Oregon Book Award

The Oregon Book Awards are presented annually by the Portland, Oregon, United States-based organization Literary Arts, Inc. to honor the "state’s finest accomplishments by Oregon writers who work in genres of poetry, fiction, graphic literature, drama, literary nonfiction, and literature for young readers."

Oregon Book Award was founded in 1987 by Brian Booth and Oregon Institute for Literary Arts (OILA). In 1993, Literary Arts, Inc., a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of Oregonians through language and literature, joined with the OILA and continued to support and promote Oregon's authors with the book awards and Oregon Literary Fellowships. Award winners are selected based solely on literary merit by out-of-state judges who change each year.

In 2005, the award ceremony was moved from Portland's Scottish Rite Center to the Wonder Ballroom, in an effort to make it more lively and fun. Since 2009, the awards ceremony has been held at the Gerding Theatre at the Armory, the home of Portland Center Stage.

Special Awards

 * 1988: William Everson
 * 1989: George Venn
 * 1990: Mary Barnard
 * 1991: Don James
 * 1992: Paul Pintarich
 * 1994: Ralph Friedman
 * 1995: Wilma Erwin

Charles Erskine Scott Wood Distinguished Writer Award

 * 1987: George Belknap
 * 1988: Dorothy Johansen
 * 1989: Vi Gale
 * 1990: Janet Stevenson
 * 1991: Walt Morey
 * 1992: Terence O'Donnell
 * 1993: Alvin M. Josephy, Jr.
 * 1994: Earl Pomeroy
 * 1995: Damon Knight
 * 1996: Eloise McGraw
 * 1998: Priscilla Knuth
 * 1999: Ken Kesey
 * 2003: George Hitchcock
 * 2006: Ursula K. Le Guin
 * 2008: Barry Lopez
 * 2014: Vern Rutsala
 * 2015: Ralph Salisbury
 * 2017: Jarold Ramsey
 * 2020: Lawson Fusao Inada
 * 2021: Molly Gloss

Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award

 * 1987: Northwest Review
 * 1988: Calyx, A Journal of Art & Literature
 * 1989: Katharine McCanna
 * 1990: Sandra Williams
 * 1991: Walt Curtis
 * 1992: Clyde Rice
 * 1993: Penny Avila
 * 1994: George Venn
 * 1995: Tom Ferte
 * 1996: Brian Booth
 * 1997: Ruth Gundle & Judith Barrington
 * 1998: Dennis & Linny Stovall
 * 1999: Peter Sears
 * 2000: Rich Wandschneider
 * 2001: Erik Muller
 * 2002: Carla Perry
 * 2003: David Hedges
 * 2004: David Milholland
 * 2005: Barbara LaMorticella
 * 2006: Paulann Petersen
 * 2007: Kim Stafford
 * 2008: Marlene Howard
 * 2009: Matt Love
 * 2011: John Laursen
 * 2013: Larry Colton
 * 2014: Vince & Patty Wixon
 * 2015: Tom Spanbauer
 * 2016: Douglas Spangle
 * 2017: The Independent Publishing Resource Center
 * 2018: Tracey Daugherty and Marjorie Sandor
 * 2019: José González
 * 2020: Write Around Portland
 * 2021: Elizabeth Lyon
 * 2023: Gary Miranda
 * 2024: Ellen Waterston

Walt Morey Young Readers Literary Legacy Award

 * 1998: Barbara J. McKillip
 * 1999: Claudia Jones
 * 2000: Cathy Schneider
 * 2001: Oregon advisory boards of First Book
 * 2002: Ready to Learn
 * 2003: Jerry Isom
 * 2004: Patricia R. Gallagher
 * 2005: Carol Brown
 * 2006: John Monteverde
 * 2007: Mark Mizell
 * 2008: Young Writers Association
 * 2009: The Dove Lewis Read to the Dogs Program
 * 2011: The Children's Book Bank
 * 2012: Ulrich Hardt
 * 2013: Oregon Battle of the Books
 * 2014: Ellen Fader
 * 2015: Jann Tankersley
 * 2016: Curtis Kiefer
 * 2017: The SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) Program
 * 2018: Carmen T. Bernier-Grand
 * 2020: Reading Results
 * 2021: PlayWrite, Inc.
 * 2023: Dawn Babb Prochovnic

C. Hamilton Bailey Fellowship in Poetry

 * 2018: Matthew Minicucci
 * 2019: Pamela K. Santos
 * 2020: Alicia Jo Rabins
 * 2021: Amy Miller

Edna L. Homes Fellowship in Young Readers

 * 2018: Erica A. Briggs
 * 2019: Amy Baskin
 * 2020: Kelly Garrett
 * 2021: Shana Targosz

Fellowship in Fiction

 * 2018: Omar El Akkad and Adair V

Fellowship in Poetry

 * 2018: manuel arturo abreu, Danielle Cadena Deulen, and Milo R. Muise

Fellowship in Publishing

 * 2018: Clackamas Literary Review and Pacifica: Poetry International
 * 2019: Atelier 26 Books and Opossum: A Literary Marsupial
 * 2020: Fonograf Editions and Octopus Books
 * 2021: Forest Avenue Press and Northwest Review

Fellowship in Nonfiction

 * 2018: Elizabeth Enslin, Susan Shepard, and Brian Trapp
 * 2019: Sterling Cunio and Justin Taylor
 * 2020: Garet Lahvis

Laurell Swails and Donald Monroe Memorial Fellowship in Fiction

 * 2018: Takashi L. Kendrick and Mika Tanner
 * 2019: Ana-Maurine Lara and Chris Stuck
 * 2020: Cynthia L. Brown and Taylor Koekkoek
 * 2021: Pedro Hoffmeister and Emily Woodworth

Leslie Bradshaw Fellowship

 * 2018: Alberto Yáñez (for nonfiction)
 * 2019: Chelsea Biondolillo (for nonfiction)
 * 2020: Rachael Carnes (for drama)
 * 2021: Sara Jean Accuardi (for drama)

Oregon Arts Commission Fellowship

 * 2018: Jacob Aiello and Jake Vermaas
 * 2019: Karen Luper and Marcus Lund
 * 2020: Marjorie Celona and Gabriel Urza

Oregon Literary Career Fellowship

 * 2020: Beth Alvarado and Dao Strom
 * 2021: Annie Sheppard and Sandy Tanaka

Oregon Poetry Community Fellowship

 * 2019: Jennifer Perrine
 * 2021: Alyssa Ogi

Walt Morey Fellowship

 * 2018: Cindy Baldwin (for drama)
 * 2019: Stacy Brewster (for drama)
 * 2020: Jamie Cooper (for poetry)
 * 2021: Scott Korb (for nonfiction)

Women Writers Fellowship

 * 2018: Naomi Ulsted
 * 2019: Natalie Hirt
 * 2020: Eliza Rotterman
 * 2021: A. M. Rosales

Writers of Color Fellowship

 * 2018: Reema Zaman
 * 2019: Christopher Rose
 * 2020: Olufunke Grace Bankole
 * 2021: Kesha Ajose-Fisher