2010 Ohioana Award Winners Announced

Press Release

2010 OHIOANA AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Columbus, OH – September 15, 2010. . . .The Ohioana Library Association announces the 16 recipients of the 2010 Ohioana Awards. Linda Hengst, executive director of the Ohioana Library, stated, “Ohio has fostered amazing talent! Among this year’s award recipients are former Poet Laureate of the United States Rita Dove and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Jorma Kaukonen. Each of this year’s award winners has made significant contributions to the literary, artistic, and musical life of Ohio and our nation, and we are proud to be able to recognize such talented individuals.”

Champions and promoters of Ohio artists, Timothy and James Keny, lifelong Columbus residents, are the recipients of the 2010 OHIOANA CAREER AWARD, given to an Ohio native for a lifetime of service to the arts and humanities. Toledo’s Lucas County Poet Laureate Joel Lipman, will receive the 2010 PEGASUS AWARD, which honors a native or non-native Ohioan for outstanding cultural achievements.

The recipients of the Ohioana Book Awards, Ohioana Citations and Named Awards are listed below. A detailed profile of each award recipient, listed in alphabetical order, is also attached, and photographs are available upon request.

OHIOANA BOOK AWARDS - annually awarded for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, juvenile books, and books about Ohio or Ohioans.)

• FICTION: Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon, Cleveland Heights, OH resident and Oberlin College professor

• NONFICTION: When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the present by Gail Collins, Cincinnati native and first woman appointed editor of the New York Times editorial page.

• POETRY: Sonata Mulattica: Poems by Rita Dove, Akron, OH native and former Poet Laureate of the United States.

• JUVENILE BOOK: Cuckoo’s Haiku by Michael J. Rosen, Columbus native and former literary director of Thurber House.

• ABOUT OHIO/OHIOAN: Wild Ohio by James McCormac, Columbus resident and employee of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and Gary Meszaros, photographer and Cleveland native and resident.

OHIOANA CITATIONS—awarded for distinguished service in specific fields or areas of the arts and humanities.

• Children’s author to Brian Cleary, native and resident of Cleveland, OH

• Artist and Illustrator to Loren Long, Cincinnati resident

• Art and Education to Patty Mitchell, Athens, Ohio

• Music to Jorma Kaukonen, Pomeroy, OH resident



NAMED AWARDS

• OHIOANA JAMES P. BARRY AWARD FOR EDITORIAL EXCELLENCE to New Ohio Review, Jill Allyn Rosser, editor, Athens, OH – Ohio University

• OHIOANA WALTER RUMSEY MARVIN GRANT – (awarded to encourage a young unpublished writer) to Daniel Pribble, Oxford, OH native

• OHIOANA CHILDREN’S LITERATURE AWARD – (Alice Louise Wood Memorial) to Sharon Draper, Cleveland native and Cincinnati resident, for the body of her work and contributions to Children’s Literature

There are two opportunities for the public to meet the Award recipients. On Friday evening, October 15th from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. the public is invited to an informal gathering and reception for the award recipients. The event, “Uncorrected Proofs” will include readings and a panel discussion with the book award winners lead by Linda Feagler, senior editor of Ohio Magazine. It will be held at the Ohioana Library and State Library of Ohio, 274 E. First Ave., Columbus, OH. Light hors d’oeuvres and refreshments will be available. Admission is $25 per person and reservations are required.

The Ohioana Awards will be presented at the Ohioana Day celebration on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010, in the Statehouse Atrium on Capitol Square. The luncheon and awards ceremony begins at 11:30 a.m., preceded by the Association’s 81st annual meeting at 10 a.m. and a book fair at 10:30 a.m. The Statehouse Museum Shop will have copies of the works of award winners as well as other Ohio selections available for sale. The luncheon is open to the public; however, reservations are required. The cost of the luncheon is $50 per person.

The 2010 Ohioana Awards are presented with the support of the Ohio Arts Council, funding programs and organizations with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. Additional support has been provided by The Myers Y. Cooper Company and the law firms of Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease and Margaret Wong & Associates. Ohio Magazine is the official print media sponsor, with additional support provided by WOSU Public Media.

For more information about the Ohioana Awards or to make reservations for the Friday reception or the Saturday luncheon, please contact the Ohioana Library, 274 East First Ave., Suite 300, Columbus, OH 43201, call 614-466-3831, or email ohioana@ohioana.org.

The Ohioana Library Association’s mission is to recognize and encourage the creative accomplishments of Ohioans; preserve and expand a permanent collection of books, sheet music, manuscripts, and other materials by Ohioans and about Ohio; and disseminate information about the work of Ohio writers, musicians and other artists to researchers, schools and the general public.

The Ohioana Library is supported by memberships, grants, contributions, and a subsidy from the State of Ohio.