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89TH ANNUAL CALIFORNIA BOOK AWARD WINNERS

THE ANNUAL CALIFORNIA

Book Awards, which began in 1931, recognize the state’s best writers and illuminate the wealth and diversity of literature written in California. Monetary prizes are given in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, juvenile literature, young adult literature, first work of fiction, Californiana and notable contribution to publishing. You can watch the entire 89th Annual California Book Awards program, which took place August 28, 2020, at commonwealthclub.org/videos

GOLD MEDALS

FICTION Your House Will Pay, Steph Cha, Ecco FIRST FICTION Home Remedies, Xuan Juliana Wang, Hogarth NONFICTION The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee, David Treuer,

Riverhead JUVENILE A Place to Belong, Cynthia Kadohata, Atheneum YOUNG ADULT Frankly in Love, David Yoon, G.P Putnam’s Sons POETRY Magical Negro, Morgan Parker, Tin House Books

SILVER MEDALS

FIRST FICTION Last of Her Name, Mimi Lok, Kaya Press NONFICTION Know My Name, Chanel Miller, Viking POETRY A Jazz Funeral for Uncle Tom, Harmony Holiday,

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SPECIAL AWARDS

CALIFORNIANA The Dreamt Land, Mark Arax, Knopf CONTRIBUTION TO PUBLISHING Jim Marshall: Show Me the Picture, Chronicle

Books

In late August, The Commonwealth “Our Non-Fiction Gold Medal winner, Club of California announced the David Treuer’s The Heartbeat of Wounded winners of the 89th annual CaliKnee, is at once an incisive history of Nafornia Book Awards. Book lovers tive America from 1890 to the present and from around the a deeply moving memoir of state—and around Even in this time life as a member of the Ojibthe world—got to hear of social, political, we Tribe. from the winning authors and publishers themselves in a live-streamed program economic and public health “The Non-Fiction Silver Medal winner, Chanel Miller’s Know My Name, is on August 28. challenges, the an extraordinarily powerful

“The California Book awards testify memoir of sexual assault and Awards jury is proud to announce our 2020 medalists,” says Peter Fish, chair of this year’s awards. “Even to the creativity and ambition of California writers the failure of the American justice system to punish it. Our Fiction Gold Medal winner, Steph Cha’s Your in this time of social, poand publishers. House Will Pay, is a taut, rivlitical, economic and pubThey remind us of eting, unsparing look at the lic health challenges, the California Book Awards testify to the creativity the vital importance of literature ways race, class, and history divide families and a city. “Our First Fiction Gold and ambition of Califorin helping us Medal winner, Xuan Julinia writers and publishers. understand our ana Wang’s Home Remedies, They remind us of the vital world in all its is a brilliantly kaleidoscopic importance of literature in helping us understand our world in all its difficulties difficulties and complexities. short story collection that ranges from Beijing to Paris to Manhattan’s Chinatown. and complexities. This year, The stories in our First Ficwe’re privileged to give medals to an estion Silver Medal winner, Mimi Lok’s Last pecially impressive roster of books and of Her Name, are equally adventurous, authors. gracefully leaping from World War II-era

Hong Kong to contemporary London.

“Our Young Adult Gold Medal winner,” continues Fish, “is David Yoon’s Frankly in Love, which combines sweet romance, goofy humor, and keen anti-racism in one warm, intelligent, life-affirming book. Our Juvenile Gold Medal winner, Cynthia Kadohata’s A Place to Belong, brings a tragic period in the American past to heartbreaking life today. In Poetry, our Gold Medal winner, Morgan Parker’s Magical Negro, features deftly crafted poems that blend rage and despair with razor-sharp humor. Our Poetry Silver Medal winner, Harmony Holiday’s A Jazz Funeral for Uncle Tom, is innovative, funny and brutal.

“Finally,” Fish says, “each year the California Book Awards gives two special awards. Our Californiana Award goes this year to Mark Arax for The Dreamt Land, an epic history of the San Joaquin Valley’s rise from 19th century wilderness to 21st century agricultural powerhouse.

“Our Contribution to Publishing Award goes to Chronicle Books for Jim Marshall: Show Me the Picture, a stunning compilation of Marshall’s unforgettable photographs of 1960s and 1970s rock stars, jazz musicians, and civil rights leaders.”