High Plains Book Award nominations now open

Nominations for the 16th annual High Plains Book Awards opened Jan. 14 and will be accepted through March 12. Information and nomination forms can be found online at http://highplainsbookawards.org. The list of 2021 winners is also available on the website.

The Billings Public Library board of directors established the High Plains Book Awards in 2006 to recognize regional authors and/or literary works that examine and reflect life on the High Plains. The High Plains region includes Montana, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

The 2022 awards feature 13 book categories: Art and Photography, Children's Book, Fiction, First Book, Indigenous Writer, Nonfiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, Medicine and Science, Short Stories, Woman Writer, Young Adult and the Big Sky Award.

Nominated books must be published for the first time in 2021. Winners will receive a $500 cash prize and will be announced in October.

All nominated books are read and evaluated by community readers. Finalist books in each category will be announced in June. Winners in each category will be determined by a panel of published writers with connections to the High Plains region.

For more information about the High Plains Book Awards, visit www.highplainsbookawards.org or contact Shari Nault, High Plains Book Awards chair, at 406-672-6223 or shari2redlodge@gmail.com.