Society of Midland Authors Awards
Posted by: Keir Graff
Last night, I attended the annual awards banquet of the venerable Society of Midland Authors. It was a modest crowd but a truly enjoyable evening—being in the company of people who value books and authors so highly has a way of raising my spirits. Master of ceremonies and prolific author Jay Bonansinga kept things light as he paid very funny tribute to the Midwest and mid-list authors. Patricia Ann McNair, finalist for The Temple of Air, dedicated her book and her honor to her parents, both writers. Richard Lindberg spoke movingly (and humorously) of the long road to publication for his memoir Whiskey Breakfast (the first book he’s published, he noted, that doesn’t have Chicago in the title). Gregory White Smith—a Pulitzer winner and a National Book Award finalist—shared fascinating insight on his writing partnership with Steven Naifeh on Van Gogh: The Life. Elizabeth Taylor, the Chicago Tribune‘s literary editor, gave thanks as she accepted the James Friend Memorial Award for Literary Criticism.
But it was Susanna Childress, poetry winner for Entering the House of Awe, who stole the show. Taking the mic, the very pregnant poet sang W. B. Yeats’ “When You Are Old” in a haunting, Appalachian-inflected melody. (Noting later that she is from Southern Indiana, or “Kentuckiana,” she jokingly wondered why it’s never called “Indiuky.”) A memorable evening with writers who deserve to be celebrated.
ADULT FICTION
Winner
The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain
Finalists
The Devil All the Time, by Donald Ray Pollock
The Temple of Air, by Patricia Ann McNair
ADULT NONFICTION
Winner
Thirteen Loops: Race, Violence, and the Last Lynching in America, by B. J. Hollars
Finalists
Cold-Blooded Kindness: Neuroquirks of a Codependent Killer, or Just Give Me a Shot at Loving You, Dear, and Other Reflections on Helping That Hurts, by Barbara Oakley
The Sport of Kings and the Kings of Crime: Horse Racing, Politics, and Organized Crime in New York, 1865–1913, by Steven A. Riess
BIOGRAPHY
Winner
Van Gogh: The Life, by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith
Finalists
Alexander the Great, by Philip Freeman
Whiskey Breakfast: My Swedish Family My American Life, by Richard C. Lindberg
CHILDREN’S FICTION
Winner
Words in the Dust, by Trent Reedy
CHILDREN’S NONFICTION
Winner
Garbage: Investigate What Happens When You Throw It Out, by Donna Latham
Finalist
Charles Dickens and the Street Children of London, by Andrea Warren
POETRY
Winner
Entering the House of Awe, by Susanna Childress
Finalist
The Moon from Every Window, by Rob Griffith
JAMES FRIEND MEMORIAL AWARD FOR LITERARY AND DRAMATIC CRITICISM
Elizabeth Taylor, Chicago Tribune literary editor
