Finalists Announced for Connecticut Book Awards

The 2021 Connecticut Book Awards, a program of the Connecticut Center for the Book, an affiliate program of the Library of Congress and a core program of Connecticut Humanities, will be held at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 22, 2021.

The Connecticut Book Awards recognize the best books of 2020 either about Connecticut or by authors and illustrators from Connecticut. Categories include: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Books for Young Readers.

The 2021 Connecticut Book Awards is scheduled to be a hybrid/in-person event, however organizers indicate that they are keeping a weather-eye on the ever-evolving COVID situation, and it may become an entirely virtual event. Either way, registration can be found here.

Awards will also include the Bruce Fraser “Spirit of Connecticut” Award. This special award is in memory of longtime Connecticut Humanities director Bruce Fraser and celebrates Connecticut’s sense of place. Winners of all award categories will be announced at the event.

Connecticut Center for the Book is the state affiliate of the national Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. The mission is to “promote the written and spoken word throughout the state, and to foster a love of reading for the people of Connecticut.”

Submissions were due in April, including the following criteria:

Authors and illustrators must currently reside in Connecticut and must have lived in the state at least three consecutive years or have been born in the state. Alternatively, the work may be substantially set in Connecticut.
Titles must have been published for the first time between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 or have a copyright within 2020.
Anthologies are acceptable. Author(s) must currently reside in Connecticut and must have lived in the state at least three consecutive years or have been born in the state. Alternatively, the works must be substantially set in Connecticut.

Each category had a panel of five judges, selected by the Connecticut Center for the Book and having a connection to the literary world in some way. (For example, as authors, librarians, literature professors, journalists, booksellers, or book reviewers.)

The Connecticut Center for the Book has also launched a new partnership with the Connecticut Literary Festival. This partnership aims to expand programming opportunities and allow for expansion of creative and culturally relevant writing outside of just prose and poetry, according to officials.

“We are thrilled to be able to join with the Connecticut Literary Festival to expand the scope of the literary arts community in the state,” a news release from CT Humanities noted.

Connecticut Humanities, the organization’s website explains, “champions the enduring value of public humanities in our lives and civil society. Through grant funding and capacity building, CTH strives to ensure the public humanities will continue to inspire storytelling, lifelong learning, informed public dialogue and civic engagement in ways that strengthen communities and enhance quality of life for all Connecticut's citizens.”

FINALISTS for 2021 (in alphabetical order by author's last name)

Nonfiction

Poetry

Fiction

Young Readers

Fiction

Accidental Archaeologists | Sarah Albee | Scholastic
Albert Hopper, Science Hero | John Himmelman | Henry Holt Books for Young Readers

Picture Books

2021 Spirit of Connecticut Finalists

Nonfiction

Fiction

The Sea Glass Murders | Timothy Cole | Pace Press