2010 Asian/Pacific American Award For Literature Winners selected

I obtained the following news release from the American Library Association’s page regarding this Award:

CHICAGO – The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), an affiliate of the American Library Association, has selected the winners of the 2010 Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature. The awards promote Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage and are awarded based on literary and artistic merit.

The Awards are given in four categories, with Winner and Honor books selected in each category. Here are the winners of the 2010 awards:

The Picture Book Winner is “Cora Cooks Pancit,” written by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore and illustrated by Kristi Valiant, published by Shens Books. Picture Book Honor was given to “Tan to Tamarind” written by Malathi Michelle Iyengar and illustrated by Jamel Akib, published by Children’s Book Press.

For Youth Literature, the Winner is Sung Woo’s “Everything Asian” published by Thomas Dunne Books. “Tofu Quilt” by Ching Yeung Russell and published by Lee & Low was selected as an Honor recipient.

“Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” by Jamie Ford and published by Ballantine Books was selected as the Adult Fiction Winner. “Shanghai Girls” by Lisa See and published by Random House was selected as an Adult Fiction Honor title.

The Adult Non-Fiction Winner is “American Chinatown: A People’s History of Five Neighborhoods,” by Bonnie Tsui and published by Free Press (Simon & Schuster). The Adult Non-Fiction Honor Book is “Japanese American Resettlement Through the Lens,” by Lane Ryo Hirabayashi and published by the University Press of Colorado.

Winner and Honor books were chosen from titles by or about Asian Pacific Americans published in 2009.

The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) was founded in 1980 by librarians of diverse Asian/Pacific ancestries committed to working together toward a common goal: to create an organization that would address the needs of Asian/Pacific American librarians and those who serve Asian/Pacific American communities.

Get Thee To Weronika’s Site NOW

You don’t have time for anything but a quick review of your query and first ten pages, but go to Weronika Janczuk’s site and enter her contest. You have until 8PM EST!

Weronika is a literary assistant in a New York Literary Agency and can no doubt give valuable insights into your query and your novel’s first ten pages.

New Haiku Contest

Do you Haiku?

I don’t except when under duress, so I’ll leave this contest – and its tasty prize – to others. However, should you enter and win, please let me know!

What a Privilege to Work With This Agent

I just wish she’d said “Yes!” I received a form letter rejection from Kristin Nelson last month and it really made me happy.

No, I’m not a lover of pain (I used the wrong word before! Oops!). I’m a writer who is AMAZED and grateful when I receive a rejection letter. Usually I receive silence. I just got an automated email from Kristin’s blog (sign up for it as it’s worth the read) in which she apologized for not getting her newsletter out last month. You see, her father passed away.

I can’t tell you how much I admire her fortitude, her work ethic and (for purely personal reasons) her speed. She responded to me within a month despite the fact that she wasn’t at her desk and her father was dying, folks.

That’s class. That’s someone I respect and wish the very best.

Something Different

You may have noticed something different around here. LOL I’ve had several people mention how hard it is on the eyes to read against a black background. I loved the drama of it, but decided I needed to change my site’s colors. Sigh.

That said, I hope it’s easier on your eyes and mine. I need to see the opthamalogist….