Portland writers dominate 2026 Oregon Book Awards finalist slate across fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and young readers
Finalists named ahead of April 20 ceremony at Portland Center Stage
Finalists for the 2026 Oregon Book Awards were announced on February 9, setting the stage for an April 20 ceremony at Portland Center Stage at The Armory. The annual awards recognize Oregon writers across multiple genres, including fiction, poetry, nonfiction, young readers, and graphic literature. The 2026 event is scheduled to be hosted by novelist Kimberly King Parsons.
The finalist list includes authors from around the state, but Portland-based writers make up a significant share of nominees across nearly every category. The finalists were selected by panels of out-of-state judges from approximately 200 submitted titles.
Portland presence is strongest in fiction and literary nonfiction categories
In the Ken Kesey Award for Fiction category, four of the five finalists are Portland authors: Olufunke Grace Bankole (The Edge of Water), Ling Ling Huang (Immaculate Conception: A Novel), Kevin Maloney (Horse Girl Fever), and Karen Thompson Walker (The Strange Case of Jane O.). The remaining fiction finalist is Madeline McDonnell of Corvallis (Lonesome Ballroom).
Portland writers also account for most of the nominees in the two literary nonfiction categories. The Frances Fuller Victor Award for General Nonfiction includes three Portland finalists: Rebecca Grant (Access: Inside the Abortion Underground and the Sixty-Year Battle for Reproductive Freedom), Jamie Mustard (Child X: A Memoir of Slavery, Poverty, Celebrity, and Scientology), and Leah Sottile (Blazing Eye Sees All: Love Has Won, False Prophets, and the Fever Dream of the American New Age).
For creative nonfiction, all five finalists are from Portland: Judith Barrington (Virginia’s Apple: Collected Memoirs), Karleigh Frisbie Brogan (Holding: A Memoir About Mothers, Drugs, and Other Comforts), Justin Hocking (A Field Guide to the Subterranean: Reclaiming the Deep Earth and Our Deepest Selves), Wayne Scott (The Maps They Gave Us: One Marriage Reimagined), and Lidia Yuknavitch (Reading the Waves).
Young readers and graphic literature categories also lean heavily Portland
In children’s literature, four of five finalists are Portland authors: Zoey Abbott (This Year, a Witch!), Michelle Sumovich (I Have Three Cats…), and Elizabeth Rusch (All About Patterns), alongside Lake Oswego author A.A. Livingston and Oregon City author Kerilynn Wilson.
In middle grade and young adult, Portland finalists include Rosanne Parry (A Wolf Called Fire), Sara Ryan (Mountain Upside Down), and Shana Targosz (River of Spirits), joined by finalists from West Linn and Salem.
The graphic literature category lists five Portland-based finalists: Breena Bard (Wildfire), Steven Christian (Welcome To Iltopia: An Eyelnd Feevr Augmented Reality Experience), Rowan Kingsbury (Avery and the Fairy Circle), Aron Nels Steinke (Speechless), and David F. Walker (Big Jim and the White Boy).
Poetry finalists include Portland poets and writers from across Oregon
- H.G. Dierdorff of Portland, Rain, Wind, Thunder, Fire, Daughter
- Jennifer Perrine of Portland, Beautiful Outlaw
- Lisa Wells of Portland, The Fire Passage
- Garrett Hongo of Eugene, Ocean of Clouds
- Joe Wilkins of McMinnville, Pastoral, 1994
The April 20 program is also set to include presentation of the Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award, which will be given in 2026 to Willamette Writers of Portland.
Winners are expected to be announced during the April 20 ceremony.