Winter 2009

The James Beard Foundation presented the 2008 James Beard Foundation Book Awards for cookbooks published in English in 2007. Winners included Jean Anderson, A Love Affair with Southern Cooking, Americana; Judith Choate and The French Culinary Institute, The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Cuisine, Cooking from a Professional Point of View; Niloufer Ichaporia King, My Bombay Kitchen: Traditional and Modern Parsi Home Cooking, Asian Cooking; and David Wondrich, Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to “Professor” Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar, Wine and Spirits. The awards were presented at a ceremony on June 8 in New York City.

Among the 2008–2009 Isherwood Fellows, sponsored by the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, are Gregory Belliveau and Emily Raboteau. Isherwood Fellows receive grants of $4,000, which help fund research and enable them to devote time to writing projects.

Win Blevins was named a Writer of the Year for 2008 by the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers, the organization for Native writers.

The International Reading Association’s 2008 Young Adults’ Choices list includes My Lost and Found Life, Melodie Bowsher; Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Rachel Cohn and David Levithan; Returnable Girl, Pamela Lowell; Mismatch, Lensey Namioka; Small Steps, Louis Sachar; A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl, Tanya Lee Stone; Specials, Scott Westerfeld; and You, Maybe: The Profound Asymmetry of Love in High School by Rachel Vail. The list of 30 books was selected by students throughout the United States and announced in May at the annual convention of the International Reading Association in Atlanta, Ga.

Marlin Bree received the West Marine Writer’s Award and $5,000 from Boating Writers International (BWI) for his story “The Old Man and the Inland Sea,” originally published in the January/February 2007 issue of The Ensign magazine and recognized in BWI’s 2007 Annual Writing Contest. It is the second time Bree has received the West Marine Writer’s Award, BWI’s top honor. The award was presented on October 31, 2008, at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.

Bill Burnham and Mary Burnham’s book, Florida Keys Paddling Atlas, received first place in the Outdoor Adventure Guidebook category of the 2008 National Outdoor Book Awards (NOBA). The American Chestnut: The Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree, by Susan Freinkel, received first place for National History Literature. The awards are sponsored by the NOBA Foundation, the Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education, and Idaho State University.

Blue Diamonds by Spencer Dane won First Place in the Thriller category of the 2008 Royal Palm Literary Award contest, sponsored by the Florida Writers Association.

The Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA), a journal for librarians, educators, and other professionals who work with young adults, puts out an annual list of outstanding titles for middle school and junior high school youth. The Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers list for books published in 2007 included Quaking, by Kathryn Erskine; The Amazing Flight of Darius Frobisher, by Bill Harley; Schooled, by Gordon Korman; Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, by Wendy Mass; and The Golden Rat, by Don L. Wulffson. The Nonfiction Honor List included Who Was First? Discovering the Americas, by Russell Freedman; Hear Us Out! Lesbian and Gay Stories of Struggle, Progress, and Hope, 1950 to the Present, by Nancy Garden; Terrorists, Tornados, and Tsunamis: How to Prepare for Life’s Danger Zones, by Suzanne Harper and John C. Orndorff; America Dreaming: How Youth Changed America in the 60s, by Laban Carrick Hill; Comic Book Century: The History of American Comic Books, by Stephen Krensky; and Edward Hopper: Painter of Light and Shadow, by Susan Goldman Rubin.

The Understory, by Pamela Erens, was one of two finalists in the fiction category for the 2008 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. Return of the Condor: The Race to Save Our Largest Bird from Extinction, by John Moir, was one of two finalists in the nonfiction category. The prizes are sponsored by Stanford University Libraries and the William Saroyan Foundation and are intended to encourage new or emerging writers.

Michael Maccoby has been honored by the International Association of Management of Technology (IAMOT) as one of the top 50 authors of technology and innovation management over the last five years. He will receive an award at the annual IAMOT conference in April 2009 in Orlando, Fla. Maccoby was also named a Commander of the Royal Order of the Polar Star by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden for 25 years of research and consulting work with Swedish companies and universities, articles written for Swedish newspapers, and two books about Sweden. The ceremony took place in Washington, DC, on April 10, 2008.

Margaret Maron was one of 10 North Carolinians honored for their contributions to the state with the North Carolina Award, the highest civilian honor the state can bestow. Maron received the 2008 Award for Literature, presented on November 17 by Governor Mike Easley and First Lady Mary Easley.

Gabrielle Mautner received a Mill Valley Creative Achievement Award, or Milley Award, from the Mill Valley Art Commission in California. The awards honor those who have brought honor to the Mill Valley community through their accomplishments in the arts, and were presented at a ceremony at the Mill Valley Community Center October 19.

Donald McCaig received the 2008 Michael Shaara Prize for Civil War fiction for his novel Canaan. McCaig is the only author to have won this award twice. The award, sponsored by the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, carries a prize of $5,000 and was presented at a ceremony in Gettysburg, Pa., on November 19, 2008.

E. M. Schorb’s poetry collection, Time and Fevers, received the award for poetry in the Writer’s Digest 16th Annual International Self-Published Book Awards. Time and Fevers also received the Eric Hoffer Book Award in the Legacy category in 2007.

Dating From the Inside Out by Dr. Paulette Kouffman Sherman received the award for best book in the Self-Help: Relationships category of the National Best Books 2008 Awards, sponsored by USA Book News. Rabbit in the Moon, by Deborah Shlian and Joel Shlian, was a finalist in the Thriller category.

Arrowhead’s Lost Hoard, by Hazel Spire, received an Honorable Mention at the 2008 London Festival of Books in the Children’s Books category.

Brenda Webster was chosen as a Literary Laureate for 2009 by the Friends and Foundation of the San Francisco Public Library. The Laureates, 34 Bay Area authors, will be honored at a fund-raising dinner on April 17 at the library.

The Susan B. Anthony Institute at the University of Rochester presented Miranda Beverly-Whittemore with the 2008 Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize and $5,000 for her novel Set Me Free. She received the award at a ceremony at the university on November 3. ✦