High Plains Book Award nominations open

Press release

Nominations for the 13th annual High Plains Book Awards opened Jan. 11 and will be accepted through March 8. Information and nomination forms can be found on-line at http://highplainsbookawards.org./ The list of 2018 winners is also available on the website.

The Billings Public Library Board of Directors established the High Plains Book Awards in 2006 to recognize regional authors and/or literary works that examine and reflect life on the High Plains. The High Plains region includes: Montana, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

In 2017 the High Plains Book Awards Board established a 501(c)(3) status and now functions as an independent entity while still collaborating with the Billing Public Library.

  The 2019 awards include 12 book categories that include Art & Photography, Children’s Book, Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, First Book,Indigenous Writer, Medicine/Science, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Stories, Woman Writer and Young Adult. New this year is the Big Sky Montana book that will be selected from category nominations.

  Nominated books must be published for the first time in 2018. Winners will receive a $500 cash prize and will be announced at the awards banquet that is held in conjunction with the High Plains Book Fest. The 2019 High Plains Book Awards and High Plains Book Fest will take place in October.

All nominated books are read and evaluated by community readers. Finalist books in each category will be announced in June 2019.  Winners in each category will be determined by a panel of published writers with connections to the High Plains region.

For more information about the High Plains Book Awards, visit the website or contact High Plains Book Awards President Shari Nault at 406-672-6223,  [email protected].