The 2025 Oregon Book Awards ceremony presented by Literary Arts returns to Portland Center Stage at The Armory at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 28. The literature-filled evening will honor the contributions of Oregon authors in various categories and offer bookish fans a chance to see their favorites celebrated. Omar El Akkad, journalist and author of Stories From the Center of the World and One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, will serve as host.
Awards will be given to Oregon writers in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, young readers, and drama, with 35 finalists chosen from 212 submitted titles. In addition, two Portland residents will be recognized for their contributions to Oregon literature. Laura Moulton, founder of the Street Books mobile library that provides low-income houseless Portlanders with access to books, will receive the Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award. Jelani Memory will be awarded the Walt Morey Young Readers Literary Legacy Award for founding A Kids Co., a publishing company aimed at delivering books for young readers on topics including empathy, racism, and gender.
This year’s finalists are:
Ken Kesey Award for Fiction
- Willy Vlautin of Scappoose for The Horse
- Kimberly King Parsons of Portland for We Were the Universe
- Miriam Gershow of Eugene for Survival Tips
- Victor Lodato of Ashland for Honey
- Charlie J. Stephens of Port Orford for A Wounded Deer Leaps Highest
Stafford/Hall Award for Poetry
- Alisha Dietzman of Newberg for Sweet Movie
- Brian S. Ellis of Portland for Against Common Sense
- Darla Mottram of Portland for RECURRENT
- Valerie Witte of Portland for A Rupture in the Interiors
- Charity E. Yoro of Portland for ten-cent flower & other territories
Frances Fuller Victor Award for General Nonfiction
- Rebecca Clarren of Portland for The Cost of Free Land: Jews, Lakota, and an American Inheritance
- Kimberly Jensen of Monmouth for Oregon’s Others: Gender, Civil Liberties, and the Surveillance State in the Early Twentieth Century
- Catherine McNeur of Portland for Mischievous Creatures: The Forgotten Sisters Who Transformed Early American Science
- Courtney Thorsson of Eugene for The Sisterhood: How a Network of Black Women Writers Changed American Culture
- Reiko Hillyer of Portland for A Wall Is Just a Wall: The Permeability of the Prison in the Twentieth-Century United States
Sarah Winnemucca Award for Creative Nonfiction
Sponsor
- Becky Ellis of Lake Oswego for Little Avalanches: A Memoir
- Ferris Jabr of Portland for Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life
- Jaclyn Moyer of Corvallis for On Gold Hill: A Personal History of Wheat, Farming, and Family, from Punjab to California
- Tim Palmer of Port Orford for Seek Higher Ground: The Natural Solution to Our Urgent Flooding Crisis
- Marlena Williams of Portland for Night Mother: A Personal and Cultural History of The Exorcist
Eloise Jarvis McGraw Award for Children’s Literature
- Leslie Barnard Booth of Portland for A Stone Is a Story
- Leslie Barnard Booth of Portland for One Day This Tree Will Fall
- Anne Broyles of Portland for I’m Gonna Paint: Ralph Fasanella, Artist of the People
- Dane Liu of Portland for Laolao’s Dumplings
- Deborah Hopkinson of West Linn for Evidence!: How Dr. John Snow Solved the Mystery of Cholera
Leslie Bradshaw Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Literature
- April Henry of Portland for Stay Dead
- Deborah Hopkinson of West Linn for The Plot to Kill a Queen
- Megan Lally of Salem for That’s Not My Name
- Makiia Lucier of Portland for Dragonfruit
- Elizabeth Rusch of Portland for The Twenty-One: The True Story of the Youth Who Sued the U.S. Government Over Climate Change
Angus L. Bowmer Award for Drama
- E.M. Lewis of Portland for Strange Birds
- Rich Rubin of Portland for Kafka’s Joke
- Andrea Stolowitz of Portland for Elegy Play
- Ken Yoshikawa of Portland for From a Hole in the Ground
- Brianna Barrett of Portland for Still Harvey Still
The exciting night will begin with a social hour, where attendees can purchase refreshments and books before finding their seats. Tickets, ranging from $15 to $65, are available online.
