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NEWS RELEASE

 

CONTACT:  Florida State University:  Peggy Wright-Cleveland, Director, The Office of Faculty Recognition; (850) 645-8202; [log in to unmask]

 

By Wayne A. Wiegand, Director, Florida Book Awards

      Peggy Wright-Cleveland, Chair, Executive Board

 

3rd ANNUAL FLORIDA BOOK AWARDS ANNOUNCE BEST OF 2008

 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.— Its third set of competitions completed, Florida Book Awards announces winners for eight categories of books published in 2008.

 

The Florida Book Awards is an annual program established in 2006 that recognizes, honors, and celebrates the best Florida literature published the previous year.  It is coordinated by The Florida State University Program in American and Florida Studies, and co-sponsored by the Florida Center for the Book, State Library and Archives of Florida, Florida Historical Society, Florida Humanities Council, Florida Literary Arts Coalition, Florida Library Association, “Just Read, Florida!,” Governor’s Family Literacy Initiative, Florida Association for  Media in Education, Florida Center for the Literary Arts, the Florida State University Friends of Libraries, and Florida Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. 

 

Submissions were read by eight juries of three members each nominated from across the state by cosponsoring organizations.  Jurors were authorized to select up to five medalists (including one winner and one runner-up) in each of the eight categories.

 

GENERAL FICTION

Gold Medal Winner:  John Dufresne, Requiem, Mass (W. W. Norton)

Silver Medal Winner:  Tony D’Souza , The Konkans (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Bronze Medal Winners:  Kristy Kiernan, Matters of Faith (Berkley);

            Debra Dean, Confessions of a Falling Woman (HarperCollins Publishers/Ecco)

 

FLORIDA NONFICTION

Gold Medal Winner: Shawn C. Bean, The First Hollywood (University Press of Florida)

Silver Medal Winner: John A. Stuart and John F. Stack, Jr., The New Deal in South         Florida (University Press of Florida)

Bronze Medal Winners:  Rodney L. Hurst, Sr., It Was Never About a Hot Dog and a Coke        (Wing Span Press); Jeff Klinkenberg, Pilgrim in the Land of Alligators            (University Press of Florida); Gregg M. Turner, A Journey into Florida Railroad History (University Press of Florida)

 

 

 

 

 

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FLORIDA BOOK AWARDS/PAGE 2

 

 

SPANISH LANGUAGE BOOK

Gold Medal Winner:  Antonio Orlando Rodriguez, Chiquita (Santillana)

Silver Medal Winner: José Àlvarez, Principio y fin del mito fidelista (Trafford      Publishing)

 

POETRY

Gold Medal Winner: David Kirby, The Temple Gate Called Beautiful (Alice James         Books)

Silver Medal Winner: Campbell McGrath, Seven Notebooks (HarperCollins           Publishers/Ecco)

Bronze Medal Winners: Terri Witek, The Shipwreck Dress (Orchises Press); Frank           Giampietro, Begin Anywhere (Alice James Books); Helen Pruitt Wallace,        Shimming The Glass House (Ashland Poetry Press)

 

YOUNG ADULT

Gold Medal Winner: John Tkac, Whispers from the Bay (Southeast Books)

Silver Medal Winner: Anne E. Ake, Everglades: An Ecosystem Facing Choices and       Challenges (Pineapple Press)

Bronze Medal Winner: Julie Gonzalez, Imaginary Enemy (Random House Children’s      Books)

 

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

Gold Medal Winner: Susan L. Womble, Newt’s World: Beginnings (CyPress        Publications)

Silver Medal Winner:  Donna Gephart, As if Being 12 ¾ Isn’t Bad Enough, My Mother             is Running for President (Random House Children’s Books)                      

Bronze: Loreen Leedy, Missing Math: A Number Mystery (Marshall Cavendish Corporation)

 

POPULAR FICTION

Gold Medal Winner: Deborah and Joel Shlian, Rabbit in the Moon (Oceanview    Publishing)

Silver Medal Winner: Lisa Unger, Black Out (Shaye Areheart Books)

Bronze Medal Winners: James Swain, The Night Stalker (Ballantine Books); Patrick         Kendrick, Papa’s Problem (Blue Water Press)

 

BOOK DESIGN

Gold Medal Winner: Emmett H.L. Snellings, Jr., Seminole Views (Rainbow Books, Inc.)

 

 

 

 

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FLORIDA BOOK AWARDS/PAGE 3

 

Authors by Region

Boca Raton – Deborah and Joel Shlian

Chuluota – Loreen Leedy

Clearwater – Lisa Unger

Dania Beach – John Dufresne

Deland – Terri Witek

Delray Beach – John Tkac

Ft. Meyers – Gregg Turner

Jacksonville – Rodney L. Hurst Sr.

Jupiter – Donna Gephart

Lynn Haven – Anne Ake

Miami – Shawn Bean, Antonio Orlando Rodriguez

Miami Beach – John Stuart and John Stack, Campbell McGrath

Naples – Kristy Kiernan

Sarasota- Emmett H.L. Snellings, Jr., Tony D’Souza

Odessa – James Swain

Pensacola – Julie Gonzalez

St. Petersburg – Jeff Klinkenberg, Helen Pruitt Wallace

Tallahassee – Susan Womble, Frank Giampietro, David Kirby

Tampa – Debra Dean

West Palm Beach – Patrick Kendrick, Jose Alverez

 

 

The eight Gold Medal Winners will also be recognized on March 25 at the Historical and Cultural Awards Ceremony sponsored by the State of Florida’s Division of Cultural Affairs at the R.A. Gray Building in Tallahassee.  For information, contact: Jennifer Womble, State Library and Archives, (850) 245-6604. All awardees will be recognized at the Florida Library Association Conference Banquet on May 7 in Orlando.  For information, contact CMC & Associates at [log in to unmask] .

 

To learn more about Florida Book Awards, visit:  http://www.fsu.edu/~ams/.

 

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Wayne A. Wiegand, Director

Peggy Wright-Cleveland, Chair, Executive Committee

Florida Book Awards

Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL  32306-1821

(850)645-8202

[log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]

http://www.fsu.edu/~ams/