2026 Wisconsin Nonfiction Book Award
The Wisconsin Nonfiction Book Award is given to the best nonfiction book published by a Wisconsin writer in the contest year. The submission period for books published in 2026 is August 1, 2026 to January 8, 2027.
Judge: Angela Palm Hopkins
Previous winners
2025
First Place: Wages for Housework by Emily Callaci
Honorable Mention: Guest Privileges by Gaar Adams
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
Return to the Wisconsin Writers Awards main page