The 43rd Annual Northern California Book Awards

Northern California’s vibrant literary scene is celebrated annually at the Northern California Book Awards, this year honoring published works of 2023 by Northern California authors and California translators. The Awards are selected by the Northern California Book Reviewers, and presented by Poetry Flash (http://poetryflash.org), the San Francisco Public Library, and our community partners Mechanics’ Institute Library and Women’s National Book Association-San Francisco Chapter. Nominated books will be available for sale and signing. A reception at the Library’s Latino/Hispanic Community Room will follow the ceremony. 

Awards will be presented in Fiction, General Nonfiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, Translation, and Children’s Literature. 

FRED CODY AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT & SERVICE
Jane Hirshfield
The Asking: New and Selected Poems, Knopf
Poet, essayist, and “one of American poetry’s central spokespersons for the biosphere”

NCBA GROUNDBREAKER AWARD
Transit Books
A nonprofit publisher of international and American literature, committed to the discovery and promotion of enduring works that carry readers across borders and communities.

NCBA RECOGNITION AWARD
Dear California: The Golden State in Diaries and Letters, edited by David Kipen, Redwood Press

NOMINEES

POETRY
Light and Clay: New and Selected Poems, Maxine Chernoff, Madhat Press
In the Cities of Sleep, Elizabeth C. Herron, Fernwood Press
Eggtooth, Jesse Nathan, Unbound Edition Press
The Disordered Alphabet, Cintia Santana, Four Way Books
Leviathan, Michael Shewmaker, Louisiana State University Press
Songbirds of the Nine Rivers, Joseph Zaccardi, Sixteen Rivers Press

FICTION
North Woods, Daniel Mason, Random House
The Dog of the North, Elizabeth McKenzie, Penguin Press
Wildflowers, Beverly Parayno, PAWA Press/Philippine American Writers and Artists
Forget I Told You This, Hilary Zaid, University of Nebraska Press
Land of Milk and Honey, C Pam Zhang, Riverhead Books

CREATIVE NONFICTION
What You Don’t Know Will Make a Whole New World, Dorothy Lazard, Heyday
Secret Harvests: A Hidden Story of Separation and the Resilience of a Family Farm, David Mas Masumoto, Artwork by Patricia Wakida, Red Hen Press
Starstruck: A Memoir of Astrophysics and Finding Light in the Dark, Sarafina El-Badry Nance, Dutton
Unraveling: What I Learned About Life While Shearing Sheep, Dyeing Wool, and Making the World’s Ugliest Sweater, Peggy Orenstein, Harper
Most Delicious Poison: The Story of Nature’s Toxins—From Spices to Vices, Noah Whiteman, Little, Brown Spark

GENERAL NONFICTION
Inflamed: Abandonment, Heroism, and Outrage in Wine Country’s Deadliest Firestorm, Anne E. Belden, Paul Gullixson, Lauren A. Spates, Permuted Press
Immeasurable Outcomes: Teaching Shakespeare in the Age of the Algorithm, Gayle Greene, Johns Hopkins University Press
The Hungry Season: A Journey of War, Love, and Survival, Lisa M. Hamilton, Little, Brown and Company
Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon, Michael Lewis, W.W. Norton
Freedom to Win: A Cold War Story of the Courageous Hockey Team That Fought the Soviets for the Soul of Its People—And Olympic Gold, Ethan Scheiner, Pegasus Books

CALIFORNIA TRANSLATION
California Translation in Poetry
A Cha Chaan Teng That Does Not Exist, Derek Chung, translated from Chinese by May Huang, Zephyr Press
Through the Walls of Solitude, Álamo Oliveira, translated from Portuguese by Diniz Borges, Letras Lavadas Edições/Bruma Publications
Whoever Drowned Here, Max Sessner, translated from German by Francesca Bell, Red Hen Press
Columns, Nikolai Zabolotsky, translated from Russian by Dmitri Manin, ARC Publications

California Translation in Prose
The Short End of the Sonnenallee, Thomas Brussig, translated from German by Jonathan Franzen and Jenny Watson, Picador
Blue Hunger, Viola Di Grado, translated from Italian by Jamie Richards, Bloomsbury Publishing
Whale, Cheon Myeong-kwan, translated from Korean by Chi-Young Kim, Archipelago Books

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
Younger Readers
How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney?, Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen, Candlewick Press
To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights, Angela Dalton, illustrated by Lauren Semmer, Harper
The Shape of You, Mượn Thị Văn, illustrated by Miko Sato, Kids Can Press

Middle Grade
The Eyes and the Impossible, Dave Eggers, illustrated by Shawn Harris, published simultaneously by Knopf Books for Young Readers and McSweeney’s
Farther Than the Moon, Lindsay Lackey, Roaring Brook Press
Boomi’s Boombox, Shanthi Sekaran, Katherine Tegan Books

Young Adult
The Coldest Winter I Ever Spent, Ann Jacobus, Carolrhoda Lab
All the Yellow Suns, Malavika Kannan, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed, Dashka Slater, Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers

Northern California reviewers and editors, members of Northern California Book Reviewers, select the awards. Membership is open to all eligible Northern California reviewers and editors. All nominated books, the Recommended Reading List, will be acknowledged and celebrated at the ceremony. Juror statements will be available in the event program and on the NCBA page at https://poetryflash.org/programs/?p=ncba_2024. This event is sponsored by the Women’s National Book Association-San Francisco Chapter.