Massachusetts Center for the Book (MCB) is pleased to announce the Award and Honors titles in the 24th Annual Massachusetts Book Awards program representing significant achievements in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, and young people’s literature by Massachusetts writers, illustrators, and translators published during 2023.
Fiction:
The Fiction Award winner is Kantika (Henry Holt/Metropolitan Books) by Elizabeth Graver of Lincoln. This well-researched novel, inspired by the life of the author’s grandmother, is a multigenerational tale of a Sephardic family’s dislocations, hardships, and joys.
Fiction Honors are awarded to The Light of Seven Days (Delphinium Books) by River Adams of Marlborough and Shark Heart (Simon & Schuster/Marysue Rucci Books) by Emily Habeck of Cambridge.
Nonfiction:
The Nonfiction Award winner is Winter Solstice (Black Sparrow Press) by Nina MacLaughlin of Cambridge. A beautifully-written book-length lyric essay, it is a meditation on and celebration of the transition from fall to winter in New England.
The Nonfiction Honors titles are Everyday Something Has Tried to Kill Me and Has Failed (Ig Publishing) by Kim McLarin of Milton and Into the Amazon (W.W. Norton) by Larry Rohter of Fall River.
Poetry:
The Poetry Award winner is Fierce Elegy (Wesleyan University Press) by Peter Gizzi of Holyoke, a powerful, brave and hopeful collection of lament and love.
Honors Poetry collections are Navigating the Reach (Salmon Poetry) by Mary Buchinger of Cambridge and Ordinary Entanglement (Cleveland State University Poetry Center) by Melissa Dickey of Deerfield.
Translated Literature:
The Translated Literature Award winner is My Language is a Jealous Lover by Adrián N. Bravi, translated by Victoria Offredi Poletto and Giovanna Bellesia Conntuzzi (Rutgers University Press), in which Bravi’s stories of thinking and writing in a new language is interwoven with those of great authors who didn’t write in their mother tongue.
Middle Grade/Young Adult:
The Middle Grade/Young Adult Literature Award winner is The Fall of Whit Rivera (Holiday House) by Crystal Maldonado of Springfield. With humor and tenderness, this teen romance addresses family, friendship, chronic illness and the challenges of high school.
Honors titles in Middle Grade/Young Adult Literature are The Remarkable Rescue at Milkweed Meadow (Charlesbridge Publishing) by Elaine Dimopoulos of Belmont and I Am Not Alone (Scholastic) by Francisco X. Stork of Sherborn.
Picture Books/Early Reader
The Award winner in the Picture Book/Early Reader category is Once Upon a Book (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) by Grace Lin of Northampton and Kate Messner, illustrated by Grace Lin. With lush illustrations, this modern folktale is about the joy and power of reading.
Honors titles in Picture Books and Early Readers are Night Owl Night (Candlewick Press) by Susan Edwards Richmond of Stow and Mole Is Not Alone (Henry Holt and Company) by Maya Tatsukawa of Arlington.
Founded in 2000, MCB is the Commonwealth affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress charged with developing, supporting, and promoting cultural
programming to advance the cause of books, reading, and libraries across Massachusetts. MCB runs youth and family literacy programs; operates the Massachusetts Book Awards and
the student writing initiative, Letters About Literature; represents the Commonwealth at the National Book Festival; and partners with community organizations on literary initiatives and events, big and small, across the Commonwealth. See: https://www.massbook.org/mass-book-awards