The Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California’s California Book Awards has selected its finalists for 2023. One of the oldest and most distinguished literary award programs in the nation has chosen 34 outstanding books in eight categories, out of hundreds of titles submitted. From these finalists the book award jury will choose Gold and Silver Medal award winners to be announced in May 2024.
“2023 was another banner year for showcasing the enormous talent of California authors” commented Award Jury Chair Gravity Goldberg. “The scope of interest, curiosity and imagination reveal the complexity of California writing.”
The finalists, she notes, “while as varied as the population of California, consistently illuminate the preoccupations particular to our coastal state.” Fiction nominees include a story about a family of grape growers forced to contend with what the increasing ferocity of wildfires means for their livelihood, as well as a comic satire of the court intrigues of Empress Sisi of Austria and King Ludwig of Bavaria. Among the First Fiction nominees is a tender first-generation queer Iranian-America coming-of-age story, and a poetically edgy sex and drugs novel set in the Los Angeles club scene. Non-fiction contenders include a memoir about one family’s immigrant experience in San Francisco’s Chinatown and the multi-generational effects of the devastating policies of the Chinese Exclusion Act, and a riveting environmental tale documenting the harrowing story of our imperiled coastline. Among the Juvenile finalists is a story told in verse from the point of view of a young boy whose family is fleeing the Armenian genocide. Young Adult Finalists include a graphic memoir about a young Vietnamese immigrant boy’s search for belonging. In Poetry, finalists include a collection inspired by the story of the singer-songwriter Richie Valens; and a tender narrative meditation on the pleasures and pains of living with and through a non-normative Black body.
The California Book Awards jury is made up of published authors, award-winning editors, librarians and professors who spend six months reading books submitted by publishers both large and small from all over the nation. “We read with enthusiasm and attention,” Goldberg said, “and experience so many wonderful books that it's never easy to narrow it down to the finalists. The very best titles are chosen as our finalists, and then from those we choose the Gold and Silver medal winners we will announce later this spring.”
History
Since 1931, the California Book Awards have honored the exceptional literary merit of California writers and publishers. Each year a jury considers hundreds of books from around the state in search of the very best in literary achievement. Eligible books must be written while the author is a resident in California and must be published during the year under consideration.
The California Book Awards have often been on the vanguard, honoring previously unknown authors who go on to garner national acclaim. John Steinbeck received three gold medals – for Tortilla Flat in 1935, In Dubious Battle in 1936 and The Grapes of Wrath in 1939. Recent award winners include Rachel Kushner, Susan Orlean, David Treuer, Morgan Parker, and Steph Cha.
About CCWA
Commonwealth Club World Affairs—formed by the 2023 merger of The Commonwealth Club of California and World Affairs—brings people together to learn, discuss and create local and global solutions to issues that impact our community. The Bay Area’s single, leading public forum destination, CCWA is dedicated to reenergizing dynamic civic space by cultivating new ideas, connection and action through engaging live programs and inspiring stories. Learn more at commonwealthclub.org and worldaffairs.org.
“2023 was another banner year for showcasing the enormous talent of California authors” commented Award Jury Chair Gravity Goldberg. “The scope of interest, curiosity and imagination reveal the complexity of California writing.”
The finalists, she notes, “while as varied as the population of California, consistently illuminate the preoccupations particular to our coastal state.” Fiction nominees include a story about a family of grape growers forced to contend with what the increasing ferocity of wildfires means for their livelihood, as well as a comic satire of the court intrigues of Empress Sisi of Austria and King Ludwig of Bavaria. Among the First Fiction nominees is a tender first-generation queer Iranian-America coming-of-age story, and a poetically edgy sex and drugs novel set in the Los Angeles club scene. Non-fiction contenders include a memoir about one family’s immigrant experience in San Francisco’s Chinatown and the multi-generational effects of the devastating policies of the Chinese Exclusion Act, and a riveting environmental tale documenting the harrowing story of our imperiled coastline. Among the Juvenile finalists is a story told in verse from the point of view of a young boy whose family is fleeing the Armenian genocide. Young Adult Finalists include a graphic memoir about a young Vietnamese immigrant boy’s search for belonging. In Poetry, finalists include a collection inspired by the story of the singer-songwriter Richie Valens; and a tender narrative meditation on the pleasures and pains of living with and through a non-normative Black body.
The California Book Awards jury is made up of published authors, award-winning editors, librarians and professors who spend six months reading books submitted by publishers both large and small from all over the nation. “We read with enthusiasm and attention,” Goldberg said, “and experience so many wonderful books that it's never easy to narrow it down to the finalists. The very best titles are chosen as our finalists, and then from those we choose the Gold and Silver medal winners we will announce later this spring.”
