The National Book Foundation presented the Literar­ian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community to Dave Eggers, for his work in expanding the audience for literature and enhancing the cultural value of literature in America. The award was presented at the National Book Awards dinner in New York City on November 18. Among the finalists for the 2009 National Book Awards were T. J. Stiles, The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt, Nonfiction; and for Young People’s Literature, Deborah Heiligman, Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith, David Small, Stitches, and Rita Williams-Garcia, Jumped.

The Friends of the University of Nevada, Reno, Library inducted H. Lee Barnes into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame on November 12. The organization also presented Charles Bock with the Silver Pen Award, which recognizes emerging and mid-career writers.

Independent Publisher magazine announced the winners of its 3rd Annual Moonbeam Awards for children’s books that inspire children to read, learn and dream. The winners included Margaret Hyde, Mo Smells Green, Silver, Pop-up/Cut-out; Jacqueline Dembar Greene (and Robert Hunt, illus.), Meet Rebecca, Silver, Pre-Teen Fiction—Historical/Cultural; Chester Aaron, Gideon, Silver, Young Adult Fiction—Historical/Cultural; and Josephine Nobisso (and Katalin Szegedi, illus.), Take It to the Queen: A Tale of Hope, Gold, Religion/Spirituality. The awards were presented on October 10 at the West Virginia Book Festival in Charleston.

Among the USA News Book Awards finalists for 2009 were Matthew Tully, The Chimera Seed, Fiction & Literature: General Fiction, and Patricia Weenolsen, The Cave of Storms, Literary Fiction: Historical.

Shirley Brosius received the 2009 Gold Award for Inspirational/Spiritual books from the Young Voices Foundation for Sisterhood of Faith: 365 Life-Changing Stories About Women Who Made a Difference.

Roger Brucker was granted the 2009 Spelean Arts and Letters Award by the National Speleological Society. He was the winner of the 2004 Spelean History Award. The award honors a member of the society who has advanced spelean arts and letters by significant artistic expression, management or criticism.

Yvonne Wakim Dennis, with coauthors Maya Ajmera, Arlene Hirschfelder, Cynthia Pon and the Global Fund for Children, received a gold Moonbeam Award in 2008 for Children of the U.S.A., in the Multi­cultural Nonfiction category. The book was also named to the 2008 Best Children’s Books of the Year list, sponsored by Bank Street College of Education’s Children’s Book Committee.

Patrick Durantou was given a Lifetime Achievement Award and named the Vice-Chancellor of the World Academy of Letters by the American Biographical Institute. He also received the 2009 Ansted Social Responsibility International Award (ASRIA) from the Ansted University Foundation in England. The award honors individuals, organizations and corporations involved in socially responsible programs benefitting local, state or international communities.

Seal Woman, by Solveig Eggerz, was chosen by the American Association of University Women as its January 2010 book of the month. Seal Woman was also a finalist for the 2009 Eric Hoffer award for short prose and independent books.

Joan Frank received the 2010 Richard Sullivan Prize in Short Fiction for her story collection, In Envy Country. The prize is administered by the University of Notre Dame’s Creative Writing Program.

Jim Hornfischer’s book, The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors, was chosen by the U.S. Naval Institute’s Naval History magazine as one of “a dozen Navy classics.”

Nancy Kriplen was awarded a Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship by the Arts Council of Indianapolis and Lilly Endowment, Inc. The fellowships, $10,000, allow recipients to focus on personal renewal, with the belief that the entire community will benefit through investments in individuals in the creative community.

No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row, by Susan Kuklin, was named to the Best Book for Young Adults list by the ALA’s Young Adult Library Services Association. It was also listed as a Notable Book for a Global Society by the International Reading Association, a Best Book of 2008 by the School Library Journal, a Best YA Book of 2008 by Kirkus, a 2008 Stuff for the Teen Age book by the New York Public Library, and a Junior Library Guild Fall Selection.

