Join us on Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 6 PM to celebrate the best published work from 2023 by Wisconsin writers. The award ceremony includes brief readings by first place winners and will be followed by a reception and book signing by the authors. Mystery to Me will be on hand selling books.
Don't miss the opportunity to hear some of Wisconsin's best writers reading from their work. This event is free and open to the public.
The Wisconsin Writers Awards was established in 1964 and is Wisconsin’s longest-running literary award for published work. The eight awards include four awards for books; three awards for short form works including short stories, poetry, and nonfiction; and one special prize for writing by a Wisconsin high school student. The awards celebrate works published in 2023 by writers currently residing in or having lived for a significant period of time in Wisconsin (entries for the Wisconsin Young Writers Award need not have been previously published). This year the first place award for books prize was increased to $1000.
In addition to cash prizes, first-place winners of the Wisconsin Writers Awards (except for the Young Writers Award) each receive a five-day writing residency at Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts in Mineral Point. Honorable mentions receive a cash prize and five-day residency at Ernest Hüpeden's Painted Forest in Wonewoc, WI. Out-of-state judges made the decisions for each award.
Book Awards
Edna Ferber Fiction Book Award
Judge: Alison Stine
Winner: Killingly (Soho Press), Katharine Beutner (Wauwatosa)
Honorable Mention: The Light is Ours (Sand Beach Press), Ann Heyse (Baileys Harbor)
Blei/Derleth Nonfiction Book Award
Judge: Sonya Huber
Winner: Chinese Prodigal: A Memoir in Eight Arguments (Grove/Atlantic), David Shih (Eau Claire)
Honorable Mention: Owner of a Lonely Heart (Simon & Schuster), Beth Nguyen (Madison)
Edna Meudt Poetry Book Award
Judge: Gabrielle Bates
Winner: Auction (University of Pittsburgh Press) by Quan Barry (Madison)
Honorable Mention: Discipline Park (Wendy’s Subway), Toby Altman (Madison)
Tofte/Wright Children’s Literature Award
Judge: Sandy Brehl
Winner: Tenacious (Lee & Low Books), Patty Cisneros Prevo (Stoughton)
Honorable Mention: Mysterious Glowing Mammals (Lerner Publishing), Maria Parrott-Ryan (Madison)
Short Form Awards
Lorine Niedecker Poetry Award
Judge: Tara Betts
Winner: “Threading,” (The Adroit Journal) and other poems, Diya Abbas (Madison)
Honorable Mention: “Dispatch from Simultaneous Swim Lessons” (Willow Springs) and other poems, Megan Gannon (Appleton)
Zona Gale Award for Short Fiction
Judge: Dipika Mukherjee
Winner: “Robber’s Lake” (The Kenyon Review), Emma Binder (Oakland, CA, formerly Whitefish Bay and Madison)
Honorable Mention: “Bank Shot Requiem” (Bards and Sages Quarterly), R.J. Novotney (Madison)
Kay W. Levin Award for Short Nonfiction
Judge: Kristine Mahler Langley
Winner: “It’s About the Size of a Clenched Fist” (Brevity), Richie Zaborowske (Appleton)
Honorable Mention: “If You Scared, Say You Scared” (Bellevue Literary Review), Sheree L. Greer (Auburndale, FL, formerly Milwaukee)
The Wisconsin Young Writers Award (poetry)
Judged by the ALL Literary Arts Team
Winner: “December 7, 1941” by Violet Larson (Sun Prairie)
Honorable Mention: “What America Means” by Grace Huang (Fitchburg)
Find out more about the awards.
