2026 Pacific Northwest Book Awards Winners
|
The three-time Pacific Northwest Book Award winner peels back the facade of Western "polite society” and reminds us of the power we have to push back against our tarnished history. A celebration of Palestinian life and a reckoning with tangible and rhetorical violence, this book calls on all of us to take harrowing stock of our complicity with violent empire. A seismic piece of writing with the power to save minds and lives.
|
|
|
Kelly Goto celebrates the work of her father Sam Goto, the creator and illustrator of the Seattle Tomodachi comic strip, in this moving tribute to his life and artistic legacy. Sam's views on community, integrity, and humor shine beside a larger story of Japanese immigrants making a life in the United States. Kelly's detailed archival work reveals the true breadth of her father’s being and celebrates an essential piece of Pacific Northwest history.
|
|
|
A backyard sinkhole that returns broken things magically fixed becomes an obsession for a woman convinced she can be a better version of herself. A "twin" baby suddenly appears alongside a six-month old and the baffled family welcomes him into their lives. Crow skillfully mixes slice-of-life with climate change unease and elements of the uncanny as her characters grapple with how to care for themselves and others in times of uncertainty.
|
|
|
Trouble and magic swirl in this Dust Bowl epic as we take refuge with a cast of characters whose memories, secrets, and desires press at the seams of Russell’s trademark sharp as it is strange delivery. The future and the past become one in a story that remains hopeful while fantastically brutal in its sincerity.
|
Essay to come!
|
|
Middle schooler Mira has no problem expressing herself at home where she finds joy in making stop-motion films, but when the struggles of personal and school life balance and an old friend’s family emergency arise, finding the right words becomes increasingly difficult. Speechless renders empathy for those who struggle with communication and anxiety as it exhibits the power of small steps in our personal journeys.
|
|
|
Thrush retells Graveyard of the Pacific stories to include colonial ambitions and Indigenous perspectives as never before. Meticulously researched stories tell of seafaring settlers and the personalized aftermath of disaster, exposing territorial ambitions and the shaping of history that the spoils may go to the victors. A groundbreaking, compassionate work and a valuable contribution to the historical canon of the Pacific Northwest.
|
|
|
|
|
|