Oklahoma Center for the Book. 2009 Oklahoma Book Award Program.

              2009
Oklahoma Book Awards
20th Celebration of
Oklahoma Books
and Authors
Welcome to the
20th Annual
Oklahoma
Book
Awards
Ceremony
OKLAHOMA
BOOK
AWA R D
Shakespearean Sponsors
The Oklahoma Heritage Association
Pioneer Library System/Red Dirt Book Festival
Bob Burke
Hemingway Sponsors
The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation
Dunlap Codding, P.C.
2009 • Oklahoma Book Awards
Welcome Lynn McIntosh
President, Friends of the Oklahoma Center for the Book
Greetings from the State Library Susan McVey
Director, Oklahoma Department of Libraries
Master of Ceremonies The Honorable George Nigh
Former Governor of Oklahoma
Children/Young Adult Award Presentation Adrienne Butler
Children/Youth Services Consultant,
Oklahoma Department of Libraries
Non-Fiction Award Presentation Patricia Loughlin
Associate Professor of History, University of Central Oklahoma
Design/Illustration Award Presentation Karen Neurohr
Assessment Librarian, Oklahoma State University and
Board member, Friends of the Oklahoma Center for the Book
Poetry Award Presentation Sandra Soli
Recipient of the 2008 Poetry Award
Fiction Award Presentation Richard Rouillard
Board member. Friends of the Oklahoma Center for the Book
Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award C. Blue Clark
Honoring Robert J. Conley Instructor of Law, Oklahoma City University
Announcements Glenda Carlile
Executive Director, Oklahoma Center for the Book
Music provided by Oklahoma City University, Wanda L. Bass School of Music
The book sale and signing continues after dinner. Best of Books contributes all proceeds to the Friends of the
Oklahoma Center for the Book. Please enjoy visiting with the book award medalists and finalists.
CONGRATULATIONS
to finalists Frank Keating and Mike Wimmer for
The Trial of Standing Bear
1400 CLASSEN DRIVE • OKC • 405.235.4458 • www.oklahomaheritage.com
published by the
Oklahoma Heritage Association
The Leader in Publishing
Oklahoma’s History
Learn more about our publications, as well as programs providing scholarships and free
field trips to the Gaylord-Pickens Museum, at www.oklahomaheritage.com.
On the 20th anniversary
Creating a Literary Legacy for the State
If the goal of art is to speak to the world, then the literary arts do an exceptional job of ac-complishing
this. The art of the word is intimate and direct. As the reader scans the page,
absorbing the sentences and metaphors, her imagination and personal experiences, emo-tions
and knowledge are all called forth to add meaning and relevance to the story.
Oklahoma has always produced men and women of letters who have created outstand-ing
written art, and they have contributed mightily to the literary legacy of the nation. The
problem was, throughout most of the Twentieth Century, many people (even in Oklahoma)
did not connect these writers with Oklahoma. To this day, people can still register surprise to
learn that Ralph Ellison—the author of Invisible Man, one of the most important and notable
books of the last century—was born and raised in Oklahoma.
When Oklahoma established the fourth Center for the Book in the nation in 1986, the organi-zation’s
advisory board instinctively knew that its primary mission would be the celebration
of Oklahoma writers and their works.
“There was really nothing in our state at that time to recog-nize
authors and Oklahoma literature” according to Aarone
Corwin, a member of the organization’s first board, and
eventually the Center’s second executive director.
Corwin was there in those early years when the Center’s
“OCB Prize” committee was brainstorming ideas, establish-ing
criteria and categories, considering book award medal
designs, figuring out budgets, establishing panels of judges,
and convincing publishers and authors to submit six free
copies of a title in order to enter an Oklahoma literary com-petition.
“That first book award ceremony was a much simpler affair,”
Corwin said. Fifty-two people registered to attend a recep-tion
at the then National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma
City.
“It was a small wine and cheese gathering where we gave medals in the five categories, but
it brought wonderful recognition to the authors,” Corwin said, “and it made publishers aware
of our serious intent to promote Oklahoma authors and literature.”
From 1990, the Oklahoma Book Award’s
first Non-fiction winner
“After that, we really didn’t have any difficulty in getting
publishers and authors to submit nominations.”
The new Oklahoma Book Awards would grow greatly un-der
the Center’s two subsequent executive directors, Ann
Hamilton and Glenda Carlile, and through the support of the
Friends of the Oklahoma Center for the Book. The reception
became a dinner, attendance increased from 52 to more
than 200 today, book entries increased to more than 150 this
year, and the yearly list of finalists and medalists has come
to reflect the best of Oklahoma’s book community.
Today, Oklahoma’s annual literary competition and celebra-tion
is considered one of the most successful state book
award programs in the country. The Library of Congress
Center for the Book continues to recommend the Oklahoma
Center as a resource for other states exploring literary award
events.
Carlile, the Center’s current executive director (since 1996),
has been involved in the Oklahoma Book Awards since their
inception.
“When we first started,
many people had no idea how diverse Oklahoma’s literary
culture truly was,” Carlile said.
Diversity is certainly an apt description of the Book Award
finalists and medalists through the years. Just take a look at
two of the categories: non-fiction and fiction.
Non-fiction medal recipients have ranged from the personal
essays of William Paul Winchester in A Very Small Farm, to
Michael Wallis’s epic The Real Wild West: The 101 Ranch and
the Creation of the American West, to University of Oklahoma
professor Laurie J. Vitt’s ground-breaking zoological work,
Lizards: Windows to the Evolution of Diversity.
Fiction medalists include Billie Letts’s phenomenon, Where
the Heart Is, the courtroom thrillers of William Bernhardt, and
Rilla Askew’s stories of the Oklahoma (indeed, the American)
character.
Billie Letts’ first winner of the Oklahoma
Book Award for Fiction, in 1996—her
second award was for The Honk and
Holler Opening Soon in 1999.
