2015 High Plains Book Awards
Thirty books were selected as finalists in ten categories for the ninth annual High Plains Book Awards. Twenty-four different publishers from Canada and the US were represented in this year’s competition. Of the 34 finalists, 13 were from Montana, and eight are from Canada.
Winners in each category received a $500 cash prize at the Awards Banquet on Saturday, October 3, 2015 at the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings, Montana. The Awards Banquet is a signature event of the Billings Public Library. More information and reviews of the books can be found at highplainsbookawards.org.
The 2015 winners are:
Fiction – Laura Pritchett, Bellvue, CO., Stars Go Blue, Counterpoint
Nonfiction – Bryce Andrews, Missoula, MT, Badluck Way: A Year on the Ragged Edge of the West, Atria Books
First Book – Bryce Andrews, Badluck Way: A Year on the Ragged Edge of the West
Woman Writer – Carrie La Seur, Billings, MT., The Home Place, HarperCollins
Poetry – Shann Ray, Spokane, WA., Balefire, Lost Horse Press
Art & Photography – Larry Len Peterson, Sisters, Oregon, Charles M. Russell: Photographing the Legend, University of Oklahoma Press
Short Stories –Jamie Lisa Forbes, Greensboro, North Carolina, The Widow Smalls and Other Stories, Pronghorn Press
Young Adult Book – Brenda Baker, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, Camp Outlook, Second Story Press
Children’s Book – the late Cheryl Chad, Stittsville, Ontario, Canada, Back to Batoche, Your Nickel's Worth Publishing
Culinary – Seabring Davis, Livingston, MT., A Taste of Montana: Favorite Recipes from Big Sky Country, Farcountry Press
204 books were nominated for the 2015 High Plains Book Awards. All the nominated books were read and evaluated by community volunteers in the first round of the selection process. The finalist books in each category were judged by writers who have significant connections to the High Plains region, many who have won in the particular category he or she judged.
Nominations for the 2016 High Plains Book Awards, honoring books first published in 2015, will open January 8, 2016
Award Sponsors: Billings Public Library Board of Trustees, The Billings Clinic Foundation, Billings Public Library Foundation, Stella Fong & Joe Dillard, Friends of the Billings Public Library, Sharon Ilie, Robert & Susan Lubbers, MSU-Billings, The Ucross Foundation, The Writer's Voice, Yellowstone Art Museum, and the Zonta Club of Billings.
About the High Plains Book Awards: The Billings Public Library Board has established the High Plains Book Awards to recognize regional authors and/or literary works which examine and reflect life on the High Plains including the states of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, and Kansas, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.
