Oregon
Literary Arts announces 2024 Oregon Book Awards finalists | Oregon ArtsWatch
Literary Arts released the names of finalists for the 2024 Oregon Book Awards on Tuesday, and the bookshelf of nominees contains volumes ranging from nonfiction takes on backyard chickens and the temperate rainforest, to a novel in which a retired librarian finds a community of peers in a senior center, to a young adult story about a wild horse trying to find his way home.
The winners will be announced April 8 at the Oregon Book Awards Ceremony, to be held in the Portland Center Stage Armory. Poet and children’s author Kwame Alexander will host. Tickets range from $12 to $65, and are available here.
Ellen Waterston of Bend will be honored for her contributions to the Oregon literary scene with the Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award. Waterston is the founder of the Writing Ranch retreat and workshops and the Waterston Desert Writing Prize, given annually to a nonfiction book proposal that examines the role of deserts in the human narrative.
In addition, Literary Arts will present the Walt Morey Young Readers Literary Legacy Award, and the C.E.S. Wood Award at the April ceremony.
Finalists announced Tuesday are:
KEN KESEY AWARD FOR FICTION
- Patrick deWitt of Portland, The Librarianist
- Marcelle Heath of Portland, Is That All There Is?
- Lydia Kiesling of Portland, Mobility
- Rachel King of Portland, Bratwurst Haven: Stories
- Jen Wheeler of Portland, The Light on Farallon Island
Sponsor
STAFFORD/HALL AWARD FOR POETRY
- Stephanie Adams-Santos of Hillsboro, Dream of Xibalba
- Jessica E. Johnson of Portland, Metabolics
- Daniela Naomi Molnar of Portland, CHORUS
- Sara Quinn Rivara of Portland, Little Beast
- Rebecca Wadlinger of Portland, Terror, Terrible, Terrific
FRANCES FULLER VICTOR AWARD FOR GENERAL NONFICTION
- Jessica Applegate and Paul Koberstein of Portland, Canopy of Titans: The Life and Times of the Great North American Temperate Rainforest
- Steven C. Beda of Eugene, Strong Winds & Widow Makers: Workers, Nature, and Environmental Conflict in Pacific Northwest Timber Country
- Tove Danovich of Milwaukie, Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them
- Jacob Mikanowski of Portland, Goodbye, Eastern Europe: An Intimate History of a Divided Land
- Josephine Woolington of Portland, Where We Call Home: Lands, Seas, and Skies of the Pacific Northwest
SARAH WINNEMUCCA AWARD FOR CREATIVE NONFICTION
- Erica Berry of Portland, Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear
- Erika Bolstad of Portland, Windfall: The Prairie Woman Who Lost Her Way and the Great-Granddaughter Who Found Her
- Lauren Fleshman of Bend, Good for a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man’s World
- Alyssa Graybeal of Astoria, Floppy: Tales of a Genetic Freak of Nature at the End of the World
- Steven Moore of Portland, The Distance From Slaughter County: Lessons From Flyover Country
ELOISE JARVIS McGRAW AWARD FOR CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
Sponsor
- Valerie Coulman of Medford, Dragons on the Inside (And Other Big Feelings)
- Nora Ericson of Portland, Too Early
- Linda Meanus of Warm Springs, My Name is Lamoosh
- Stephanie Shaw of McMinnville, All By Myself
- C. E. Winters of Hillsboro, Cut!: How Lotte Reiniger and a Pair of Scissors Revolutionized Animation
LESLIE BRADSHAW AWARD FOR MIDDLE GRADE AND YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE
- Cindy Baldwin of Hillsboro, No Matter the Distance
- Waka T. Brown of West Linn, The Very Unfortunate Wish of Melony Yoshimura
- Courtney Gould of Salem, Where Echoes Die
- April Henry of Portland, Girl Forgotten
- Rosanne Parry of Portland, A Horse Named Sky
AWARD FOR GRAPHIC LITERATURE (BIENNIAL)
- Matthew Bogart and Jesse Holden of Portland, Incredible Doom: Volume 2
- Kelly Sue DeConnick of Portland, Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons
- Greg Means of Lake Oswego, Asylum
- David F. Walker of Portland, Bitter Root Omnibus
- Kerilynn Wilson of Oregon City, The Faint of Heart
Aaron Sibarium explains how Oregon County’s homeless housing scoring system prioritizes certain individuals, potentially disadvantaging others in need.
