The Oregon Book Award winners were announced on Monday at a ceremony in front of a live audience for the first time in nearly three years.
Given out annually since 1987 and administered by nonprofit organization Literary Arts, the prizes recognize the work of the state’s finest authors and poets.
This year’s event was headlined by West Linn-based author Omar El Akkad, whose novel “What Strange Paradise” won the Ken Kesey Award for Fiction. Playwright and screenwriter Cynthia Whitcomb was also recognized with a Literary Legacy Award in recognition of her outstanding, long-term support of Oregon’s literary community.
The full list of winners:
Omar El Akkad (West Linn), “What Strange Paradise: A Novel”
Dao Strom (Portland), “Instrument”
Breena Bard (Portland), “Trespassers: A Graphic Novel”
Jacob Darwin Hamblin (Corvallis), “The Wretched Atom: America’s Global Gamble with Peaceful Nuclear Technology”
Allison Cobb (Portland), “Plastic: An Autobiography”
Courtney Gould (Salem), “The Dead and the Dark”
Jennie Englund (Ashland), “Taylor Before and After”
Cynthia Whitcomb (Wilsonville), playwriter and screenwriter
Copyright 2022 Oregon Public Broadcasting. To see more, visit Oregon Public Broadcasting. 9(MDAyMTQyNzY5MDEyNzEzNTYyNDliZTBiOA004))