1997 Ralph Ellison recipient Angie
Debo’s 1944 social history of an
Oklahoman town.
The Center has also worked to honor the state’s diverse
writers and scholars of the past with the posthumous Ralph
Ellison Award. Recipients include fearless truth-teller Angie
Debo, revered poets Melvin Tolson and John Berryman, pulp
fiction powerhouse Jim Thompson, and renaissance man/
everyman Woody Guthrie. Most of these writers were never
properly acknowledged in their home state, yet they are the
pioneers who began writing this state’s literary legacy.
Meanwhile, living writers are honored each year with an
Award for Lifetime Achievement, named after Norman his-torian
Arrell Gibson, the first president of the Center’s board.
Past Lifetime Award recipients include historians John Hope
Franklin, Michael Wallis, Bob Burke and David Dary; poets N.
Scott Momaday and Joy Harjo; science fiction masters R.L.
Lafferty and C.J. Cherryh; and award-winning childrens/
young adult authors Harold Keith, Bill Wallace, Joyce Carol
Thomas and S.E. Hinton.
When the curtain rings down on this Oklahoma Book Award ceremony, we will have bestowed
our 20th Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award to Cherokee novelist and poet Robert J.
Conley, and we will have honored additional books and their creators. But much more will
have happened.
Over the two decades of the Book Award program, we will have honored more than 600
finalists; presented medals to 126 writers, illustrators, photographers and book designers;
presented 112 medals to publishers of Book Award medalists; and posthumously paid tribute
to 10 of Oklahoma’s outstanding writers.
More importantly, we will have added more finalists and medalists to that growing list that
represents the best of Oklahoma writing and books. It is a list that will be available for future
generations as they began their exploration of our unique literary heritage. After all, that’s
what a legacy is all about.
2008 Arrell Gibson recipient David
Dary’s 1998 book on frontier journalism.
2009 Oklahoma Book Award Finalists
Children/Young Adult
Chosen—P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast—St Martin’s Press, New York, NY
Bloodlust and dark forces are at work at the House of Night and fledging vampyre Zoey
Redbird’s adventures at the school take a mysterious turn. In the third installment in their
House of Night Series, mother and daughter team, P.C. and Kristin Cast, continue to explore a
world where mankind and vampyres must live and work together. The first book in the series,
Marked, won the 2009 Oklahoma Book Award. Both authors live in the Tulsa metropolitan area.
On a Road in Africa—Kim Doner—Tricycle Press, Berkeley, CA
Author, illustrator, and animal rehabilitator Kim Doner opens up the world of Chryssee Perry
Martin (Mama O) and her work at the Nairobi Animal Orphanage. As a child, Doner aspired to
be a ballerina/veterinarian/artist. These dreams inspired her current adventures–writing and
illustrating children’s books, sharing her love of the arts through speaking and teaching, and
rehabilitating wildlife. The Tulsa resident has written nine children’s books. She received the
Oklahoma Book Award for illustration in 1996 for Green Snake Ceremony.
It Wasn’t Much: True Tales of Ten Oklahoma Heroes—Jana Hausburg—Forty-Sixth
Star Press, Oklahoma City, OK
Hausburg’s first book is a collection of short biographies that highlight the incredible, real-life
adventures of ten heroic Oklahomans. The heroes in this book were ordinary Oklahomans who
did extraordinary things. Each chapter has website addresses, suggestions for further reading,
and information on how to visit the historic places mentioned in the book. Hausburg is a
cataloger for the Metropolitan Library System in Oklahoma City.
The Trial of Standing Bear—Frank Keating—Oklahoma Heritage Association, Okla. City, OK
Former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating tells of the anguish and resolve of Ponca Chief
Standing Bear and his people as they are forced from their homeland, and their subsequent
fight to be treated like human beings. Governor of Oklahoma from 1995 to 2003, Keating is the
author of Will Rogers: An American Legend and Theodore, which received the 2007 International
Reading Association’s Children’s Book Award. He and his wife, Cathy, live in McLean, Virginia.
Spy—Anna Myers—Walker & Company, New York, NY
As a country fights for its freedom, Jonah Hawkins must make a choice as to where his loyalties
lie. His promise to his dying father that he would remain loyal to the king isn’t easy to keep
after he meets his new teacher Master Nathan Hale, especially after he hears Hale utter the
famous words, “I only regret I have but one life to lose for my country.” Myers has written over
a dozen books and received three Oklahoma Book Award medals. She lives in Chandler and is
president of the Oklahoma Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
The Spectacular Now—Tim Tharp—Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY
Sutter Keely is known as the master of the party until he wakes up in the front lawn of Aimee,
the new girl in town and a social disaster. For the first time in his life, Sutter has the power to
make a difference in someone’s life or ruin it forever. The Spectacular Now was a finalist in the
2008 National Book Awards. Tharp teaches in the humanities department at Rose State College
and was the recipient of the Oklahoma Book Award in 2008 for Knights of the Hill Country, his
first young adult novel.
Non-Fiction
Oklahoma: A History—W. David Baird and Danney Goble—University of Oklahoma
Press, Norman, OK
Baird and the late Danney Goble provide a centuries-spanning account regarding Oklahoma’s
history, including the varied landscape and its influences, indigenous peoples, and European
encounters and settlement. The authors explore the individuals and events in history that
helped shape our great state: Sequoyah, Alfalfa Bill Murray, Bertha Teague, Indian removal,
land runs, statehood, political elections, the Great Depression, and civil rights. Goble received
the Center’s posthumous Ralph Ellison Award last year.
A Letter to America—David Boren—University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK
Boren explores America’s place in a post 9/11 world. He contends that America is at a
crossroads in her history, as destructive partisan political bickering is threatening the very
fabric of the nation. He asserts the American people are growing cynical of our political system
and are losing faith in the country. He argues major bipartisan reforms must be implemented
to restore America’s position in the world. These reforms must take place in campaign finance,
education, and foreign policy.
