Congratulations to our authors who were recognized in this year’s Florida Book Awards and Florida Historical Society Awards. All of the winning books can be purchased with a discount in our spring sale using code 22SPR, valid through June 30, 2022.
Florida Book Awards
Coordinated by the Florida State University Libraries, the Florida Book Awards is the nation’s most comprehensive state book awards program. It was established in 2006 to celebrate the best Florida literature. Authors must be full-time Florida residents, except in the Florida nonfiction and visual arts categories, where the subject matter must focus on Florida.
Visual Arts
The Art of Birds: Grace and Motion in the Wild, by Jim Miller, won the Gold Medal for Visual Arts.
In photographs that surprise with their eye-catching composition and amaze with their detail, Jim Miller captures the beauty of birds as most people never see them, encouraging viewers to marvel at the elegant combination of form and function in bird species.
Florida Nonfiction
The Nine Lives of Florida’s Famous Key Marco Cat, by Austin J. Bell, won the Bronze Medal for Florida Nonfiction.
The story of an iconic artifact that has prevailed over impossibly long odds, this book explores the deep past of the Key Marco Cat, fascinating readers with the miracle and beauty of this rare example of pre-Columbian art.
Florida Historical Society Awards
The Florida Historical Society has an extensive honors program recognizing significant contributions to the knowledge of our state.
Florida Scrub-Jay: Field Notes on a Vanishing Bird, by Mark Jerome Walters, has won the Stetson Kennedy Award for books which cast light on historic Florida events in a manner which is supportive of human rights, traditional cultures, or the natural environment.
With a writer’s eye and an explorer’s spirit, Mark Walters travels the state to report on the natural history and current predicament of Florida’s flagship bird, providing a portrait of a species on the brink.
Previous Award Winners Now Available in Paperback
Reubin O’D. Askew and the Golden Age of Florida Politics, by Martin A. Dyckman, won the FBA Bronze Medal for Florida Nonfiction in 2011.
Askew led a group of politicians from both parties who sought—and achieved—judicial reform, redistricting, busing and desegregation, the end of the Cross Florida Barge Canal, the Sunshine Amendment, and much more.
Mr. Flagler’s St. Augustine, by Thomas Graham, won the FBA Bronze Medal for Florida Nonfiction in 2014 and the FHS Charlton Tebeau Award for a general-interest book on a Florida history topic.
This monumental biography tells the story of how one of the wealthiest men in America spared no expense to turn the country’s “Oldest City” into a highly desirable vacation destination for the rich.
Key West on the Edge: Inventing the Conch Republic, by Robert Kerstein, won the FHS Charlton Tebeau Award in 2013.
Sited on an island only four miles long and two miles wide, Key West has been fishing village, salvage yard, U.S. Navy base, cigar factory, hippie haven, gay enclave, cruise ship port-of-call, and more. Leaving no stone unturned, Kerstein reveals how Key West has changed dramatically over the years while holding on to the uniqueness that continues to attract tourists and new residents to the island.
Paperback available in September 2022
Indian River Lagoon: An Environmental History, by Nathaniel Osborn, won the FHS Stetson Kennedy Award in 2017.
Indian River Lagoon traces the winding story of the waterway, showing how humans have altered the area to fit their needs and also how the lagoon has influenced the cultures along its shores.
The Public Health Nurses of Jim Crow Florida, by Christine Ardalan, won the FHS Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Award, which recognizes an outstanding book relating to Florida’s ethnic groups, or dealing with a significant social issue from a historical perspective.
Highlighting the long unacknowledged role of a group of pioneering professional women, this book tells the story of healthcare workers who battled racism in a state where white supremacy formed the bedrock of society. They aimed to serve those people out of reach of modern medical care.
Drawing on previously unpublished sources and newly unsealed records, Judith Poucher profiles five individuals who stood up to the Johns Committee.
Paperback available in October 2022
Use code 22SPR for a discount on these titles through June 30, 2022.
The Florida Bookshelf 