The Washington Center for the Book (an affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book administered by Washington State Library) has selected winners in seven categories for the 2026 Washington State Book Awards (WSBA) for outstanding books published by Washington authors in 2025. This is the 60th year of the program, formerly called the Governor’s Writers Awards. We…
Washington State Adult Summer Reading Book Bingo 2026 is here! Libraries and bookstores of Washington, please feel free to download, print, and distribute these Book Bingo forms to your community members! We’ve seen some libraries in Washington do a drawing for prizes at the end of the summer; we’ve also heard from readers who are excited to bring back some…
Meet our 2026 Washington State Book Award (WSBA) Judges! We are thrilled to introduce our wonderful panel of 2026 Washington State Book Award judges who are currently deep into reading and reviewing hundreds of books (published in 2025) from authors across the state. Our judging panels are made up of librarians, library workers, and authors. We are so thankful for…
The Washington Center for the Book (an affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book administered by Washington State Library) has selected winners in seven categories for the 2024 Washington State Book Awards (WSBA) for outstanding books published by Washington authors in 2023. This is the 58th year of the program, formerly called the Governor’s Writers Awards. 2024…
The Washington Center for the Book (an affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book administered by Washington State Library) and The Seattle Public Library have selected 39 finalists in eight categories for the 2022 Washington State Book Awards (WSBA) for outstanding books published by Washington authors in 2021. This is the 56th year of the program, formerly…
We are delighted to announce the eight winners and 35 finalists for the 2021 Washington State Book Awards (for books published in 2021)! Find the full list of 43 books from Washington authors and illustrators here. And here is a sneak peek at the winners: The eight award winners are: Jess Walter for “The Cold Millions” (Fiction); E.J. Koh for…
The Washington Center for the Book has selected the 2020 Washington State Book Awards (WSBA) winners for outstanding books published by Washington authors in 2019. This is the 54th year of the program, formerly called the Governor’s Writers Awards. A complete list of 2020 WSBA Finalists can be found here. Picture Books “Flora Forager ABC” by Bridget Beth Collins,…
We are looking for librarians and booksellers to judge our youth categories (picture books through young adult literature) and adult categories for the 2020 Washington State Book Awards. If selected, you’ll be reading and evaluating books by Washington authors, collaborating with other judges through a series of online meetings, and meeting once (sometime between late May and early July, tbd)…
Here are the finalists in eight categories for the 2019 Washington State Book Awards (WSBA) for outstanding books published by Washington authors in 2018. Congratulations to all authors and illustrators, and be sure to get these books on your reading list: BOOKS FOR ADULTS FICTION The Best Bad Things by Katrina Carrasco, of Seattle (MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux) The…
Congratulations to the finalists in the 2018 Washington State Book Awards Fiction: This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel, of Seattle (Flatiron Books) The Cold Eye by Laura Anne Gilman, of Seattle (Simon & Schuster) The Other Alcott by Elise Hooper, of Seattle (HarperCollins) Solar Reboot by Matthew D. Hunt, of Clearview (Matthew D. Hunt) George and Lizzie…