- Big Big Wednesday
- Big big congratulations to Portland-based literary journal Big Big Wednesday, and so many more.
Oftentimes, big, nationwide book awards disappoint, with (best case scenario) a squishy preference for work that’s safely good, but rarely innovative, or (worst) an apparent blindness to writing by, you know, anyone who doesn’t look and sound like Billy Collins. So it’s nice to see the Oregon Book Awards doing the opposite. Your Oregon Book Awards finalists were announced today in a press release from Literary Arts, with winners slated to be announced April 13. In the meantime, here are some of the most innovative writers and presses and work that made the list:
Brenda Shaughnessy’s list of finalists for the Stafford/Hall Award or Poetry contains something very cute: Zachary Schomburg‘s The Book of Joshua* (Black Ocean) made the cut, and so did Emily Kendal Frey, for Sorrow Arrow, out on Octopus Books. Hey, do you know who’s an editor at Octopus? Zachary Schomburg! Oh, the word of indie publishing is small, you guys.
In the awards’ small grant category—aka the people who are getting dollars right now—Portland’s own Big Big Wednesday was selected in the publisher category. They’re one of those great literary journals publishing new work on a smallish, well curated scale. Previous contributors have included a metric ton of local writers (e.g., Kevin Sampsell, Michael Heald, Thomas Mowe) alongside the likes of Mary Ruefle and nerd-celebrity luminary of weirdness Lydia Davis.
Today is also a good day for Justin Hocking, former director of the Independent Publishing Resource Center and current finalist for the OBAs’ prize in creative nonfiction for his memoir The Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld (Graywolf), and the recipient of a small grant for… fiction. SURPRISE!
Sidebar: Interestingly, the OBAs divide nonfiction into two categories—creative nonfiction and general nonfiction—and I would like for every literary award-granting committee to do the same, if for no other reason than that it gives nontraditional nonfiction (think Maggie Nelson! Eula Biss! David Shields!) a better shot at being recognized and widely read. Also, say what you want about Literary Arts, but selecting John D’Agata as judge of the creative nonfiction category? CORRECT.
You can see the full list of finalists—fair warning: it’s exhaustive, with categories in theater and children’s lit; don’t get lost—here.
*FYI, there’s nothing cute about The Book of Joshua. We reviewed it, and it sounds terrifying/overwhelmingly poignant.