Only in Oklahoma: Collected Columns Originally Published in the Tulsa World
during Oklahoma’s Centennial Year—Gene Curtis—World Publishing Co., Tulsa, OK
Newspaper reporter and editor Gene Curtis has compiled a variety of columns covering
the state’s history for this centennial project sponsored by the Tulsa World. Curtis covers
both individuals and events in Oklahoma’s history including the Dust Bowl, Oklahoma City
bombing, Tulsa’s Memorial Day flood, and Alfalfa Bill Murray’s Red River standoff. He also
includes stories regarding the state’s Native American population, logging towns, tornadoes,
law enforcement, and World War II heroes.
The Road to Monticello: The Life and Mind of Thomas Jefferson—Kevin J.
Hayes—Oxford University Press, New York, NY
Hayes provides a literary profile of one of America’s most well read presidents. He examines
Jefferson’s intellectual and spiritual growth by focusing on the books and writings that greatly
influenced him. Hayes gives examples of the writers and literary works from classical antiquity
to the popular literature of the day that Jefferson loved and held in his massive collection. He
gives insight into the other areas of Jefferson’s interest outside politics including education,
history, law, and science. Jefferson’s passion for learning and the written word led to the
creation of the “academic village,” later known as the University of Virginia. Hayes is a professor
of English at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.
The Chouteaus: First Family of the Fur Trade—Stan Hoig—University of New Mexico
Press, Albuquerque, NM
Hoig traces the Chouteau family for four generations and describes their relationship to the
development of the American West. The Chouteaus, a French Creole family, led the fur trade
along the Mississippi River, founded the city of Saint Louis, and helped create a global fur
market. Moreover, they assisted Lewis and Clarke during their westward exploration, and
helped the federal government develop treaties among the Indian tribes. Hoig received the
Oklahoma Book Award in 1991 in the children/young adult category for A Capitol for the
Nation. He is professor emeritus of journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.
Grappling with Demon Rum: The Cultural Struggle over Liquor in Early
Oklahoma—James E. Klein—University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK
Klein examines both the cultural and social conflict that led Oklahoma to become a dry state,
prior to the national prohibition law in 1919. He investigates the role of the Oklahoma Anti-
Saloon League, middle-class citizenry, Catholic and Protestant groups, rural and urban forces,
and the working class that engaged in the debate regarding liquor. He also describes the
role of law enforcement in attempting to enforce prohibition legislation. Klein is an assistant
professor of history in Texas.
In Reckless Hands: Skinner V. Oklahoma and the Near Triumph of American
Eugenics—Victoria F. Nourse—W. W. Norton & Company, New York, NY
Eugenics is often synonymous with Nazi, Germany, but during the early part of the twentieth
century America witnessed the popularity of eugenics as many state legislatures passed
sterilization laws. Nourse examines the eugenics movement in the United States, and how
legislation attempted to create a better society by sterilizing the mentally ill and habitual
criminals. She explores the movement in Oklahoma as the threat of sterilization led many
Congratulations to Gene Curtis and his book
Only in Oklahoma for being a finalist in the
2009 Oklahoma Book Award competition.
inmates in McAlester prison to riot in 1936. She provides detailed information regarding Jack
Skinner and his legal case against the state that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Nourse is a law professor at the University of Wisconsin and Emory University.
The Nez Perces in the Indian Territory: Nimiipuu Survival—J. Diane Pearson—
University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK
Utilizing new sources and oral histories, Pearson provides new insight into the plight of the
Nimiipuu and the Nez Perces’ struggle with the federal government, during their forced
removal from Montana to Fort Leavenworth, the Quapaw Reservation, and the Ponca Agency.
The author describes a story of survival and determination as the Nimiipuu advocated for their
aboriginal and civil rights and to be relocated back to their homeland. While imprisoned, these
people learned how to deal with the federal authorities, which ultimately led to their 1885
release. Pearson teaches at the University of California, Berkeley.
Full-Court Quest: The Girls from Fort Shaw Indian School, Basketball Champions
of the World—Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith—University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK
In this account of Montana’s Fort Shaw Indian School girls’ basketball teams, Peavy and Smith
provide a detailed account of how ten young women, representing seven Indian nations,
became world champions while bringing attention to this new American sport. The authors
use the story of the girls’ basketball team as a springboard to talk about tribes and tribal
histories, while exploring both the positive and negative aspects of Indian boarding schools.
Peavy is a former instructor of Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee.
Hunting the American West: The Pursuit of Big Game for Life, Profit, and Sport,
1800–1900—Richard C. Rattenbury—Boone and Crockett, Missoula, MT
Rattenbury’s research into big game hunting in the American West during the eighteenth
century is drawn from original written documents from those individuals engaged in hunting
as well as spectators. The author provides an easy-to-read narrative account regarding the
history of big game hunting including the species, subsistence, and commerce, as well as a
variety of hunting methods and weaponry utilized by hunters. Rattenbury is curator of history
at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.
Design/Illustration
Juxtapositions: Brunel Faris and the Visual Arts in Oklahoma City—Design by Carl
Brune—Full Circle Press, Oklahoma City, OK
Three-time Oklahoma Book Award medalist Carl Brune brings his talent and design sense to as-sist
authors Christiane Faris and Margaret Flansburg as they relate the life and impact of Brunel
Faris, whose forty year career as an artist, teacher and administrator were uniquely entwined
with the growth and development of Oklahoma City’s visual arts community. A native of Enid,
Brune lives in Tulsa.
On a Road in Africa—Illustrations by Kim Doner—Tricycle Press, Berkeley, CA
Doner’s work represents the epitome of children’s book illustration, where the art works seam-lessly
with the written word. Here, the two elements tell the story of the author/illustrator’s very
personal journey to Africa. Doner is a six-time Oklahoma Book Award finalist in this category. The
Tulsa artist received the Oklahoma Book Award in 1996 for Green Snake Ceremony. Tonight, she
is also a finalist in the children/young adult category for On a Road in Africa.