Aaron Sibarium details Multnomah County, Oregon’s, homeless housing priority system, which awards higher scores to LGBTQIA2S+ and BIPOC residents. This system could give preference to a transgender immigrant over a homeless woman with a child. The Department of Housing and Urban Development is now investigating these race-based criteria.
PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – As we approach the hottest days of the year, people are finding ways to stay cool.
It’s been two weeks since Portland turned on splash pads across the city.
The water was just one of the ways people were keeping cool on Friday.
“Did you see our cooler? We have a bunch of water in there. More water, stay in the shade, I mean look at these trees, it makes you feel comfortable,” said Beaverton resident Ailan Roman.
Oregon Health Authority says young children and older adults are just a couple of groups of people that face a higher risk of heat related illness.
OHA says in addition to staying hydrated and lounging in the shade, wearing loose fitted, lightweight clothing can make a big difference.
Roman makes sure her, and her grand kids are protected using several different defenses.
“Sunscreen, we have to put that in order to protect our skin,” Roman said.
When temperatures rise, OHA officials recommend staying in air-conditioned buildings.
But for some Portlanders, that’s not always an option, so to cool down, they must get creative.
“We get cheap kiddy pools, and we just stick our feet in it, drink lots of water and beer and weight our feet in the pool and that’s how we stay cool,” said park goer, Jill.
And most Oregonians can agree, water in all its forms is the best way to beat the heat.“You have the water view and then you have the water fountain and I think it’s quiet, I don’t see no issues around,” said Roman.
The CDC shares how you can recognize heat related illnesses. While OHA shares how to avoid issues in the heat.
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Video shows rafting Oregon’s iconic Wallowa-Grande Ronde River
Learn about an overnight rafting trip on a famous 40 mile stretch that includes both the Wallowa and Grande Ronde rivers.
The beloved Cannon Beach Sandcastle Contest returns for a series of events from June 19 to June 21.
In 1964, this event was founded by four locals to lift community spirits after a tsunami washed out the Elk Creek Bridge. Now, the event draws thousands of tourists and is recognized as the first and oldest sandcastle contest in Oregon.
Registration for the contest is available online through the Cannon Beach events site.
To start off the weekend, contestants can pickup their competition materials from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on June 19.
The same day, Bill Rose will provide a live sandcastle demonstration on the beach off Second Street from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Then, the kickoff celebration will take place at Steidel Community Hall from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
Competition day starts 8:30 a.m. on June 20 when the beach opens for parking. During the time of the contest, parking is allowed in every public parking lot, on the beach and the sides of the street.
The contest will be on the beach west of Ocean Avenue near Madison Street.
The artists can begin crafting their masterpieces at 9 a.m. when the sandcastle building starts. Only natural materials native to the beach can be used.
Final judging takes place at 2 p.m. Judges are looking for team effort, enthusiasm, composition, detail, adherence to the rules and final appearance.
Spectators and competitors can celebrate from 7 to 10 p.m. with s’mores and music on the beach at the west end of Second Street. There is free admission for the party.
For those looking to get their steps in, the weekend wraps up with the Singing Sands 5K Fun Run at 9 a.m. June 21.
Registration for the run is on the beach at the Tolovana Wayside entrance at 8 a.m.
The Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce and Information Center is available to answer any questions at 503-436-2623.
Makenzie Stamets is an outdoor intern at the Statesman Journal. She can be reached at mstamets@statesmanjournal.com or on X at @MakenzieStamets.
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