History
Since 1931, the California Book Awards have honored the exceptional literary merit of California writers and publishers. Each year a jury considers hundreds of books from around the state in search of the very best in literary achievement. Eligible books must be written while the author is a resident in California and must be published during the year under consideration.
The California Book Awards have often been on the vanguard, honoring previously unknown authors who go on to garner national acclaim. John Steinbeck received three gold medals – for Tortilla Flat in 1935, In Dubious Battle in 1936 and The Grapes of Wrath in 1939. Recent award winners include Rachel Kushner, Susan Orlean, David Treuer, Morgan Parker, and Steph Cha.
About CCWA
Commonwealth Club World Affairs—formed by the 2023 merger of The Commonwealth Club of California and World Affairs—brings people together to learn, discuss and create local and global solutions to issues that impact our community. The Bay Area’s single, leading public forum destination, CCWA is dedicated to reenergizing dynamic civic space by cultivating new ideas, connection and action through engaging live programs and inspiring stories. Learn more at commonwealthclub.org and worldaffairs.org.
93rd ANNUAL FINALISTS
FICTION
Fire in the Canyon by Daniel Gumbiner
Astra Publishing House
Empty Theatre by Jac Jemc
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
The Chinese Groove by Kathryn Ma
Counterpoint Press
Blackouts by Justin Torres
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
Grove Atlantic
Astra Publishing House
Empty Theatre by Jac Jemc
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
The Chinese Groove by Kathryn Ma
Counterpoint Press
Blackouts by Justin Torres
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
Grove Atlantic
FIRST FICTION
I Will Greet the Sun Again by Khashayar J. Khabushani
Penguin Random House
Penguin Random House
All-Night Pharmacy by Ruth Madievsky
Catapult
Catapult
Night Wherever We Go by Tracey Rose Peyton
Ecco
Ecco
NONFICTION
The Three Ages of Water: Prehistoric Past, Imperiled Present, and a Hope for the Future by Peter Gleick
PublicAffairs
PublicAffairs
The Hungry Season: A Journey of War, Love, and Survival by Lisa M. Hamilton
Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company
Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong’s Rendezvous with American History by Yunte Huang
W.W. Norton and Company
W.W. Norton and Company
Orphan Bachelors: A Memoir by Fae Myenne Ng
Grove Atlantic
Grove Atlantic
California Against the Sea: Visions for Our Vanishing Coastline by Rosanna Xia
Heyday
Heyday
CALIFORNIANA
Deep Oakland: How Geology Shaped a City by Andrew Alden
Heyday
Heyday
Octopus's Garden: How Railroads and Citrus Transformed Southern California by Benjamin T. Jenkins
University Press of Kansas
University Press of Kansas
Portal: San Francisco's Ferry Building and the Reinvention of American Cities by John King
W.W. Norton & Company
W.W. Norton & Company
Settler Cannabis: From Gold Rush to Green Rush in Indigenous Northern California by Kaitlin P. Reed
University of Washington Press
University of Washington Press
The Riders Come Out at Night: Brutality, Corruption, and Cover-Up in Oakland by Ali Winstone and Darwin BondGraham
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
POETRY
Mass for Shut-Ins by Mary-Alice Daniel
Yale University Press
Yale University Press
Things I Didn’t Do With This Body by Amanda Gunn
Copper Canyon Press
Copper Canyon Press
Quiver by Luke Johnson
Texas Review Press
Tarta Americana by J. Michael Martinez
Penguin Books
Texas Review Press
Tarta Americana by J. Michael Martinez
Penguin Books
YOUNG ADULT
The Blood Years by Elana K. Arnold
Balzer + Bray
Balzer + Bray
The Coldest Winter I Ever Spent by Ann Jacobus
Lerner Publisher Group
Lerner Publisher Group
Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam by Thien Pham
MacMillan Children’s Publishing Group
MacMillan Children’s Publishing Group
Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
JUVENILE
The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers and Shawn Harris
McSweeney’s/Knopf Books for Young Readers
McSweeney’s/Knopf Books for Young Readers
A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat
MacMillan Children’s Publishing Group
MacMillan Children’s Publishing Group
The Honey Jar: An Armenian’s Escape to Freedom by Joan Schoettler
Bushel & Peck Books
Bushel & Peck Books
Boomi’s Boombox by Shanthi Sekaran
HarperCollins
HarperCollins
Big Tree by Brian Selznick
Scholastic Press
Scholastic Press
CONTRIBUTION TO PUBLISHING
KAOS Theory: The Afrokosmic Ark of Ben Caldwell by Roberson Taj Frazier
Angel City Press
Angel City Press
Sea Change: An Atlas of Islands in a Rising Ocean by Christina Gerhardt
University of California Press
University of California Press
How to Say Goodbye by Wendy MacNaughton
Bloomsbury Publishing
Bloomsbury Publishing
