April 16, 2025 — The Society of Midland Authors today announced its annual awards, honoring its choices for the best books by Midwest authors published in 2024. In each category, a panel of judges chose a winner as well as one or more honorees whose work was also deemed worthy of recognition. The winners and honorees will be recognized at an awards dinner on May 13 in Chicago.
Congratulations to all authors and publishers on submitting such an outstanding field of publications.
RICHARD FRISBIE AWARD FOR ADULT NONFICTION
WINNER:
Kenn Kaufman, The Birds That Audubon Missed: Discovery and Desire in the American Wilderness, Avid Reader. (Author lives in Oak Harbor, Ohio.)
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
— Casey A. Huegel, Cleaning Up the Bomb Factory: Grassroots Activism and Nuclear Waste in the Midwest, University of Washington Press. (Author lives in Dayton, Ohio.)
— Mark Larson, Working in the 21st Century: An Oral History of American Work in a Time of Social and Economic Transformation, Agate. (Author lives in Chicago.)
— Kim Mager with Lisa Pulitzer, A Hunger to Kill: A Serial Killer, a Determined Detective, and the Quest for a Confession That Changed a Small Town Forever, St. Martin’s Press. (Mager lives in Hayesville, Ohio.)
The judges for Adult Nonfiction were Gerry Plecki, Chris Lynch, and Sharon Woodhouse.
ADULT FICTION
WINNER:
Miles Harvey, The Registry of Forgotten Objects, Mad Creek Books. (Author lives in Chicago.)
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
— Barbara Gregorich, Exit Velocity, BookBaby. (Author lives in Chicago.)
— Amy Lee Lillard, Exile in Guyville, BOA Editions. (Author lives in Des Moines, Iowa.)
— Kevin Prufer, Sleepaway, Acre. (The author, who now lives near Houston, formerly resided in Warrensburg, Missouri.)
The judges for Adult Fiction were Patricia Skalka, Richard Reeder, and Jon Volkmer.
HISTORY
WINNER:
Patricia Cleary, Mound City: The Place of the Indigenous Past and Present in St. Louis, University of Missouri Press. (Author was born in St. Louis and lives now in Long Beach, California.)
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
— Charles Cosgrove, They Both Reached for the Gun: Beulah Annan, Maurine Watkins, and the Trial That Became Chicago, Southern Illinois University Press. (Author lives in Brookfield, Illinois.)
— Sarah E. Lirley, Sudden Deaths in St. Louis: Coroner Bias in the Gilded Age, Southern Illinois University Press. (Author lives in Columbia, Missouri.)
— Cathy Jean Maloney, Olmsted’s Riverside: Stewardship Meets Innovation in a Landmark Village, Southern Illinois University Press. (Author lives in Columbia, Missouri.)
The judges for History were Joseph Gustaitis, Greg Borzo, and David Witter.
BERNARD J. BROMMEL AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
WINNER:
Trish O’Kane, Birding to Change the World: A Memoir, Ecco. (Author formerly lived in Wisconsin and now resides in Vermont.)
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
— Stacy Cordery, Becoming Elizabeth Arden: The Woman Behind the Global Beauty Empire, Viking. (Author lives in Ames, Iowa.)
— Ray E. Boomhower, The Ultimate Protest: Malcolm W. Browne, Thich Quang Duc, and the News Photograph That Stunned the World, High Road. (Author lives in Indianapolis.)
— Scott Dominic Carpenter, Paris Lost and Found: A Memoir of Love, Travelers’ Tales. (Author lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.)
The judges for Biography and Memoir were Bob Remer, Marlene Targ Brill, and David Shih.
CHILDREN’S FICTION
WINNER:
Ruth Spiro, One Small Spark: A Tikkun Olam Story, Dial. (Author lives in Deerfield, Illinois.)
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
— Cristina Oxtra, What Lolo Wants, Kids Can Press. (Author lives in Savage, Minnesota.)
— Edward Underhill, This Day Changes Everything, Wednesday. (Author was raised in Wisconsin and lives now in Los Angeles.)
— Bob Holt, The Unlucky Kid, Kids Can Press. (Author lives in Kansas City, Missouri.)
The judges for Children’s Fiction were Sandra Renner, Laura Hirshfield, and W. Nikola-Lisa.
CHILDREN’S READING ROUND TABLE AWARD FOR CHILDREN’S NONFICTION
WINNER:
James W. Loewen and Nate Powell, Lies My Teacher Told Me: A Graphic Adaptation, The New Press. (Powell lives in Bloomington, Indiana. Loewen, a native of Decatur, Illinois, died in 2021.)
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
— Ruth Spiro, How to Explain Robotics to a Grown-Up, Charlesbridge. (Author lives in Deerfield, Illinois.)
— Marlene Targ Brill, Jane Addams: The Most Dangerous Woman in America, Ohio University Press. (Author lives in Wilmette, Illinois.)
— Janet Nolan, Bats Beneath the Bridge, Albert Whitman & Company. (Author lives in Oak Park, Illinois.)
The judges for Children’s Nonfiction were Jingmai O’Connor, Carrie Pearson, and Laurie Lawlor.
POETRY
WINNER:
Alice Friman, On the Overnight Train, LSU Press. (Author is a former longtime Indianapolis resident who now lives in Milledgeville, Georgia.)
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
— Ae Hee Lee, Asterism, Tupelo Press. (Author lives in Kenosha, Wisconsin.)
— Janice N. Harrington, Yard Show, BOA Editions. (Author lives in Champaign, Illinois.)
— Amie Whittemore, Nest of Matches, Autumn House Press. (Author lives in Urbana, Illinois.)
The judges for Poetry were Emilio Degrazia, Brenda Cardenas, and Elton Glaser.
The annual awards dinner will take place Tuesday, May 13, at the Cliff Dwellers Club, 200 S. Michigan Ave., 22nd floor, Chicago, which features a beautiful view of Lake Michigan and Millennium Park. The reception with cash bar begins at 6 p.m. followed by the dinner and awards ceremony at 7 p.m. The emcee will be Justin Kaufmann of Axios.
Tickets are $85 each. Reservations can be made at https://midlandauthors.org/awards-banquet-2025/ with PayPal or by mailing a reservation form and check to: Dinner Reservations, Society of Midland Authors, c/o Tom Frisbie, 12 S. Owen St., Mount Prospect, IL 60056
The Society, founded in 1915 by a group of authors including Hamlin Garland, Harriet Monroe, and Vachel Lindsay, has given out annual awards since 1957. The juried competition is open to authors who live in, were born in, or have strong ties to Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, or Wisconsin.
Notable winners have included Saul Bellow, Kurt Vonnegut, Studs Terkel, Gwendolyn Brooks, Mike Royko, Jane Smiley, Dempsey Travis, Leon Forrest, William Maxwell, Louise Erdrich, Scott Turow, Alex Kotlowitz, Aleksandar Hemon, Stuart Dybek, and Roger Ebert. A list of past winners is on the Midland Authors website at https://midlandauthors.org/past-winners/.
This year’s winners will receive a $750 award and a recognition plaque.
Members of the media may contact Gerry Plecki, president of the SMA, with any questions at: [email protected].