News Release — For info contact Lori Melton, [email protected], 218-726-8830.
This year marks the 28th annual Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards (NEMBA). The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held on Thursday, May 26 in Kirby Ballroom. Reservations are not required.
Festivities begin at 5 pm with a book fair, refreshments, and cash bar. At 6:30 pm, author Michael Fedo, a UMD alumnus, will give the keynote address followed by the award presentations. After the awards, the book fair continues until 9 pm.
Awards are given in six categories: (1) fiction, (2) poetry, (3) general nonfiction, (4) memoir/creative nonfiction, (5) children's literature, and (6) art, photography. The winner in each category receives a cash prize of $200, and the winning author and the honorable mention in each category receives a glass plaque and 100 NEMBA book seals. About This Year's
Keynote Speaker
After graduating from UMD, Duluth native Michael Fedo went on to earn a master’s degree in broadcasting and theater from Kent State University. He briefly taught English at Duluth's Denfeld High School before leaving the area in 1964.
Over the next several decades, Fedo published articles and essays in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, McCalls, Parade,Sports Afield, and Runner's World (where he was a contributing editor). He has published more than 50 short stories in magazines and literary quarterlies. Several of his essays have been broadcast over public radio stations in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Florida.
Fedo is the author of nine books, including locally significant books such as Zenith City: Stories from Duluth and The Lynchings in Duluth.
NEMBA Nominees
Each year, NEMBA recognizes books that best represent northeastern Minnesota in the areas of history, culture, heritage, or lifestyle. This year, 44 books published in 2015 have been nominated.
Fiction
Beneath the Palisade: Justice, Joel Skelton, Dreamspinner Press
The Deacon's Demise, Dean L. Hovey, Moose Town Press
Eva's Way: Trusting God in Trial and Tragedy, Linda Hatinen, CreateSpace
Fishing with RayAnne, Ava Finch, Lake Union Publishing
The Hungry Coast: Fables from the North Shore of Minnesota, Marlais Olmstead Brand, Noah Prinsen, Illustrator, North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.
The Island, Nancy Lee, North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.
Observation Hill, a novel of class and murder, Tim Jollymore, Finns Way Books
Once Were Mountains, Victoria Richards, Beaver's Pond Press
Preying in Two Harbors, Dennis Herschbach, North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.
The Ramblings of a Revenant: An Oral History of the Vampires, David Tromblay, Twister Tree Books
The Ravens, Vidar Sundstøl, University of Minnesota Press
Relentless: A Striker Mystery Novel, Marcus Bruning & Jen Wright, Riverfeet Press
The Sacred Seal, Pat McGauley, PJM Publishing
Whispering Pines: Tales from a Northwoods Cabin, Elliott Foster, Wise Ink Creative Publishing
Poetry
Amethyst and Agate: Poems of Lake Superior, edited by Jim Perlman, Deborah Cooper, Mara Hart, Pamela Mittlefehldt, Holy Cow! Press
Chester Creek Ravine, Bart Sutter, Nodin Press
Home Studies, Julie Gard, New Rivers Press
The Stuntman, Brian Laidlaw, Milkweed Editions
What Thread?, Francine Sterle, Red Dragonfly Press
Yoik, Jim Johnson, Red Dragonfly Press
Nonfiction
Chi-mewinzha: Ojibwe Stories from Leech Lake, written by Dorothy Dora Whipple, edited by Wendy Makoons Geniusz and Brendan Fairbanks, illustrated by Annmarie Geniusz, University of Minnesota Press
The Last Laker, Finding a Wreck Lost in the Great Lakes' Deadliest Storm, Frederick Stonehouse, Lake Superior Port Cities, Inc.
Minnesota's Lost Towns: Northern Edition II, Rhonda Fochs, North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.
North Shore: A Natural History of Minnesota's Superior Coast , Chel Anderson, Adelheid Fischer, University of Minnesota Press
Taconite Dreams: The Struggle to Sustain Mining on Minnesota's Iron Range, 1915-2000, Jeffrey T. Manuel, University of Minnesota Press
Waterfalls of Minnesota's North Shore & More: A Guide for Hikers, Sightseers, & Romantics, Eve Wallinga and Gary Wallinga, North Shore Press
Memoir, Creative Nonfiction
The Emancipation of a Buried Man, Eddy Gilmore, Wandering Man Books
Glimpses of Wilderness, Kevin Proescholdt, North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.
Hillsider: Snapshots of a Curious Political Journey, Don Ness, self-published
Leave 'er Lay, Cathy LaForge Tonkin, Latour Press
Lessons of the Manitou, Rudy Senarighi, self-published
Portage: A Family, a Canoe, and the Search for the Good Life, Sue Leaf, University of Minnesota Press
Ship Captain's Daughter: Growing Up on the Great Lakes, Ann M. Lewis, Wisconsin Historical Society Press
Water and What We Know: Following the Roots of a Northern Life, Karen Babine, University of Minnesota Press
Wilderness Tales, Cecilia Lieder, Fiore Press
Children's Literature
Enchantment Lake: A Northwoods Mystery, Margi Preus, University of Minnesota Press
Norman Loves the Lake, Debbie Hoven, Beaver's Pond Press
North Woods Girl, Aimee Bissonette, illustrated by Claudia McGehee, Minnesota Historical Society Press
Remind Me That I'm Wild, Tera Freese, illustrated by Lindy Kehoe, The Masterkey Press
Who Cooks for You?, written by Katy Jo Turner, illustrated by Melissa Marroquin, Beaver's Pond Press
Wilder's Ghost, Diane Bradley, North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.
Art, Photography
Historic Glensheen 1905-1930: Photographs from the Congdon Estate's First 25 Years, text by Tony Dierckins, Zenith City Press
Portrait of an Artist: Paintings by Sarah M. Brokke, Sarah M. Brokke, Holy Cow! Press
The Way of Cheng-Khee Chee: Paintings 1974-2014, curator, Peter Spooner, Tweed Museum of Art