WEEK 1: APRIL 1-7
Wordsmith and Wonder: An Author Talk With Jodi Picoult
Presented by Jackson County Library Services
4 p.m. Wednesday, April 2
Online via Zoom
Free, 18+ years only
Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of 29 novels, will read from her newest release. By Any Other Name is told in interwoven stories, chronicling the lives of two women — one in 1581 and one in present day — who find their voices through the power of the written word. Picoult will join audience members virtually through a Zoom meeting where she will discuss her book’s themes of ambition, courage, desire, and perseverance.
Paulann Petersen, Judy Montgomery, and Andrea Hollander
Presented by Broadway Books
6 p.m. Thursday, April 3
Broadway Books
1714 N.E. Broadway St., Portland
Free
Sponsor
Oregon poets Paulann Petersen, Oregon Poet Laureate Emerita; Judy Montgomery, author of Red Jess; and Andrea Hollander, creator of The Ambassador Writing Seminars, will read from their new anthology, What the House Knows. The eclectic collection, featuring narratives about home and heart, features poems by 116 poets, including Ted Kooser, Alice Friman, Billy Collins, Tracy K. Smith, Jan Beatty, and George Bilgere.
Author Reading: Strange New Cowboys/An End to War
Presented by Jackson County Library Services
2 p.m. Saturday, April 5
Applegate Library
18485 N. Applegate Road, Grants Pass
Free, 18+ years only
Paul Tipton will read from his newly published book, 50 years in the making, Strange New Cowboys: Vietnam Stories and Poems in the meeting room of the Applegate Library. The reading will be interspersed with pieces by members of The Applegate Poets in response to the prompt, “an end to war.” The event will present a variety of opinions and viewpoints on war and its consequences and explore how difficult ideas can be expressed through literary arts.
WEEK 2: APRIL 8-14
AJ Romriell in Conversation With Erica Berry
Presented by Broadway Books
6 p.m. Tuesday, April 8
Broadway Books
1714 N.E. Broadway St., Portland
Free
AJ Romriell, writer, photographer, and educator, will read from his new memoir, Wolf Act. Through personal essays, Romriell explores his experiences growing up queer and neurodivergent in the Mormon church, and coming to terms with choosing between the life he knew and one authentic to himself. Romriell will be joined by Erica Berry, Portland-based writer, educator, winner of the Steinberg Essay Prize, and author of Wolfish.
Street Books: Celebrating 15 Years Providing Books and Care on the Streets
Presented by Up Up Books
6 p.m. Thursday, April 10
Up Up Books
1211 S.E. Stark St., Portland
Free, RSVP requested, donations accepted
Street Books is celebrating its 15th anniversary of providing books and care to houseless people living in Portland. An anniversary kick-off event at Up Up Books will feature light refreshments and readings by Portland authors Stephanie Adams-Santos, Omar El Akkad, and Joshua Pollock.
Sponsor
Author Reading: Lynne Spriggs O’Connor’s Elk Love
Presented by Annie Bloom’s Books
7 p.m. Monday, April 14
Annie Bloom’s Books
7834 S.W. Capitol Hwy., Portland
Free
Lynne Spriggs O’Connor, author and curator, will read from Elk Love: A Montana Memoir. The account takes place partially on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation near Glacier National Park during O’Connor’s fieldwork for her doctorate in Native American art history. When she relocates to Montana from the East Coast and meets a handsome rancher, she tunes into nature in an unexpected way, and her life is changed forever.
WEEK 3: APRIL 15-21
Author Reading: Abolish Rent With Tracy Rosenthal
Presented by Up Up Books
7 p.m. Wednesday, April 16
1211 S.E. Stark St., Portland
Free
Tracy Rosenthal, co-founder of the LA Tenants Union, will be joined by organizers from DontEvictPDX to celebrate the release of Abolish Rent. The book looks at the American housing system and how the increasing cost of rent causes millions of people each year to fall into debt and homelessness. It also offers advice on how tenants can harness their power through organizing and collective action, using the tenant movement to take control of their homes.
