With a gorgeous backdrop at Heaven Hill Farm in Lake Placid, writers, readers, publishers, and friends joined for the celebration of all regional books published in 2017, as well as the announcement of the category winners. Following a warm welcome by Adirondack Center for Writing Executive Director Nathalie Thill, judges in each genre provided kind words and descriptions of each title submitted before announcing the year’s winners, including:

  • Best Book of Children’s Literature: “Mommy, Baby and Me” by Linda Elovitz Marshall (Peter Pauper Press, Inc.)
  • Best Book of Fiction: to “The Night is Done: A Durant Family Saga” by Sheila Myers (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform)
  • Best Memoir: “Barn Stories” by Mary Cuffe Perez (North Country Books)
  • Best Book of Nonfiction: “Blacks in the Adirondacks: A History” by Sally E. Svenson (Syracuse University Press)
  • Best Book of Poetry: “Body of Water” by Madeline Hennessey (RA Press)
  • People’s Choice Award: “FM 101-5-1, Operational Terms and Graphics” by Paul David Adkins (Lit Riot Press, LLC)

The Adirondack Center for Writing would love to extend a huge thank you to our category judges for their hard work including Joe Bruchac and Ellen Rocco in fiction, Jerry McGovern and Bibi Wein in nonfiction, Aimee Baker and Roger Mitchell in poetry, and Peggy Orman in children’s literature. “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, the person who never reads lives only one” and we encourage everyone to grab a copy of the submitted local titles for your next summer read!

Author(s) Title Genre
A. Townsend, E.J. Wildermuth I Will Not Read You This Book Children’s Literature
JD Spero Concerto Children’s Literature
LeeAnne Baker Unraveled Children’s Literature
Linda Marshall Mommy, Baby and Me Children’s Literature
David Donohue The Missionary’s Sad Fate Fiction
Larry Loebell Seven Steps Ahead Fiction
Larry Weill In Marcy’s Shadow Fiction
Laurel Saville Beneath the Trees Fiction
Sheila Myers The Night is Done: a Durant Family Saga Fiction
Kathleen Larkin Best of Both Worlds Memoir
Mary Jo McKeon From The Beginning Memoir
Adam Federman Fasting and Feasting Nonfiction
Ann C. Sayers Their Name is Wicks: One Family’s Journey through Shaker History Nonfiction
Mary Cuffe Perez Barn Stories Nonfiction
Philip Terrie Seeing the Forest: Review, Musings, and Opinions from an Adirondack Historian Nonfiction
Reese S. Monitor Grumpy Teacher Nonfiction
Richard Longstreth A Guide to Architecture in the Adirondacks Nonfiction
Sally Svenson Blacks in the Adirondacks: A History Nonfiction
Amanda Stopa Goldstein Myths & Rituals Poetry
Caperton Tissot The Beat Within Poetry
Chuck Gibson, Charles Watts, Cathy S. McDowell, Mary Randall Schroon River Anthology Poetry
George Drew Fancy’s Orphan Poetry
Kathleen McCoy More Water Than Words Poetry
Madeline Hennessey Body of Water Poetry
Paul David Adkins FM 101-5-1, Operational Terms and Graphics Poetry
Sean Tierney Inhibitions at 20,000 Feet Poetry
Stuart Bartow Quaking Marsh Poetry
Yvona Fast Different Poetry