Poland woman wins award for poetry book

Staff report

COLUMBUS

Nin Andrews of Poland is the winner of the 2016 Ohioana Book Awards for poetry for her book “Why God Is a Woman.”

Andrews’ poems have appeared in many literary journals and anthologies, including Ploughshares, Agni, The Paris Review, and four editions of Best American Poetry. The author of six chapbooks and six full-length poetry collections, she has won two Ohio individual artist grants, the Pearl Chapbook Contest, the Kent State University chapbook contest, and the Gerald Cable Poetry Award. She also is the editor of a book of translations of the Belgian poet Henri Michaux, “Someone Wants to Steal My Name.”

Her book “Why God Is a Woman” was published by BOA Editions in 2015.

The Ohioana Awards, established in 1942, are among the oldest and longest-established state literary prizes in the nation.

They honor Ohio authors in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, juvenile literature and middle-grade/young-adult literature. The final category, About Ohio or an Ohioan, may also include books by non-Ohio authors.

“From the nearly 300 books that were eligible for this year’s awards, 30 finalists in six categories were selected by jurors,” said David Weaver, executive director of the Ohioana Library. “To make this short list is itself recognition of excellence and selecting a winner is a challenge. The books and authors chosen as 2016’s honorees are truly stellar.”

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the awards, which will be presented at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus on Sept. 23.

The other winners are:

Fiction: Mary Doria Russell for “Epitaph: A Novel of the O.K. Corral”

Nonfiction: Wil Haygood. “Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination That Changed America”

About Ohio or an Ohioan: David McCullough, “The Wright Brothers”

Juvenile Literature: Loren Long, “Little Tree”

Middle Grade/Young Adult Literature: Shelley Pearsall, “The Seventh Most Important Thing.”