Ship of Lost Souls: The Tragic Wreck of the Steamship Valencia
Presented by Roundabout Books & Cafe
6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 17
Roundabout Books & Cafe
900 N.W. Mt. Washington Drive, Suite 110, Bend
$5 or book purchase
Rod Scher, author of Sailing by Starlight: The Remarkable Voyage of Globe Star, and illustrator Molly Gorman Dumas will discuss their newest release, Ship of Lost Souls: The Tragic Wreck of the Steamship Valencia. They will talk about how they pieced together contextual history to form a patchwork story of the 1906 wreck of the passenger ship, set to travel from San Francisco to Seattle, as well as discuss developments in nautical safety technologies and lifesaving equipment. Tickets are available online.
Author Reading: Maggie Chula and Carolyn Martin
Presented by Broadway Books
6 p.m. Thursday, April 17
Broadway Books
1714 N.E. Broadway St., Portland
Free
Sponsor
Poet Maggie Chula will read from her newly released book, Weeding the Labyrinth. The lyrical collection of poetry uncovers the environmental devastation caused by floods, wildfires, and manmade disasters while highlighting the beauty and healing powers of nature. Chula will be joined by Carolyn Martin, author of six poetry collections. Her new work, Splitting Open the World, takes its title inspiration from American poet Muriel Rukeyser’s question, “What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? / The world would split open.”
WEEK 4: APRIL 22-30
Author Reading: Diane Simmons With Kim Field
Presented by Annie Bloom’s Books
7 p.m. Tuesday, April 22
Annie Bloom’s Books
7834 S.W. Capitol Hwy., Portland
Free
Diane Simmons, winner of the 1993 Oregon Book Award for Dreams Like Thunder, will read from the recently reissued novel. Dreams Like Thunder is set in 1959 on a small Eastern Oregon farm and follows 10-year-old Alberta as she discovers the truth behind the pioneer myths that drive her family. Simmons will be joined by Kim Field, Portland writer, musician, and author of The Blues Dream of Billy Boy Arnold and Harmonicas, Harps, and Heavy Breathers: The History of the People’s Instrument.
Dan Nadel in Conversation With Lance Bangs
Presented by Powell’s Books
7 p.m. Tuesday, April 22
Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing
3415 S.W. Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton
Free
Dan Nadel, curator and comics and art specialist, will discuss the life and triumphs of American cartoonist Robert Crumb, known for Fritz the Cat and The Book of Genesis. Nadel will talk about how Crumb, often credited with single-handedly transforming comics into a genre for adults, turned comics into an instantly recognizable aesthetic of 20th-century America. He will also discuss Crumb’s difficult childhood, early fame, and struggles as written in his book, Crumb: A Cartoonist’s Life. Nadel will be joined by Lance Bangs, American filmmaker and music video director.
The Thrill of Writing Action, Adventure, and Suspense: A Conversation With Gregg Hurwitz
Presented by Jackson County Library Services
4 p.m. Thursday, April 24
Online via Zoom
Free, 18+ years only
Gregg Hurwitz, New York Times bestselling author, will discuss his Orphan X series and what it takes to write suspenseful stories. The 10-book series follows Evan Smoak, aka Nowhere Man, as he continues to rebel against the program that created him and save those who need his protection. Hurwitz will talk about the newest release in the saga, Nemesis, during this free online Zoom event.
Sponsor
Author Reading, Book Signing, and Q&A: Martha Gies
Presented by Tsunami Books
2 p.m. Saturday, April 26
Tsunami Books
2585 Willamette St., Eugene
Free
Martha Gies, Oregon author, activist, and teacher, will read from her memoir, Broken Open. The memoir, composed of 15 personal essays, explores her well-lived life, offering insights, empathy, and musings on childhood as she enters her eighth decade. Gies will be joined for a book talk with Valerie Ihsan, story analyst and former co-chair of the Eugene Chapter of Willamette Writers.
Jeanne Theoharis in Conversation With Ursula Wolfe-Rocca
Presented by Powell’s Books
7 p.m. Wednesday, April 30
Powell’s City of Books
1005 W. Burnside St., Portland
Free
Jeanne Theoharis, award-winning historian, will read from her new book, King of the North, a myth-shattering take on the life and struggles of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In her retelling, Theoharis hopes to expand the general understanding of King and his work in the national fight against racism, poverty, and war, highlighting him as a speaker, leader, individual, minister, and a husband who had “a vision of justice unfulfilled in the present.” Theoharis will be joined by public school teacher Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. Signed books are available by preorder.
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