{"id":482,"date":"2019-07-17T18:18:23","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T18:18:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wcsu.wpengine.com\/news-archives\/housatonic-book-awards-winners\/"},"modified":"2019-07-17T18:18:23","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T18:18:23","slug":"housatonic-book-awards-winners","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/housatonic-book-awards-winners\/","title":{"rendered":"2014 Housatonic Book Award winners named, readings scheduled"},"content":{"rendered":"
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DANBURY, CONN. <\/strong>\u2014 The Western Connecticut State University<\/a> Master of Fine Arts in Creative and Professional Writing<\/a> program last spring launched the first Housatonic Book Awards<\/a> in cooperation with the M.F.A. Alumni Writers\u2019 Cooperative (AWC). The awards were created to recognize excellence in the areas of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and writing for middle grades and young adults. Winners in each category were selected in October 2014, and each will receive a $1,000 honorarium and $500 travel stipend to appear during an M.F.A. program residency to give a public reading and present a master class to M.F.A. students. The winners are:<\/p>\n

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Fiction <\/strong>

\n Winner: \u201cCartwheel<\/a>,\u201d by Jennifer duBois (Random House)

\n Finalists: \u201cThe Fifty-First State,\u201d by Lisa Borders (Engine Books); \u201cThe Mourning Hours,\u201d by Paula Treick DeBoard (Harlequin MIRA); \u201cMy Notorious Life,\u201d by Kate Manning (Scribner); and \u201cRiver of Dust,\u201d by Virginia Pye (Unbridled Books)<\/p>\n

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Poetry<\/strong>

\n Winner: \u201cBegin Empty-Handed<\/a>,\u201d by Gail Martin (Perugia Press)

\nFinalists: \u201cBeauty Mark,\u201d by Suzanne Cleary (BkMkPress); \u201cLarge White House Speaking,\u201d by Mark Irwin (New Issues Poetry & Prose); \u201cAmerican Amnesiac,\u201d by Diane Raptosh (Etruscan Press); and \u201cVestigial,\u201d by Page Hill Starzinger (Barrow Street Press)<\/p>\n

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Nonfiction<\/strong>

\n Winner: \u201cBootstrapper<\/a>,\u201d by Mardi Jo Link (Knopf)

\n Finalists: \u201cScattered: The Forced Relocation of Poland\u2019s Ukrainians after WWII,\u201d by Diana Howansky Reilly (University of Wisconsin Press); \u201cThe Blind Masseuse,\u201d by Alden Jones (Terrace Books); \u201cThe Next Scott Nadelson,\u201d by Scott Nadelson (Hawthorne Books); and \u201cBecoming Tom Thumb,\u201d by Eric Lehman (Wesleyan University Press)<\/p>\n

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Writing for Middle Grades and Young Adults<\/strong>

\n Winner: \u201cBrotherhood<\/a>,\u201d by A.B. Westrick (Viking)

\n Finalists: \u201cRules for Ghosting,\u201d by A.J. Paquette (Bloomsbury); \u201cLone Wolves,\u201d by John Smelcer (Leapfrog Press); \u201cAfter Isaac,\u201d by Avra Wing (Olinville Press); and \u201cOver the Line,\u201d by David Lloyd (Syracuse University Press)<\/p>\n

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\n Upcoming readings: Fiction winner DuBois and poetry winner Martin will read from their work during the M.F.A. in Creative and Professional Writing winter residency. Martin will read at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2015<\/strong>, and. DuBois will read at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015<\/strong>, in the President\u2019s Reception Room, Room 218 of the Classroom Building on the WCSU Westside campus, 43 Lake Ave. Extension in Danbury. <\/p>\n

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Ron Samul, president of the AWC, said the awards will carry benefits beyond the mission that aims to promote excellent writing, identify authors who serve as professional role models for writing students, and develop the WCSU M.F.A. in Creative and Professional Writing program scholarship fund. <\/p>\n

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\u201cWe are happy to help build our new scholarship fund, which will support students in the M.F.A. program financially and help to build enrollment,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is also important that the awards will bring four excellent writers to Danbury each year for public appearances.\u201d <\/p>\n

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M.F.A. Coordinator Brian Clements added, \u201cThe awards will continue the M.F.A. program\u2019s tradition of bringing excellent authors to Danbury, but we expect these awards to go quickly beyond local interest and achieve national prestige. The Housatonic Book Awards will become an annual event of wide appeal to readers, authors and publishers, similar to the American Book Awards or National Book Awards.\u201d <\/p>\n

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The AWC and the M.F.A. program will oversee the awards and select the winners, following the Ethical Guidelines of the Council of Literary Magazines and Publishers. Guidelines for next year\u2019s awards will appear at the Housatonic Book Awards website, http:\/\/housatonicbookawards.wordpress.com<\/a>\/ in early 2015. <\/p>\n

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For more information, contact the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.<\/p>\n

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Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England\u2019s best small private universities.<\/em><\/p>\n

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