Charles Faudree Interiors—Photography by Jennifer Jordan, Design by Debra
McQuiston—Gibbs Smith, Layton, UT
McQuiston employs a clear, clean design in this oversize volume to provide the perfect canvas for
Jordan’s crisp photography of Faudree’s Country French Interiors. Faudree is one of Oklahoma’s
(and America’s) top interior designers. He lives in Tulsa. This is the third book exploring his sig-nature
Country French style with co-author M.J. Van Deventer.
They Know Who They Are—Illustrations by Mike Larsen—Chickasaw Press, Ada, OK
Larsen’s paintings of living Chickasaw elders go beyond simple portraiture, conveying an inti-macy
and understanding of the subjects. An award-winning Chickasaw artist, Larsen is especially
known for paintings and sculptures of dancing figures. He is best known to many Oklahomans
for his Flight of Spirit mural at the State Capitol, a work that honors the state’s five famous Indian
ballerinas. In 2006, Oklahoma Today magazine named Larsen Oklahoman of the Year. They Know
Who They Are is a joint effort with his wife, writer Martha Larsen.
How We Lived: A Pictorial History of the Places Oklahomans Have Called Home—
Design by Holley Mangham—Oklahoma Housing Finance Authority, Oklahoma City, OK
This book is a celebration of the places Oklahomans have called home, from tee pees to sod
houses to the modern brick suburban abode. Beyond architecture, many photos feature the
people who also made it feel like home, providing additional insight into the way we used to
live. Mangham presents the photos in chronological order to emphasize the changing styles of
housing, but the people in the photos tell us how much we remain the same.
What Dogs Want for Christmas—Illustrations by Kandy Radzinski—Sleeping Bear
Press, Chelsea, MI
Here it is—Radzinski’s canine response to last year’s Oklahoma Book Award winner, What Cats
Want for Christmas. These puppies ask Santa for everything from “mittens made of Persian kittens”
to a “loving home with someone to hold me and call me their own.” The unique character of the
different dogs shine through thanks to the artist’s craftsmanship. The three-time book award
winner lives in Tulsa with her husband Mark and son Ian.
Placing Memory: A Photographic Exploration of Japanese Internment—
Photography by Todd Stewart, Design by Eric H. Anderson and Karen Hayes-
Thumann—University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK
The quality and starkness of Stewart’s photographs of former Japanese Internment campsites
as they appear today, are juxtaposed with warm World War II era photos of the camps filled with
activity. The contrast is striking—where there was life (and internment), now there is abandon-ment
(and freedom). Anderson and Hayes-Thumann’s design is spare, uncluttered and intimate.
Photographer Stewart and graphic designers Anderson and Hayes-Thumann are all on the faculty
of the University of Oklahoma’s School of Art and Art History.
The Trial of Standing Bear—Illustrations by Mike Wimmer—Oklahoma Heritage
Association, Oklahoma City, OK
Mike Wimmer’s paintings are so detailed and precise, they make Frank Keating’s history of this
famous trial truly come alive for the young reader. Wimmer is a seven-time finalist in this category.
He received the Oklahoma Book Award in 1995 for All the Places to Love. He illustrated Home Run:
The Story of Babe Ruth, named an American Library Association Notable Children’s Book, and
Flight: The Journey of Charles Lindbergh, recipient of the Orbis Pictus Award for nonfiction. He
lives in Norman with his family.
Poetry
Lessons from an Oklahoma Girlhood—Dorothy Alexander—Village Books Press,
Cheyenne, OK
“Childhood was a journey I didn’t recognize until it was over,” Alexander writes in her
introduction to this collaborative work. Now in her seventies, she discovered “an urgency to
tell the story of that journey, to write down my version of how I got to this point.” Eighteen
Oklahoma women artists contribute visual art in response to each poem. As the artwork came
in, Alexander says “it became apparent that my personal memories spoke to the universal
experience of those who lived their childhood in this place we call Oklahoma.” Alexander is co-owner
of Village Books Press. This is her fourth book of poetry.
Two Tables Over—Nathan Brown—Village Books Press, Cheyenne, OK
Brown describes himself as “a poet, musician, photographer or problem … depending on
who’s talking.” He’s also a traveler, a teacher, and that shrewd observer two tables over at a
local Norman coffee house. His revelations about what he sees transform both the poet and
his readers. This is his third time as a finalist in the poetry category. His books Suffer the Little
Voices and Not Exactly Job also received the honor.
Congratulations on your nomination!
On a Road in Africa by Kim Doner
$15.95 • Hardcover
Available now where books are sold.
Tricycle Press www.tricyclepress.com • www.crownpublishing.com
“Kim Doner has exquisitely opened [a] fascinating world to
you in her book.” —Jack Hanna, TV’s wildlife expert and
Director Emeritus, Columbus Zoo.
“In rhyming, chiming, sing-song words, this upbeat picture
book introduces a day in the life of animal conservationist
Chrysee Martin, who runs the Nairobi Animal Orphanage.”
—Booklist
2009 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young
People, NCSS-CBC
99 99
VILLAGE BOOKS PRESS
Cheyenne, Oklahoma
Publishing Oklahoma Writers Since 2002
CONGRATULATES
All 2009 Finalists!
Antidotes & Home Remedies—Jim Chastain—Village Books Press, Cheyenne, OK
Chastain’s poetry incorporates dark humor, keen observations, and moments of grace and joy.
The first half of the book finds him wrestling with his ongoing struggle with terminal cancer,
while the second “home remedies” half is filled with meditations that have arisen through his
journaling. The Norman writer has penned two other books: I Survived Cancer but Never Won
the Tour de France and Like Some First Human Being. Chastain also blogs about his journey on
NewsOK.com.
