florida book awards Archives

Florida Book Awards Launches 2022 Competition

The Florida Book Awards has announced its 2022 competition for the best Florida literature and established a Jan. 13, 2023, entry deadline.

Coordinated by Florida State University Libraries, the Florida Book Awards is the nation’s most comprehensive state book awards program, established in 2006 to recognize and celebrate the best literature by Florida authors and books about Florida published each year.

The Florida Book Awards now includes awards in 11 categories and is introducing a Gold Medal for Poetry Chapbooks within the Poetry category.

Authors must be full-time Florida residents, except in the Florida Nonfiction, Visual Arts and Cooking categories, in which the subject matter must focus on Florida.

Books may be submitted by authors, publishers or members of the public in any of the categories: Cooking, Florida Nonfiction, General Fiction, General Nonfiction, Older Children’s Literature, Poetry, Popular Fiction, Spanish Language, Visual Arts, Young Adult Literature, and Young Children’s Literature. Descriptions of these categories and instructions for submitting nominations are available at floridabookawards.org. All books nominated must have a 2022 copyright date and an ISBN number.

Entries must be received no later than Jan. 13, 2023, but applicants are encouraged to submit their books for competition as soon as possible after their books are published. Winners will be announced the first week of March 2023.

Gerald Ensley Developing Writer Award- Nominations Open

Nominations for the Gerald Ensley Developing Writer Award are also open. This award, established in 2019, aims to recognize a writer who has shown exceptional talent and the potential for continued literary success and significance.

Nominees for the Ensley Award must be Florida residents who have published at least one but no more than two books in any of the Florida Book Awards categories and exhibit demonstrated ability and promise for continued growth. The award is accompanied by a $1,000 prize. Nominations are due by Dec. 31, 2022.

Instructions for nominating a writer are listed at https://www.floridabookawards.org/ensley-award.

The Florida Book Awards involves library, literary and cultural organizations, including the State Library and Archives of Florida, Florida Humanities, Florida Center for the Book, Midtown Reader, and the Word of South festival. Learn more about the Florida Book Awards at https://www.floridabookawards.org/.

This blog post was written by Nikki Morse, FSU Libraries’ Event & Marketing Manager and Director of the Florida Book Awards.

2018 FLORIDA BOOK AWARDS COMPETITION OPENS WITH CALL FOR ENTRIES

The Florida Book Awards kicks off its 12th annual competition with a call for entries in 11 categories. The Florida Book Awards competition is coordinated through the Florida State University Libraries, with the support of partner organizations from across the state. The deadline for submissions is Jan. 13, 2019

Established in 2006, the Florida Book Awards is the most comprehensive state book awards program in the nation.The contest recognizes and celebrates the year’s best books written by Sunshine State residents, with the exception of submissions to the Florida Nonfiction and Visual Arts categories, whose authors may live elsewhere.

Contest categories include: Florida Nonfiction, General Fiction, General Nonfiction, Poetry, Popular Fiction, Spanish Language, Visual Arts, Young Adult Literature, Younger Children’s Literature (ages 0-6), Older Children’s Literature (ages 7-12) and Cookbooks.

In 2014, the Gwen P. Reichert Gold Medal for Young Children’s Literature was introduced, providing a cash prize for the gold winner in the Younger Children’s Literature category. This award is in memory of Gwen P. Reichert and serves as a lasting tribute to honor her accomplishments as a rare book collector, her dedication to nurturing authors and their audience and her commitment to children’s education.

The Richard E. Rice Gold Medal Prize for Visual Arts and the Phillip and Dana Zimmerman Gold Medal Prize for Florida Nonfiction were introduced in 2016.

The Richard E. Rice Gold Medal Prize for Visual Arts supports a $500 prize for the Visual Arts Gold Medal Winner of the Florida Book Awards and serves as tribute to Richard E. Rice, who suffered from life-altering arthritis since childhood and spent a large amount of time in the hospital. From his hospital room, Rice discovered his artistic talent at the age of four and became a lifelong artist. Creating artwork offered Rice comfort, strength and joy, and this prize honors his talent and his commitment to art and to celebrate art and artists.

