2025 Norbert Blei/August Derleth Nonfiction Book Award
The Norbert Blei/August Derleth Nonfiction Book Award is given to the best nonfiction book published by a Wisconsin writer in the contest year.
Judge: Angela Palm Hopkins
Winner: Wages for Housework by Emily Callaci
Honorable Mention: Guest Privileges by Gaar Adams
About the award's namesakes:
Norbert Blei [pronounced BLY] (1935-2013) grew up in Chicago and moved to Door County in 1968. The author of 18 books—fiction, nonfiction, essays, and poetry—Blei was described as a literary descendant of Carl Sandburg, Ernest Hemingway, Mike Royko, Studs Terkel, and Nelson Algren. His main literary themes were the sense of community and threats to community, whether in ethnic neighborhoods in Chicago or in his beloved Door County. Known for nurturing aspiring writers, he taught writing workshops for over 30 years at The Clearing in Door County. In 1994, he established Cross+Roads Press, which published the first chapbooks of poets, novelists, short story writers, and artists. Among his notable works were the nonfiction books Chi Town, Neighborhood, Door Way, Door Steps, and Meditations on a Small Lake.
August Derleth [pronounced DER leth] (1909-1971), a leading regional writer of his day, lived most of his life in Sauk City. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, he was a prolific author (more than 100 books), including horror, historical fiction, detective fiction, science fiction, biography, short stories, and poetry. His most ambitious work, the nonfiction Sac Prairie Saga series, combines fiction, historical fiction, nonfiction naturalist works, and poetry to memorialize life in Wisconsin at that time. He also founded Arkham House publishers, which brought to the United States supernatural fiction that had previously been available only in the UK; Arkham was the first publisher of horror fiction author H.P. Lovecraft.
Previous winners
2024
First Place: Turning to Stone: Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks (Flatiron Books/Macmillan) by Marcia Bjornerud (Appleton)
Honorable Mention: The Lucky Ones (Crown/Penguin) by Zara Chowdhary (Madison)
2023
First Place: 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)
2022
First Place: Fine: A Comic About Gender (Liveright) by Rhea Ewing, El Cerrito, CA (formerly Madison, WI)
Honorable Mention: The Green Hour: A Natural History of Home (University of Wisconsin Press) by Alison Townsend, Stoughton, WI
2021
Foxconned: Imaginary Jobs, Bulldozed Homes, and the Sacking of Local Government (University of Chicago Press) by Lawrence Tarak
Honorable Mention: A Fullness of Uncertain Significance: Stories of Surgery, Clarity and Grace (TEN16 | Orange Hat Publishing), by Bruce Campbell
A History of Winners from 1966 to 2020
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