Shots On—Carol Hamilton—Finishing Line Press—Georgetown, KY
What do you see when you look at a photograph? If you’re Carol Hamilton, you see poetry.
Inspired by early women photographers, the award-winning Midwest City writer pays homage
to these pioneers of the lens and their photographic art. As a result, Main Street Rag Press
editor M. Scott Douglass says Hamilton has given us “a collection of poems worthy of framing.”
This former elementary school teacher and college professor was Poet Laureate of Oklahoma
1995–1997. She received the Oklahoma Book Award in poetry in 1992 for Once the Dust.
Rounding the Human Corners—Linda Hogan—Coffee House Press, Minneapolis, MN
The intimate connections between all living things and the layers that both protect and
disguise our affinities is the theme of Hogan’s first book of poetry since 1993’s The Book of
Medicines. A Chickasaw poet, novelist, playwright, teacher and activist, Hogan has won many
awards and has spent most of her life in Oklahoma and Colorado. Her novel Mean Spirit
received the 1991 Oklahoma Book Award in fiction. She is also a finalist in the fiction category
tonight.
Fiction
People of the Whale—Linda Hogan—W. W. Norton & Company, New York, NY
Thomas Witka, a Vietnam veteran, is torn between his war experience and his Native American
community. His tribe is in conflict over the decision to hunt a whale, both a symbol of
spirituality and rebirth and a means of survival. Hogan is known for taking on the most difficult
contemporary Native issues. She was inducted into the Chickasaw Nation Hall of Fame in 2007.
She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the recipient of the Oklahoma Book Award for her
novel Mean Spirit. She lives in Tishomingo.
Made in the U.S.A.—Billie Letts—Grand Central Publishing, New York, NY
Lett’s first novel, Where the Heart Is, won the Oklahoma Book Award, sold more than three
million copies, was an Oprah Book choice, and became a major motion picture. Her second
novel, The Honk and Holler Opening Soon, received the Oklahoma Book Award and was named
the first Oklahoma Reads Oklahoma selection. Her third novel, Shoot the Moon was both a
New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller. In this fourth novel, Lutie McFee and her
younger brother Fate are left on their own when their aunt dies in the local WalMart. Rather
than becoming wards of the court, the two motherless children hightail it across the country
in their aunt’s old Pontiac, facing a cruel, unfair, and frightening world.
Trudy’s Promise—Marcia Preston—Mira Books, Don Mills, ON, Canada
Trudy Hulst’s husband is killed attempting an escape past the newly constructed Berlin Wall.
Branded the wife of a defector and facing a life in prison, she has no choice but to escape to
the West, leaving behind her young son and his maternal grandmother. This historical thriller
traces Trudy’s desperate attempts to regain her son, including a journey to America. Preston is
a five-time finalist in this category. She received the Oklahoma Book Award in 2004 for Song of
the Bones.
To Honor the Dead—Joseph W. Shaw—University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM
A finalist for the New Mexico Book Award, this book traces the old Tyree homestead in western
Oklahoma from the earliest beginnings of the white man’s relentless march across the Great
Plains through the shameful Indian tribal relocations and bloody military campaigns of the late
1800s. Now after nearly a century, a more recent tragedy is coming to light. Shaw was born
and raised in western Oklahoma. He currently lives in Albuquerque with Gina, his wife and
business partner for forty-three years.
The Black Hand—Will Thomas—A Touchstone Book published by Simon and Schuster
The Barker and Llewelyn novels, set in Victorian England, have become one of the best
historical-mystery series. In this, fifth of the series, sleuths Cyrus Barker and his assistant
Thomas Llewelyn are called to investigate an Italian assassin’s body floating in a barrel in
London’s East end. Soon, corpses begin to appear all over London, each accompanied by a
Mafia Black Hand note. The Tulsa author won the 2005 Oklahoma Book Award for Some Danger
Involved. All of his Barker/Llewelyn mysteries have been honored as Book Award finalists.
Thomas lives in Tulsa with his family.
Sweeping up Glass—Carolyn D. Wall—Poisoned Pen Press, Scottsdale, AZ
1938 is the coldest winter ever recorded in Aurora, Kentucky, but poverty has the greatest grip.
On a strip of icy mountain, Olivia Harker raises her grandson, runs a declining grocery store,
and tolerates her crazy mother. When Olivia sets out to discover who is killing the wolves on
her land, she discovers something much more sinister than a simple poaching scheme. This
debut novel has received glowing reviews, and Wall’s writing is being compared to that of
Harper Lee and Flannery O’Conner. Wall lives in Oklahoma City, has completed her second
novel, and is working on the third. Poisoned Pen Press has sold out of the book, but a new
edition by Random House will be available in the fall.
robert J. Conley
Recipient of the 2009 Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award
One of Oklahoma’s most prolific authors, Conley was born in Cushing in 1940. His first novel, Back
to Malachi, was published in 1986. Since that time he has had more than seventy books published,
both fiction and non-fiction. His poems and short stories have been published in numerous peri-odicals
and anthologies over the years, including some in Germany, France, Belgium, New Zealand
and Yugoslavia. His poems have been published in English, Cherokee, and Macedonian.
Conley is known for his accurate depiction of the old West, focusing on the history, tradition, and
folklore of the Cherokee people. A member of the Western Writers of America, he has won Spur
Awards for two of his novels, Nickajack and The Dark Island, and for his short story “Yellow Bird:
An Imaginary Autobiography.” The Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers named him
Wordcrafter of the Year in 1997. That same year, he was also inducted into the Oklahoma Profes-sional
Writers Hall of Fame. Also in 2007, his book Cherokee Medicine Man was part of the annual
literary six-pack for the Oklahoma Reads Oklahoma statewide centennial literary celebration.
He is an enrolled member of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. Con-ley
has been assistant programs manager for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, director of Indian
Studies at Bacone College, associate professor of English at Morningside College, coordinator of
Indian Culture at Eastern Montana College, and instructor of English at Southwest Missouri State
University and at Northern Illinois University. He is the new Sequoyah Distinguished Professor in
Cherokee Studies at Western Carolina University.
The Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award
The Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award is presented each year to recognize a body
of work. This award is named for the Norman, Oklahoma, historian who served as the first
president of the Oklahoma Center for the Book.
20Years
Non-Fiction
1990 • Leonard Leff, Hitchcock & Selznick
1991 • Carl Albert and Danney Goble, Little Giant
1992 • David Morgan, Robert England, and
George Humphreys, Oklahoma Politics &
Policies: Governing the Sooner State
1993 • Henry Bellmon and Pat Bellmon, The Life
and Times of Henry Bellmon; and
Daniel Boorstin, The Creators
1994 • J. Brent Clark, 3rd Down and Forever
1995 • Dennis McAuliffe Jr.,
The Deaths of Sybil Bolton
1996 • William Paul Winchester,
A Very Small Farm
1997 • Annick Smith, Big Bluestem:
A Journey Into the Tall Grass
1998 • John Hope Franklin and John
Whittington Franklin, Editors;
My Life and an Era: The Autobiography of
Buck Colbert Franklin
1999 • Bob Burke, From Oklahoma to Eternity: The
Life of Wiley Post and the Winnie Mae
2000 • Michael Wallis, The Real Wild West: The 101
Ranch and the Creation of the American West
2001 • David LaVere, Contrary Neighbors:
Southern Plains and Removed Indians in
Indian Territory
2002 • Lydia L. Wyckoff, Editor; Woven Worlds:
Basketry from the Clark Field Collection
2003 • Michael A. Mares, A Desert Calling: Life in a
Forbidding Landscape
2004 • Eric R. Pianka and Laurie J. Vitt, Lizards:
Windows to the Evolution of Diversity
2005 • Ed Cray, Ramblin’ Man: The Life and Times of
Woody Guthrie
2006 • Timothy Egan, The Worst Hard Time
2007 • Charles Robert Goins and Danney Goble,
Historical Atlas of Oklahoma, Fourth Edition
2008 • Nancy Isenberg, Fallen Founder: The Life of
Aaron Burr
Fiction
1990 • Robert Love Taylor, The Lost Sister
1991 • Linda Hogan, Mean Spirit
1992 • Robert L. Duncan, The Serpent’s Mark
1993 • Rilla Askew, Strange Business
1994 • Eve Sandstrom, Down Home Heifer Heist
1995 • William Bernhardt, Perfect Justice
1996 • Billie Letts, Where the Heart Is
1997 • Stewart O’Nan, The Names of the Dead
1998 • Rilla Askew, The Mercy Seat
1999 • Billie Letts,
The Honk and Holler Opening Soon
2000 • William Bernhardt, Dark Justice
2001 • Carolyn Hart, Sugarplum Dead
2002 • Douglas Kelley, The Captain’s Wife
2003 • Diane Glancy, The Mask Maker: A Novel
2004 • M.K. Preston, Song of the Bones
2005 • Will Thomas, Some Danger Involved
2006 • David Kent, The Black Jack Conspiracy
2007 • Sheldon Russell, Dreams to Dust:
A Tale of the Oklahoma Land Rush
2008 • Rilla Askew, Harpsong
Children/Young Adult
1990 • Helen Roney Sattler,
Tyrannosaurus Rex and Its Kin
1991 • Stan Hoig, A Capital for the Nation
1992 • Jess and Bonnie Speer, Hillback to Boggy
1993 • Anna Myers, Red Dirt Jessie
winners
1994 • Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith, Cherokee Summer
1995 • Russell G. Davis and Brent Ashabranner,
The Choctaw Code
1996 • Anna Myers, Graveyard Girl
1997 • Barbara Snow Gilbert, Stone Water
1998 • S. L. Rottman, Hero
1999 • Barbara Snow Gilbert, Broken Chords
2000 • Harold Keith, Brief Garland: Ponytails,
Basketball, and Nothing But Net
2001 • Joyce Carol Thomas, Hush Songs
2002 • Molly Levite Griffis, The Rachel Resistance
2003 • Darleen Bailey Beard,
The Babbs Switch Story
2004 • Children—Una Belle Townsend,
Grady’s in the Silo
Young Adult—Sharon Darrow, The
Painters of Lexieville
2005 • Children—Joyce Carol Thomas, The
Gospel Cinderella
Young Adult—Molly Levite Griffis,
Simon Says
2006 • Anna Myers, Assassin
2007 • Children—Tim Tingle,
Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of
Friendship and Freedom
Young Adult—Tim Tharp,
Knights of the Hill Country
2008 • Children—Devin Scillian,
Pappy’s Handkerchief
Young Adult—P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast,
Marked: A House of Night Novel
Design/Illustration
1990 • David E. Hunt,
The Lithographs of Charles Banks Wilson
1991 • Carol Haralson, Cleora's Kitchens
1992 • Joe Williams, Woolaroc
1993 • Design—Carol Haralson, Will Rogers:
Courtship and Correspondence
Illustration—Kandy Radzinski,
The Twelve Cats of Christmas
1994 • Deloss McGraw, Fish Story
1995 • Mike Wimmer, All the Places to Love
1996 • Kim Doner, Green Snake Ceremony
1997 • Carol Haralson and Harvey Payne,