The Phillip and Dana Zimmerman Gold Medal Prize for Florida

Nonfiction provides a $500 prize for the Gold Medal Winner of this category and serves as a tribute to the donor’s parents, Phillip and Dana Zimmerman, recognizing their deep roots in Florida and their love of Florida’s rich history and culture.

Applicants are encouraged to submit their books into competition any time after the competition is launched, and as soon as possible after books are officially published. Entries, which can be submitted by anyone, must be published between Jan. 1, 2018, and Dec. 31, 2018, and have an International Standard Book Number (ISBN). All entries must be received no later than 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 13, 2019 (this is not a postmark deadline).

Three-person juries –– including members of co-sponsoring organizations, subject experts from the faculties of Florida colleges and universities, and previous Florida Book Award winners –– will choose up to three finalists in each of 11 categories. The jury may award one Gold, Silver and Bronze medal in each category.

Co-sponsors of the competition include: Humanities organizations from across the state,

such as the Florida Center for the Book, the State Library and Archives of Florida, the Florida Historical Society, the Florida Humanities Council, the Florida Literary Arts Coalition, the Florida Library Association, the Florida Association for Media in Education, the Center for Literature and Theatre @ Miami Dade College, the Florida Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America, Friends of FSU Libraries, the Florida Writers Association, the Florida Literacy Coalition and “Just Read, Florida!”

The 2018 winners will be announced in early March 2019 and recognized at several events around the state, including an awards banquet in April.

Winning books and their authors will be showcased in the summer 2019 issue of FORUM, the statewide magazine of the Florida Humanities Council, and will be featured at book festivals and association conferences throughout the year. In addition, copies of all award-winning books will be put on permanent public display in the Florida Governor’s Mansion library and in Florida State University’s Strozier Library.

For general information and the entry form, requirements and detailed submission instructions, visit http://floridabookawards.lib.fsu.edu.

CONTACT: Jenni McKnight, Executive Director, Florida Book Awards

(850) 644-6323; jlmcknight@fsu.edu

Chase Miller, Florida Book Awards Communications Director

(850) 644-5211; floridabookawards@gmail.com

2017 FLORIDA BOOK AWARDS WINNERS ANNOUNCED

With its twelfth annual competition now complete, the Florida Book Awards has announced winners for books published in 2017. More than 200 eligible publications were submitted across the eleven categories of competition.

Coordinated by the Florida State University Libraries, the Florida Book Awards is the nation’s most comprehensive state book awards program. It was established in 2006 to celebrate the best Florida literature. Authors must be full-time Florida residents, except in the Florida nonfiction and visual arts categories, where the subject matter must focus on Florida.

Setting the standard for future cash prizes, the “Gwen P. Reichert Gold Medal for Children’s Literature”, now in its third year, is awarded to Brandon resident, Rob

Sanders for Rodzilla (Simon and Schuster) This $1000 cash award is in memory of Gwen P. Reichert and serves as a lasting tribute to her accomplishments as a rare book collector, nurturer of authors, and educator of children. Also awarded were the Richard E. Rice Gold Medal Award for Visual Arts to Jared Beck and Pamela Miner for River and Road (University of Florida Press) and the Phillip and Dana Zimmerman Gold Medal for Florida Nonfiction to Arlo Haskell for The Jews of Key West (Sand Paper Press). These two category winners each receive a $500 cash award.

The winning authors from across the state will be honored at the Abitz Family Dinner, the annual awards banquet, which will take place in Tallahassee on April 12^th at the Mission San Luis. The public is invited to attend. More information will be available on the Florida Book Awards website.

