Wordcraft Circle Awards

Today, I point you to the awards given by Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. Native Wiki describes the organization and its history here. It was established in 1992 at the first Returning the Gift gathering of Native writers, held in Norman, Oklahoma. When I started this blog, Wordcraft was off-line. It's back, now. In 1997, Wordcraft began giving awards. Among their categories is an award for children's books. (Note: Some years they specify a title; other years they do not.)

1997
Cheryl Savageau (Abenaki)

1999
Richard Van Camp (Dogrib)

2000 
Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Anishinaabe)

2001 
Joy Harjo (Muscogee) for The Good Luck Cat
Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee) for Rain is Not My Indian Name

2002 
Joseph Bruchac (Abenaki)

2002-2003
Linda Boyden (Cherokee)


2005
Deborah Duvall, (Cherokee) Rabbit and the Bears

2005-2006 
Simon Ortiz (Acoma Pueblo) for The Good Rainbow Road
Marge Bruchac (Abenaki) for Malian's Song

2006-2007
James Blue Wolf (Cherokee) for Speaking for Fire
Sherman Alexie (Spokane/Coeur d'Alene) for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

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Two weeks ago, I was at the Returning the Gift meeting held at Michigan State University. I was invited to talk about children's books.

Prior to heading up there, I received a wonderful surprise from Kimberly Roppolo, Director of Wordcraft. The work I do on this blog was recognized with a "Writer of the Year Award." Thank you, Wordcraft, for this honor.

2008
Debbie Reese (Nambe Pueblo) - Writer of the Year, Blog