VISIBLE BONES is visibly great

Jack Nisbet's latest book, VISIBLE BONES: Journey Across Time in the Columbia River Country, has been named one of 10 winners of this year's Washington State Book Awards. Check out the press release:

The Washington Center for the Book at The Seattle Public Library announces the selection of the 10 winners of the 2004 Washington State Book Awards.

These recipients will be honored at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 27, at a public ceremony at The Seattle Public Library, 1000 Fourth Ave. The awards ceremony will be held in the Microsoft Auditorium on Level 1 and will be followed by a reception and book signing.

Thanks to the sponsorship of The Seattle Public Library Foundation, each award winner will receive a $1,000 honorarium.

The winning titles are:

• “Gay Seattle: Stories of Exile and Belonging” by Gary Atkins of Seattle (University of Washington Press)
• “Range of Glaciers: The Exploration and Survey of the Northern Cascade Range” by Fred Beckey of Seattle (Oregon Historical Society Press, distributed by University of Washington Press)
• “Rodzina,” a novel for children by Karen Cushman of Vashon Island, Wash. (Clarion Books)
• The Actual Moon, the Actual Stars,” poems by Chris Forhan, now of Auburn, Ala. (Northeastern University Press)
• “The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of the English Empire in the American South, 1670-1717” by Alan Gallay of Bellingham, Wash. (Yale University Press)
• “Bold Spirit: Helga Estby’s Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America” by Linda Lawrence Hunt of Spokane, Wash. (University of Idaho Press)
• “The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America” by Erik Larson of Seattle (Crown Publishers)
• “King of Fish: The Thousand-Year Run on Salmon” by David Montgomery of Seattle (Westview Press)
• “Visible Bones: Journey Across Time in the Columbia River Country” by Jack Nisbet of Spokane, Wash. (Sasquatch Books)
• “Set This House in Order: A Romance of Souls,” a novel by Matt Ruff of Seattle (HarperCollins)

Now in its 38th year, the Washington State Book Award (formerly known as the Governor’s Writers Award) honors books published by Washington authors during the previous calendar year. The panel selects books based on three criteria: literary merit, lasting importance, and overall quality of the publication.

“The panel’s discussions were, as usual, thoughtful and passionate,” said Chris Higashi, associate director of the Washington Center for the Book. “We’re happy to be able to hold this year’s awards ceremony in our beautiful Central Library Microsoft Auditorium. The program is always one of the highlights of our year. Listening to the authors discuss and read from their award-winning books, it’s easy to see why the books were chosen out of all the books published last year by Washington authors.”

The jurists for the Washington State Book Awards represent various facets of the state’s literary community. This year’s judges were: Karen Maeda Allman, writer and bookseller, The Elliott Bay Book Company; Mary Harris, co-owner, Parkplace Books; Tod Marshall, professor of English, Gonzaga University; Venta Silins, reference/education librarian, University of Washington, Bothell; and Edwin Weihe, professor of English, Seattle University.