DAVID BIESPIEL, AN INSTRUCTOR OF ENGLISH and creative writing at Oregon State University, won an Oregon Book Award for A Long High Whistle, a collection of essays from his now-discontinued poetry column in The Oregonian, believed to be the longest running poetry column in any newspaper. This is the second Oregon Book Award for the poet and critic, who won previously for The Book of Men and Women in 2011.
Oregon novelist and essayist Brian Doyle, who won for his young adult novel Martin Marten (St. Martin’s Press), was also a finalist this year for Children and Other Wild Animals, published by the Oregon State University Press.
Two other books published by OSU Press also were finalists for this year’s Oregon Book Awards, which were announced in April. They were Field Guide to Oregon Rivers by Tim Palmer of Port Orford (general nonfiction); and Morning Light: Wild Flowers, Night Skies and Other Ordinary Joys of Oregon Country Life by Barbara Drake of Yamhill (creative nonfiction).
“The amazing slate of finalists this year is a testament to Oregon’s rich and vibrant literary community,” said Tom Booth, associate director of the OSU Press.
The Oregon Book Awards and Fellowships honor the state’s finest accomplishments by Oregon writers who work in genres of fiction, drama, literary nonfiction, poetry, graphic literature and literature for young readers.