Florida Book Awards 2017 Winners by Category

GWEN P. REICHERT GOLD MEDAL AWARD FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN’S LITERATURE: Rob Sanders

RICHARD E. RICE GOLD MEDAL AWARD FOR VISUAL ARTS: Jared Beck and Pamela Miner

Phillip and Dana Zimmerman Gold Medal Prize for Florida Nonfiction: Arlo Haskell

YOUNGER CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

Gold: Rob Sanders (Brandon),Rodzilla (Simon and Schuster)

Silver: Carrie Clickar (Gainesville), Dumpling Dreams (Simon and Schuster)

Bronze: Marianne Berkes, (Orange City), Baby on Board: How Animals Carry Their Young

OLDER CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

Gold: Ed Masessa (Florida), Wandmaker’s Apprentice (Scholastic)

Silver: R.M. Romero (Miami Beach), The Dollmaker of Krakow (Penguin Random House)

Bronze: Rodman Philbrick (Florida Keys) Who Killed Darius Drake? (Scholastic)

COOKING

Gold: Norman Van Aken (Miami) Norman Van Aken’s Florida Kitchen (University of Florida Press)

FLORIDA NONFICTION:

Gold: Arlo Haskell, (Key West) The Jews of Key West (Sand Paper Press)

Silver: Frank Cassell (Sarasota), Suncoast Empire (Pineapple Press)

Bronze: Julio Capó Jr., Welcome to Fairyland (UNC Press)

GENERAL FICTION

GOLD: Laura Lee Smith (St. Augustine), The Ice House (Grove Press)

SILVER: Elizabeth Sims (Bradenton), Crimes in a Second Language (Spruce Park Press)

BRONZE: Randy Wayne White (Sanibel), Mangrove Lightning (G.P Putnam Sons)

GENERAL NONFICTION:

GOLD: Edwidge Danticat (Miami),The Art of Death (Graywolf Press)

SILVER: D. Bruce Means (Tallahassee), Diamonds in the Rough (Tall Timbers Press)

BRONZE: Kristine Harper (Tallahassee), Make it Rain: State Control of the Atmosphere in Twentieth-Century America (University of Chicago Press)

POETRY

GOLD: Kaveh Akbar (Tallahassee), Calling a Wolf (Alice James Books)

SILVER: Terry Ann Thaxton (Winter Springs), Mud Song (Truman State University Press)

BRONZE: Michael Hettich (Miami Shores), The Frozen Harbor (Red Dragonfly Press)

POPULAR FICTION:

GOLD: Patrick Gussin (Longboat Key), Come Home (Oceanview Publishing)

SILVER: Robert Macomber (Pine Island), An Honorable War (Pineapple Press)

BRONZE: Ward Larsen (Sarasota), Assassin’s Code (Forge Books)

SPANISH LANGUAGE

GOLD: Pedro Medina León (Coral Gables), Varsovia ( Sudaquia Editores)

SILVER: Carlos García Pandiello (Miami), Jaspora (Aduana Vieja Editorial)

VISUAL ARTS:

GOLD: Jared Beck (Naples) and Pamela Miner (Fort Myers), River and Road (University of Florida Press)

YOUNG ADULT:

GOLD: Jenny Torres Sanchez (Orlando), Because of the Sun (Delacorte Press)

Submissions for the 2017 awards were read by juries of three members, each nominated from across the state by co-sponsoring organizations. Jurors are authorized to select up to three medalists (including one gold winner, one silver runner-up and one bronze medalist) in each of the eleven categories; jurors are also authorized to make no selections in a given year.

The Florida State University Libraries coordinate the Florida Book Awards with assistance from co-sponsors including the Florida Center for the Book; the State Library and Archives of Florida; the Florida Historical Society; the Florida Humanities Council; the Florida Literary Arts Coalition; the Florida Library Association; the Florida Association for Media in Education; the Center for Literature and Theatre @ Miami Dade College; the Florida Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America; Friends of FSU Libraries; the Florida Writers Association; the Florida Literacy Coalition; and “Just Read, Florida!”

Learn more about the Florida Book Awards at floridabookawards.lib.fsu.edu.