s Intro to
Storytelling Class.
Susan Denning
Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships Program Director
The Oregon Book Awards
Advisory Committee
offers support and expertise
in outreach, fundraising, and
the judging process.
Jon Raymond,
Chair
Tom Booth
Nancy Boutin
Karyle Butcher
Julie Dixon
Cecelia Huntington
Linda Leslie
Michael McGregor
Meghan Moran
Pamela Smith Hill
Tony Perez
Armin Tolentino
Literary Arts Staff
Literary Arts Board of Directors
Andrew Proctor,
Executive Director
Jessica Mozeico,
Chair
Amelia Ayrelan Iuvino
Amanda Bullock
Lydah DeBin
Susan Denning
Megan Gex
Jennifer Gurney
Alex Ney
Paige O’Rourke
Mary Rechner
Mel Wells
Kyle White
Betsy Amster
Mike Barr
Amy Carlsen
Kohnstamm
Alice Cuprill-Comas
Ginnie Cooper
Rebecca DeCesaro
Amy Donohue
Theo Downes-Le Guin
Marie Eckert
Robert Geddes
Karen Karbo
John Meadows
Deidra Miner
Amy Prosenjak
Jon Raymond
James Reinhart
Barry Sanders
Pamela Smith Hill
Jacqueline Willingham
Thomas Wood
11
Supporters
Support for the Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships program
is provided in part by:
The Oregon Book Awards Author Tour partners with several local organizations:
Baker County Library, Bonanza Schools, Chehalem Cultural Center, Deschutes County Library,
Eastern Oregon University, Fishtrap, Klamath County Library, Lost River School, Newberg Public
Library, Writers on the Edge Reading Series
Lead gifts provided by individuals, foundations, and businesses in 2014/2015
Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises
Bob & Ceil Huntington
Per & Liana Ramfjord
Mike R. Barr
The Jackson Foundation
Jon Raymond
Gwyneth Gamble Booth
Meghan Moran & Kirk Masterson
Reed College
Nancy & Roderick Boutin
Vanessa Morgan & Robert Quillin
Halle & Rick Sadle
Paul & Nancy Bragdon
Corrine Oishi & Lindley Morton
Stephen & Micky Shields
Karyle Butcher
Jan & Steve Oliva
Pamela Smith Hill
Rick Comandich & Maya Muir
OSU Stone Award
Jim & Polly Spencer
Rebecca & Michael DeCesaro
Molly L. Osborne
Tin House
Rocky & Julie Strasser Dixon
Linda & Ken Peterson
Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust
Sue & Ed Einowski
Diane Ponti & Ward Greene
Alfredo & Sarah Villanueva
Betsy & Tom Henning
Andrew & Veronica Proctor
Wyss Foundation
Edna L. Holmes Literary Arts Fund of
The Oregon Community Foundation
Amy Prosenjak & Steven Guy
925 SW WASHINGTON STREET, PORTLAND, OREGON 97205
literary-arts.org