You don’t need to go too far from home to find a great author.
The Ohioana Library has named the finalists for the 2025 Ohio Book Awards. First given in 1942, the awards are the second-oldest state literary prizes in the nation and honor outstanding works by Ohio authors and illustrators in six categories: Fiction, Poetry, Juvenile Literature, Middle Grade Literature, Young Adult Literature and Nonfiction. The seventh category, About Ohio or an Ohioan, may also include books by non-Ohio authors.
This year’s list of finalists includes a finalist for the National Book Award, three Andrew Carnegie Medal finalists and one winner, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist and winners of the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sportswriting, the Emma Powell Poetry Prize, The Martin Luther King, Jr I Have a Dream Prize, the National Book Critics Circle, The Hugo Award, the Bram Stoker Award and the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Children’s Literary Work. Two finalists have had their works adapted for films or plays, one has been nominated as Oprah’s Best Book of the Year, and one has a book included in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Seven authors are past Ohio Book Award winners.
Between now and July 11, the public can vote online for their favorite book from among all the finalists to determine the winner of the 2025 Readers’ Choice Award. Winners will be announced in July.
The Fiction finalists are:
- “Havoc” by Christopher Bollen.
- “To Slip the Bonds of Earth (A Katharine Wright Mystery)” by Amanda Flower
- “The Haunting of Velkwood” by Gwendolyn Kiste
- “She Who Knows” by Nnedi Okorafor
- “The Skunks” by Fiona Warnick
Nonfiction finalists are:
- “There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension” by Hanif Abdurraqib
- “Something in the Woods Loves You” by Jarod K. Anderson
- “The Fall of Roe: The Rise of a New America” by Elizabeth Dias and Lisa Lerer
- “Bite By Bite: Nourishments & Jamboree” by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
- “On Freedom” by Timothy Snyder
For a complete list and to learn more, go to ohioana.org.