Big Bluestem: A Journey into the Tall Grass
1998 • Carol Haralson, Visions and Voices: Native
American Painting from the Philbrook
Museum of Art
1999 • David Fitzgerald,
Bison: Monarch of the Plains
2000 • Carol Haralson, Glory Days of Summer: The
History of Baseball in Oklahoma
2001 • Lane Smith,
The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip
2002 • Carl Brune, Woven Worlds: Basketry from
the Clark Field Collection
2003 • Murv Jacob, The Great Ball Game of the
Birds and Animals
2004 • Design—Scott Horton and Jim Argo,
Family Album: A Centennial Pictorial of the
Oklahoma Publishing Company
Illustration—Kandy Radzinski,
S is for Sooner
2005 • Carol Haralson, A History of the Oklahoma
Governor’s Mansion
2006 • Design—Carol Haralson, Home: Native
People in the Southwest
Illustration—Jon Goodell,
Mother, Mother, I Want Another
2007 • Design—Carl Brune,
OKC: Second Time Around
Illustration—Jeanne Rorex Bridges,
Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of
Friendship and Freedom
6"
7"
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2008 • Design—Carl Brune, Photography—Scott
Raffe, Oklahoma: A Portrait of America
Illustration—Kandy Radzinski, What Cats
Want for Christmas
Poetry
1990 • William Kistler, The Elizabeth Sequence
1992 • Carol Hamilton, Once the Dust
1993 • Jim Barnes, The Sawdust War
1994 • Carter Revard, An Eagle Nation
1995 • Joy Harjo,
The Woman Who Fell from the Sky
1996 • Francine Ringold, The Trouble with Voices
1997 • Renata Treitel, translation of Rosita
Copioli’s The Blazing Lights of the Sun
1998 • Betty Shipley, Somebody Say Amen
1999 • Mark Cox, Thirty-Seven Years from the Stone
2000 • N. Scott Momaday, In the Bear’s House
2001 • Carolyne Wright,
Seasons of Mangoes and Brainfire
2002 • Ivy Dempsey, The Scent of Water: New and
Selected Poems
2003 • Joy Harjo, How We Became Human: New and
Selected Poems
2004 • Laura Apol, Crossing the Ladder of Sun
2005 • Francine Ringold, Still Dancing
2006 • Leanne Howe, Evidence of Red
2007 • Carl Sennhenn,
Travels Through Enchanted Woods
2008 • Sandra Soli, What Trees Know
Arrell Gibson Lifetime
Achievement Award
1990 • Daniel Boorstin—Librarian of Congress
Emeritus—native of Tulsa
1991 • Tony Hillerman—award winning mystery
writer—native of Sacred Heart
1992 • Savoie Lottinville—Director of the
University of Oklahoma Press for 30 years
1993 • Harold Keith—Newbery Award winning
children's author—Norman
1994 • N. Scott Momaday—Pulitzer Prize
winning Kiowa author—native of Lawton
1995 • R.A. Lafferty—Hugo Award winning
author—Tulsa
1996 • John Hope Franklin—historian—
native of Rentiesville
1997 • S.E. Hinton—author of young adult
novels—Tulsa
1998 • Jack Bickham—novelist, teacher and
journalist—Norman
1999 • Michael Wallis—historian and
biographer—Tulsa
2000 • Bill Wallace—writer of novels for young
people—Chickasha
2001 • Joyce Carol Thomas—children and adult
fiction author, and playwright—native of
Ponca City
2002 • World Literature Today—The University of
Oklahoma, Norman
2003 • Joy Harjo—poet and member of the
Muscogee Nation—native of Tulsa
2004 • Carolyn Hart—award winning mystery
writer—Oklahoma City
2005 • C.J. Cherryh—Hugo Award winning
author— Oklahoma City
2006 • Bob Burke—Oklahoma historian—
Oklahoma City
2007 • Clifton Taulbert—award-winning
author—Tulsa
2008 • David Dary—award-winning author—
Norman
Ralph Ellison Award
1995 • Ralph Ellison—National Book Award
winner—Oklahoma City
1997 • Angie Debo—“First Lady of Oklahoma
History”—Marshall
1999 • Melvin Tolson—poet, journalist, and
dramatist—Langston
2000 • Jim Thompson—novelist and
screenwriter—Anadarko
2002 • John Berryman—poet, biographer, and
editor—McAlester
Read About It
Congratulates the Center
for the Book on its 20 th
Annual Celebration of
Oklahoma Books and
Authors.
Read About It airs on Cox Cable.
Please check your local listings.
2004 • Lynn Riggs—playwright and
screenwriter—Claremore
2005 • Woody Guthrie—author, illustrator, and
songwriter—Okemah
2006 • John Joseph Mathews—Osage novelist
and historian—Pawhuska
2007 • Muriel Wright—acclaimed Oklahoma
historian—Oklahoma City
2008 • Danney Glenn Goble—acclaimed
Oklahoma historian—Tulsa
Past Presidents
Arrell Gibson was the first president of the Okla-homa
Center for the Book. The Center’s lifetime
achievement award is named for Dr. Gibson, a
historian.
