The Center for Great Lakes Culture 2004 Annual Non-Fiction and Fiction/Poetry Book Awards

The Center for Great Lakes Culture was established at Michigan State University in 1999. It seeks to understand and interpret the cultural history of the Great Lakes region and the region's interaction with the world. The Center works with a variety of partner institutions on and off the MSU campus dedicated to the study of the Great Lakes region and draws upon complementary expertise and strengths of regionally focused humanities and arts organizations.

Pursuant to its goals the Center has established the Center for Great Lakes Culture Annual Book Award for the Best Non-Fiction and Best Fiction/Poetry book devoted to the history and culture of the Great Lakes region.

Last year's winner in the Non-Fiction category was "Windjammers: Songs of the Great Lakes Sailors" by Ivan H. Walton with Joe Grimm. Last Year's Fiction/Poetry winner was "Borealis" poems by Jeff Humphries and woodcuts by Betsy Bowen.

Criteria for this year's award:

1. Book should support the mission of the Center for Great Lakes Culture to understand and interpret the cultural history and expressions of the diverse peoples, traditions, and customs of the Great Lakes region and the region's interactions with the world.

2. Book must have a published copyright date of 2004.

3. Book must interpret significant aspects of the cultural diversity that shaped the history of the Great Lakes region.

Judging process:

1. Nominations for the award will be solicited from the Regional and Faculty Advisors of the Center for Great Lakes Culture

2. Nominations should be sent to Peter Berg (berg@msu.edu) by email or by using the CGLC Awards Nomination Form. Peter Berg will put these on the Center listservs to allow all the advisors to see what books have been placed in nomination.

3. The deadline for nominations is February 1, 2005. Nominations should include book title, author, publisher, date of publication, and if possible a short supporting note describing the book's value to understanding the history and culture of the Great Lakes region.

4. A panel selected from the Center Steering Committee and Advisory committees will review nominations and make their recommendations for the winner.

5. The winner will be announced at the Center for Great Lakes Culture conference (TBA) next Spring.

6. The author and publisher of the award winning book will receive plaques from the Center signifying their award.