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 |
