I try to keep current with books published in Oregon, but apparently I slacked last year, because I've read precious few of the 2014 nominees for the Oregon Book Awards. As always, this list makes a great map to the year in local books. I've got my reading cut out for me. (Just as soon as I finished obsessively reading Jane Gardam's back catalogue....)

The poetry and fiction categories are both dominated by heavy hitters—it's hard to imagine Ursula Le Guin not winning the fiction award, or recent National Book Award Winner Mary Szybist not picking up the poetry award. But this is one of those contests where everyone says, "It's not about winning, it's about celebrating local literature," so we won't start placing bets on the outcome.

In addition to the Book Award nominees, Literary Arts announced 2014 fellowship recipients, which included the intriguing new publisher Forest Avenue Press, and writer Sarah Marshall, who recently wrote a thoughtful, nostalgic piece for The Believer about Tonya Harding.

2014 also sees the return of the intermittent Graphic Literature award, which this year pits Craig Thompson's Habibi against Joe Sacco's Journalism, among others.

The full list is after the jump!

2014 OREGON BOOK AWARDS FINALISTS

KEN KESEY AWARD FOR FICTION
Judge: Alan Cheuse

Ursula K. Le Guin of Portland, The Unreal and The Real: Collected Stories: Volume 1 and 2 (Small Beer Press)
Whitney Otto of Portland, Eight Girls Taking Pictures (Scribner)
Amanda Coplin of Portland, The Orchardist (Harper Perennial)
Roger Hobbs of Portland, Ghostman (Knopf)

STAFFORD/HALL AWARD FOR POETRY
Judge: Kwame Dawes

Jennifer Boyden of Milton-Freewater, The Declarable Future (University of Wisconsin Press)
Matthew Dickman of Portland, Mayakovsky¹s Revolver (Norton)
Andrea Hollander of Portland, Landscape with Female Figure: New and Selected Poems, 1982-2012 (Autumn House Press)
Ralph Salisbury of Eugene, Like the Sun in Storm (The Habits of Rainy Nights Press)
Mary Szybist of Portland, Incarnadine (Graywolf)


FRANCES FULLER VICTOR AWARD FOR GENERAL NONFICTION
Judge: Amanda Vail

C. B. Bernard of Portland, Chasing Alaska (Lyons Press)
William J. Bernstein of Portland, Masters of the Word (Grove Press)
Paul Collins of Portland, Duel with the Devil (Crown Publishers)
R. Gregory Nokes of West Linn, Breaking Chains (OSU Press)
Martin N. Raitiere of Portland, The Complicity of Friends (Bucknell University Press)


SARAH WINNEMUCCA AWARD FOR CREATIVE NONFICTION
Judge: Ander Monson

Jay Ponteri of Portland, Wedlocked (Hawthorne Books)
Scott Nadelson of Salem, The Next Scott Nadelson (Hawthorne Books)
Elena Passarello of Corvallis, Let Me Clear My Throat (Sarabande Books)
Kim Stafford of Portland, 100 Tricks Every Boy Can Do
(Trinity University Press)
Sandra Stone of Portland, The Inmost House (Prospect Cove Press)


ELOISE JARVIS MCGRAW AWARD FOR CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
Judge: Anita Silvey

Scott William Carter of Salem, Wooden Bones (Simon & Schuster)
Deborah Hopkinson of West Linn, Knit Your Bit (G.P. Putnam)
Barbara Kerley of Portland, The World Is Waiting for You (National Geographic)
Graham Salisbury of Lake Oswego, Calvin Coconut: Extra Famous (Wendy Lamb Books)
Allen Say of Portland, The Favorite Daughter (Arthur A. Levine)


LESLIE BRADSHAW AWARD FOR YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE
Judge: Benjamin Saenz

Kari Luna of Portland, The Theory of Everything (Philomel Books)
Kelly Moore, Larkin Reed and Tucker Reed of Jacksonville, Amber House (Arthur A. Levine)
Rosanne Parry of Portland, Written in Stone (Random House)

PACIFIC NORTHWEST COLLEGE OF ART GRAPHIC LITERATURE AWARD
Judge: Jesse Karp

Barry Deutsch of Portland, Hereville: How Mirtka Met a Meteorite (Amulet Books)
Steve Duin and Shannon Wheeler of Portland, Oil and Water (Fantagraphics Books)
Natalie Nourigat of Portland, Between Gears (Image Comics)
Joe Sacco of Portland, Journalism (Metropolitan Books)
Craig Thompson of Portland, Habibi (Pantheon)

SPECIAL AWARDS: In addition to recognizing the finest achievements of Oregon authors in several genres, Literary Arts recognizes individual contributions with the C.E.S. Wood Award, the Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award, and the Walt Morey Young Readers Literary Legacy Award.

The C.E.S. Wood Distinguished Writer Award
Vern Rutsala of Portland

The Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award
Vince and Patty Wixon of Ashland

The Walt Morey Young Readers Literary Legacy Award
Ellen Fader of Portland