(Graphic courtesy of Literary Arts)
Thirty-seven Oregonians across seven genre categories were chosen as finalists by panels of out-of-state judges, from a total of 190 submitted titles.
Winners were announced live at the 2024 Oregon Book Awards Ceremony, hosted by Kwame Alexander, at Portland Center Stage at The Armory on Monday, April 8, 2024.
Since 1987 our Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships program has awarded more than $1.5 million to over 1,000 authors.
Ken Kesey Award for Fiction
Patrick deWitt of Portland, The Librarianist (Ecco/HarperCollins)
Judges: Allison Escoto, Morgan Talty, Jacinda Townsend
Stafford/Hall Award for Poetry
Daniela Naomi Molnar of Portland, CHORUS (Omnidawn)
Judges: Abigail Chabitnoy, Eleni Sikelianos, Mark Wunderlich
Frances Fuller Victor Award for General Nonfiction
Josephine Woolington of Portland, Where We Call Home: Lands, Seas, and Skies of the Pacific Northwest (Ooligan Press)
Judges: Timothy Denevi, Chris Mathers Jackson, Steve Olson
Sarah Winnemucca Award for Creative Nonfiction
Erica Berry of Portland, Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear (Flatiron Books/Macmillan Publishers)
Judges: Rachel Louise Martin, Molly McCully Brown, Jared Yates Sexton
Leslie Bradshaw Award for Young Adult & Middle Grade Literature
Waka T. Brown of West Linn, The Very Unfortunate Wish of Melony Yoshimura (Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins)
Judges: Ellen Hagan, Jennifer Longo, Kathryn Reiss
Eloise Jarvis McGraw Award for Children’s Literature
Nora Ericson of Portland, Too Early (Abrams Books for Young Readers)
Judges: Kari Allen, Lindsey Craig, Gary Golio
Award for Graphic Literature
Kerilynn Wilson of Oregon City, The Faint of Heart (Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins)
Judges: Michael Gianfrancesco, Roberta Gregory, Marjorie Liu
You can find the winners’ (and all of the Oregon Book Awards finalists‘) books at our page on Bookshop.org!
Special Awards
In addition to recognizing the finest achievements of Oregon authors in several genres, Literary Arts recognizes individual contributions with special awards.
The Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award
Ellen Waterston of Bend.