High Plains Book Award nominations are open

Press release

Nominations for the 15th annual High Plains Book Awards opened Jan. 15.

Nominations will be accepted through March 12. 

Information and nomination forms can be found online at http://highplainsbookawards.org .

The list of 2020 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 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.

The 2021 awards feature 13 book categories: Art and Photography, Children’s Book, Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, First Book, Indigenous Writer, Medicine/Science, Nonfiction, Poetry, Short Stories, Woman Writer, Young Adult and Big Sky Award. 

Nominated books must have bene published for the first time in 2020. 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 2021 High Plains Book Awards and High Plains BookFest will take place Sept. 23-25.

All nominated books are read and evaluated by community readers.  Finalist books in each category will be announced in June. 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, people can visit http://www.highplainsbookawards.org onilne or contact Shari Nault, High Plains Book Awards chair, at 406-672-6223 or [email protected] .