Celebrate Nebraska’s 2024 Book Award winners with author readings and an awards presentation ceremony at the Nebraska Celebration of Book’s (NCOB) literary festival. Held at the UNL City Campus Union on October 12th, winners of the 2024 Nebraska Book Awards will be honored at the celebration which will include an author roundtable during the festival and the awards ceremony directly after at 3:30. The ceremony will feature readings by some of the winning authors, designers, and illustrators of books with a Nebraska connection published in 2023. And the winners are:

Children’s Picture Book: Ted Kooser: More Than a Local Wonder written by Carla Ketner, illustrated by Paula Wallace. Publisher: University of Nebraska Press.

Children’s Novel: The Adventures of Pearl and Monty: The Bait and Switch by E. Adams. Publisher: Jade Forest Publishing.

Teen Novel: The Unstoppable Bridget Bloom by Allison L. Bitz. Publisher: HarperTeen.

Cover and Design: Feisty Righty: A Cancer Survivor’s Journey by Jennifer D. James,
Cover Art by Courtney Keller. Publisher: Self Published.

Design Honor: Horizons by Julie S. Paschold. Publisher: Atmosphere Press.

Fiction: The War Begins in Paris: A Novel by Theodore Wheeler. Publisher: Little, Brown and Company.

Nonfiction Nebraska as Place: Field Guide to a Hybrid Landscape by Dana Fritz.
Publisher: Bison Books.

Nonfiction History: The First Migrants Richard Edwards and Jacob K. Friefeld. Publisher: Bison Books.

Poetry: The Gathering of Bastards by Romeo Oriogun. Publisher: University of Nebraska Press.

Poetry Honor: The Book Eaters by Carolina Hotchandani. Publisher: Perugia Press.

This year’s Book Awards Celebration will be a combined event with the Nebraska Book Festival, called “The Nebraska Celebration of Books” which aims to celebrate Nebraska’s literary heritage and contemporary authors. Held, Saturday, October 12th, from 10:00am-4:30pm, on the second floor of the UNL City Campus Union in the Regency Suite, Heritage Room, and Swanson Auditorium, the event will honor the 20th anniversary of the One Book One Nebraska program with a panel of past authors. In addition it will feature Nebraska authors, a SLAM poetry showcase, book vendors, and presentation of the Nebraska Center for the Book’s Nebraska Book Awards, Mildred Bennett Award, Jane Geske Award, and 2025 One Book One Nebraska announcement.

The 2024 One Book One Nebraska selection, Dancing with the Octopus: A Memoir of a Crime by Debora Harding (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020) will be featured with a memoir writing workshop facilitated by Lucy Adkins of Larksong Writers Place.

The Nebraska Book Awards are sponsored and facilitated by the Nebraska Center for the Book and the Nebraska Library Commission.

The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the national Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the Nebraska Library Commission.

As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, “bringing together people and information.”

The Nebraska Celebration of Books (NCOB) host sponsors include Nebraska Center for the Book, Nebraska Library Commission, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln City Libraries, and Francie and Finch Bookshop, with supporting sponsors including Outskirts Press, KZUM 89.3FM, and Concierge Marketing at this time. Humanities Nebraska provides support for the One Book One Nebraska program.

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Huskers volleyball is back in the spotlight.

Sunday marks the debut of ‘No Place Like Nebraska,’ ESPN’s documentary on the Huskers 2023 season. The project will take fans behind the scenes of the record-breaking campaign that culminated with a run to the NCAA championship match. The focus of the piece, however, may be different that what Nebraska fans expect.

“This documentary shows a more personal look into their lives.” said co-director Jen Karson-Strauss. “Even if you think that you know Harper Murray or Merritt Beason or even John Cook, this will offer you a look behind the curtain in a more personal way.”

This is the first E60 for co-director Maddie Rundlett, who first pitched the idea ahead of Volleyball Day in Nebraska.

“Seeing it actually come about, we were like ‘this is clearly something genuinely very special and very rare,’” she said. “We really just dug into the history and culture of the team. That idea is how we got into the program and ran with it from there.”

The documentary also promises frank discussions with Murray and Cook about the star outside hitter’s offseason legal incidents and how her mental health was affected by rampant social media hate after the national championship.

“That was fully something that Harper came to us about,” Karson-Strauss said. “She, maybe to Husker fans surprise, was the one who wanted to talk about her story and the ways in which she could have done better and how these things had been impacting her life.”

‘No Place Like Nebraska’ airs Sunday at 4:00pm CT on ESPN. An extended version will be available on ESPN+ after.

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