Oregon Book Award
The Oregon Book Awards are presented annually by Literary Arts, Inc. for the finest accomplishments by Oregon writers who work in the genres of Fiction, Poetry, General Nonfiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Young Readers' Literature. Listed here are the winners in both Fiction and Nonfiction categories.
2025 Winners:
FICTION
A young mother, in denial after the death of her sister, navigates the dizzying landscapes of desire, guilt, and grief in this darkly comic, highly anticipated debut novel from Kimberly King Parsons, author of the story collection, Black Light (long-listed for the National Book Award).
Neon bright in its insight, both devastating and laugh-out-loud funny, We Were the Universe is an ambitious, inventive novel from a revelatory new voice in American fiction—a fearless exploration of sisterhood, motherhood, friendship, marriage, psychedelics, and the many strange, transcendent shapes love can take.
GENERAL NONFICTION
An award-winning author investigates the entangled history of her Jewish ancestors' land in South Dakota and the Lakota, who were forced off that land by the United States government.
With deep empathy and clarity of purpose, Clarren grapples with the personal and national consequences of this legacy of violence and dispossession. What does it mean to survive oppression only to perpetuate and benefit from the oppression of others? By shining a light on the people and families tangled up in this country’s difficult history, The Cost of Free Land invites readers to consider their own culpability and what, now, can be done.
CREATIVE NONFICTION
A young South Asian American woman's story of reconnecting with her identity, family, and heritage through sustainable farming.
Braiding memoir with historical inquiry, On Gold Hill explores the complexities of the immigrant experience, illuminates the ways colonialism and capitalism constrain our food system, and investigates what it means to lose—and to reclaim—one’s heritage.
POETRY
ten-cent flower & other territories explores what is lost in lineage, translation, transaction, and seeks reclamation through mapping.
Through etymologies of place names and monuments and godheads to navigating complex geographies of mother/daughter, lover/other, colonizer/colonized; from ledger of transgressions to passage through birth canal, with quiet defiances against autocorrect, capitalization.
CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
The life of visionary folk artist and labor organizer Ralph Fasanella stunningly illustrated for picture book readers.
Anne Broyles taps into Ralph's indomitable spirit to show his evolution as an artist, while Victoria Tentler-Krylov’s energetic art leaps off the page with wonder and homages to Ralph’s style. Meticulously researched with quotes from Ralph to underline his philosophy and approach to artmaking, the robust back matter includes reproductions of his paintings, historical photos, a timeline, a bibliography, a source notes, and much more.
YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE
From acclaimed author Makiia Lucier, a dazzling, romantic fantasy inspired by Pacific Island mythology.
In order to return to her homeland and save her kingdom, exiled Hanalei reunites with her childhood best friend, Sam, to track down a rare seadragon egg—a dragonfruit—whose magic is said to grant any wish. But every wish comes with a price, and Hanalei must decide what she’s willing to sacrifice for her kingdom . . . and for Sam.