Northern California Book Awards 2023

Celebrating the vibrant literary scene of Northern California

Saturday, September 30, 2023, 2:00 P.M. at San Francisco Public Library

Northern California’s vibrant literary scene is celebrated annually at the Northern California Book Awards, this year honoring published works of 2022 by Northern California authors and California translators. The Awards are presented by the Northern California Book Reviewers, Poetry Flash, the San Francisco Public Library, and our community partners Mechanics’ Institute Library and Women’s National Book Association-San Francisco Chapter. The Booksmith, a San Francisco bookstore, will provide nominated books for sale and signing. A reception at the library will follow the ceremony.

Congratulations to WNBA-SF member, Mary Mackey for her nomination in the category of Creative Fiction for her book, Creativity: Where Poems Begin.

This event is free and open to the public.

Below are the winners of the 2023 Northern California Book Awards 

FRED CODY AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AND SERVICE

Brenda Hillman will be presented with the Fred Cody Award for recognition as a distinguished member of the Northern California literary community. Brenda is a Bay Area poet, writer, editor, activist, and educator. She is co-founder of the MFA in Creative Writing Program at Saint Mary’s College of California and the author of eleven collections of poetry, most recently In a Few Minutes Before Later, Wesleyan University Press, 2022, as well as chapbooks, edited works, and translations. She is Chancellor Emerita of the Academy of American Poets and on the annual summer faculty at Community of Writers in Olympic Valley, Northern California.

NCBR GROUNDBREAKER AWARD

Litquake, accepted by Norah Piehl, Executive Director

NCBR RECOGNITION AWARD

Illustrated Black History: Honoring the Iconic and the Unseen, George McCalman, HarperOne

The winners in each category will be announced in-person during the awards ceremony. Click here to see the list of nominees for each respective category.

• Poetry
• Fiction
• General Nonfiction
• Creative Nonfiction
• Children’s Literature (Younger Readers, Middle Grade, Young Adult)
• California Translation Awards (Poetry and Prose)

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 NCBR Recommended Reading List, will be acknowledged and celebrated at the ceremony. Judges’ statements by Northern California Book Reviewers will be available in the event program and on the NCBA page at Poetryflash.org.

About the Northern California Book Awards
Since 1981, the Northern California Book Reviewers, a volunteer group of book reviewers and book review editors, have honored the work of Northern California authors. One of the group’s founders was Fred Cody, proprietor of the famed independent bookstore in Berkeley.

The NCBR created an award in his name to honor a lifetime of achievements and distinguished service to the literary community. The Fred Cody Award for lifetime achievement is presented every year to a member of the literary community.