Dan Blanchard, Oklahoma City—1988–1990
Judy Moody, Tulsa—1990–1992
David Clark, Norman—1992–1993
Glenda Carlile, Oklahoma City—1994–1995
Laurie Sundborg, Tulsa—1996-1997
Liz Codding, Oklahoma City—1998–2000
B.J. Williams, Oklahoma City—2001–2004
M.J. VanDeventer, Okla. City—2005–2007
Directors Awards
Presented by the Awards Committee for works
of special merit
2004 • Doris Eaton Travis, The Days We Danced:
The Story of My Theatrical Family
2005 • B. Byron Price, Fine Art of the West
Deborah Duvall and Murv Jacob, The
Series of Grandmother Stories
2006 • Patricia Loughlin, Hidden Treasurers of the
American West
Past Executive Directors
Jan Blakely—1986–1988
Aarone Corwin—1988–1990
Ann Hamilton—1991–1996
Awards for
Distinguished Service
1999 • Daniel Boorstin—
Librarian of Congress Emeritus
John Y. Cole—Director, Center of the Book
in the Library of Congress since 1977
Robert L. Clark—Director, Oklahoma
Department of Libraries, 1976–2000
Lee Brawner—Director of the
Metropolitan Library System, 1972–1999
2000 • Ken Jackson—Tulsa World editor and
columnist—Oklahoma Center for the Book
Board Member, 1988–2000
2001 • Julie Hovis and Kathy Kinasewitz—
owners of Best of Books, booksellers for the
Oklahoma Book Awards
2002 • Dan Blanchard—a founding member of
the Oklahoma Center for the Book and
Master of Ceremonies for the book award
ceremony for eleven years
2005 • Fran Ringold—Oklahoma poet laureate
and the founder and editor for over forty
years of the international literary journal
Nimrod
2006 • Oklahoma Today—
for fifty years of publication
2007 • Bill Young—Public Information Manager,
Oklahoma Department of Libraries
2008 • Bob Burke—author, and supporter of the
Oklahoma Center for the Book
B.J. Williams—producer and host of
“Read About It,” and Past President of the
Oklahoma Center for the Book
Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency
congratulates
Holley Mangham
2009 Oklahoma Book Award Design & Illustration Finalist
2612 South Harvard, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74114 • 918–743–3544
The Oklahoma Center for the Book
wishes to thank the judges
for the 2009 competition
Keith Allen
Mary Ann Blochowiak
Adrienne Butler
Mark Cotner
Brian Dahlvang
Julie Dill
Bettie Estes-Rickner
Kathryn Fanning
Dee Fisher
Danney Gordon
Gerald Hibbs
Michael Hull
Carol Davis Koss
Patricia Loughlin
Sharon Martin
Louisa McCune-Elmore
Raymond D. Munkres
Kitty Pittman
Richard Rouillard
Sandy Shropshire
Kristin Sorocco
William R. Struby
Leah Taylor
Al Turner
Revere Young
The Center acknowledges the
generous contributions
of the following organizations
and individuals
Barnes and Noble
Best of Books, Edmond
Bill and Irene’s Flowers
Center for the Book in the Library of Congress
Chickasaw Regional Library System
Rodger Harris, Research Division
of the Oklahoma Historical Society
Fred Marvel, Photographer
Oklahoma Department of Libraries
Oklahoma Heritage Association
University of Oklahoma Press
Special thanks to
Ceremony Committee—B.J. Williams (chair), Gini Campbell,
Karen Klinka, and Kitty Pittman
Public Information Office, Oklahoma Department of Libraries—
Glenda Carlile, Connie Armstrong,
Michael O’Hasson, Bill Petrie,
Bill Struby, and Bill Young
3004 NW 23 Street (405) 943–3353
Oklahoma City, OK 73107
Bill & Irene’s Flowers
Proudly serving the Oklahoma
City metro area since 1935.
Project Highlights
The Oklahoma Center for the Book (OCB) in the Oklahoma Department of Libraries and its Friends
support group have participated in several events in the last year. Other exciting events are an-ticipated
in the coming months.
Oklahoma Author Database—At long last, Oklahoma author information is being collected in a
database and is available for use by libraries, schools and individuals. Log on to www.crossroads.
odl.state.ok.us, and click “collections” and “authors” to see this work-in-progress.
Letters About Literature is a contest co-sponsored with the Center for the Book in the Library
of Congress and Target Corporation. Students write a letter to an author, living or dead, telling
how a book has influenced his or her life.
Kids Caught Reading is an annual event that the Center has been pleased to participate in for
several years. Friends of the Center will again give $25 prizes to ten students from across the state
who are “caught reading” in their spare time.
For the last six years the Center has participated in the National Book Festival in Washington,
D.C. Executive Director Glenda Carlile and Board member Connie Armstrong were fortunate to
attend the festival last fall, promoting our state and its authors.
The Friends of the Center for the Book provided funds to sponsor a speaker at the 2008 Oklahoma
Library Association annual conference, and plan to participate again in 2009. This year, the
Friends are a sponsor of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Oklahoma Library Association’s
Sequoyah Children’s Book Award.
The Oklahoma Center for the Book is pleased to participate in the Red Dirt Book Festival in
Shawnee, November 5–7, 2009.
Information is available for membership to the Friends of the Oklahoma Center for the Book—
please call 405–522–3575.
The Friends of the Oklahoma Center for the Book
thank Bob Burke for making this evening possible.
We appreciate your many years of support for the
Book Award program and other Oklahoma Center for
the Book projects. Bob, you’re the best!
Connie Armstrong—Norman
Bettye Black—Langston
Bob Burke—Oklahoma City
Glenda Carlile—Oklahoma City
Linda Edmondson—Oklahoma City
Louix Escobar-Matute—Tulsa
Jennifer Greenstreet—Ada
Julia Harmon—Shawnee
Rodger Harris—Oklahoma City
Gerald Hibbs—Edmond
Julie Hovis—Edmond
Karen Klinka—Edmond
Susan McVey—Oklahoma City
Raymond Munkres—Midwest City
Karen Neurohr—Stillwater
Kitty Pittman—Oklahoma City
Julie Porter—Oklahoma City
Judy Randle—Tulsa
Richard Rouillard—Oklahoma City
Sandra Soli—Oklahoma City
Kristin Sorocco—Oklahoma City
Sue Stees—Tulsa
Laurie Sundborg—Tulsa
M.J. Van Deventer—Oklahoma City
B.J. Williams—Oklahoma City
William R. Young—Oklahoma City
Friends of the Center
The Friends of the Oklahoma Center for the Book is a non-profit, 501–c-3 organization.
The Friends is a cultural and educational corporation to advance and promote the role
of the book and reading in Oklahoma. The Friends of the Oklahoma Center for the Book
supports and further enhances the programs and projects of the Oklahoma Center for
the Book in the Oklahoma Department of Libraries and the Center for the Book in the
Library of Congress. A volunteer board of directors from across the state governs the
Friends.
President—Lynn McIntosh—Ardmore
Vice-President—Kirk Bjornsgaard—Norman
Secretary—Wayne Hanway—McAlester
Treasurer—Gini Moore Campbell—Oklahoma City
200 NE 18 Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73105–3298
www.odl.state.ok.us/ocb 405–522–3575