Kim Dana Kupperman received the 2009 Katharine Bakeless Nason Prize in Nonfiction from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference for her manuscript I Just Lately Started Buying Wings. Missives from the Other Side of Silence, which will be published by Graywolf Press in 2010 as part of the award.

he Rowing Lesson, by Anne Landsman, received the 2009 Sunday Times Fiction Prize. The award is bestowed by the South African newspaper The Sunday Times and is the largest award of its kind in Africa.

Shelia E. Lipsey was named Author of the Year in the Shades of Romance Magazine Readers’ Choice awards for 2009. Her book, My Son’s Wife, was named Fiction Book of the Year, Best Book Cover of the Year, Christian Fiction Book of the Year, and Christian Romance Book of the Year. She also received a 2009 Black Pearls Magazine Top Shelf Book Award for Beautiful Ugly and was named a 2009 Official Black Web Award Nominee. Last year, she was named Author of the Year by Con­versations Book Club for Into Each Life and Sinsatiable.

The Women’s National Book Association (WNBA) selected The Widow’s War, by Mary Mackey, to be one of nine books featured during WNBA’s National Reading Group Month.

George Mandler received an honorary doctorate from the University of Vienna in October.

John Moir is the Grand Prize Winner for the 2009 Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition. Moir’s winning article, which was published by Smithso­nian.com, was chosen from more than 13,500 submissions. He received a $3,000 cash prize and a trip to New York City with a Writer’s Digest editor to meet with agents and editors. In addition, the November/ December issue of Writer’s Digest magazine features an interview with Moir and a profile of his work.

Mark Monmonier received the Mercator Medal from the German Cartographic Society at the Society’s annual meeting in Karlsruhe, Germany, in September.

The American Biographical Institute inducted Jack C. Norbeck into its Hall of Fame for Distinguished Accomplishments in honor of his work as an author, historical photographer, international photo exhibitor and his work for steam and animal power.

Alberto Ruy-Sánchez and Margarita de Orellana received the 2009 Van Deren Coke Award from Los Amigos del Arte Popular in celebration of their 20 years publishing the magazine Artes de Mexico. The award was presented at a ceremony in July in Santa Fe, NM.

Appalachian Odyssey, by Steve Sherman (and Julia Older, with a foreword by Edward Abbey), was awarded Honorable Mention in the 2009 National Outdoor Book Awards.

Dead Air, by Deborah Shlian, received the Thriller/ Adventure award from USA Book News’s National Best Books Award competition. Rabbit in the Moon, also by Deborah Shlian (and Joel Shlian) received a gold Florida Book Award for Genre Fiction. The awards were presented at the Miami Book Fair on November 14. Rabbit in the Moon also received a silver medal from ForeWord Magazine, for Mystery of the Year, and was a finalist in the Royal Palm Literary Awards from the Florida Writers Association.

Sneeze!, by Alexandra Siy, received the 2008 American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award in the Children’s Book category.

Char Solomon has been chosen as a Road Scholar for 2010 by the North Carolina Humanities Council. Participants in the Road Scholars Speakers Bureau provide presentations throughout the state on various topics within the humanities.

Lancelot’s Lady, by Cheryl Kaye Tardif, is a semi-finalist in Dorchester Publishing and TextNovel.com’s “Next Best Celler” romance writing contest, ranking number three in the list of 21 novels, which were voted on by readers. The winner will receive a $2,000 prize and a publishing contract with Dor­chester.

James Alexander Thom was presented with the inaugural Indiana Authors Award, for the year 2009. Established by Eugene and Marilyn Glick, the award bestows a prize of $10,000, and $2,500 to be given to the Indiana library of his choice.

The Utah Center for the Book awarded the Utah Book Award for nonfiction to Stephen Trible for Bargaining for Eden: The Fight for the Last Open Spaces in America. The Utah Book Awards were presented at the Salt Lake City Main Library on October 15.

Sylvia Hoehns Wright was recognized by the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, in connection with the National League of American Pen Women (NLAPW), for her effort to “promote an understanding and appreciation for our country’s rich heritage and unique freedoms.” An excerpt of her book, A Path Worn Smooth, will be included in the NLAPW’s Lincoln Legacy anthology, Happy Birthday, Mr. Lincoln.✦.