TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Feb. 7, 2012 -

Its sixth annual competitions now complete, Florida Book Awards has announced the winning authors of books published in 2011 in seven categories of competition.

The nation’s most comprehensive state book awards program, Florida Book Awards was established in 2006 to recognize, honor and celebrate the best Florida literature published the previous year.

“The Florida Book Awards exists to identify and profile the Sunshine State’s best books and their authors,” said Wayne A. Wiegand, the program’s director. “The latest round of winners clearly demonstrates the quality and depth of Florida’s increasingly rich literary culture.”

Coordinated by the Florida State University Libraries, Florida Book Awards is co-sponsored by the Florida Center for the Book; State Library and Archives of Florida; Florida Historical Society; Florida Humanities Council; Florida Literary Arts Coalition; Florida Library Association; “Just Read, Florida!”; Florida Family Literacy Initiative; Florida Association for Media in Education; Florida Center for the Literary Arts; Friends of FSU Libraries; Florida Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America; and Florida Writers Association.

Reading the 2011 submissions were eight juries of three members each nominated from across the state by cosponsoring organizations. Jurors are authorized to select up to three medalists (including one Gold winner, one Silver runner-up, and one Bronze medalist) in each of the eight categories; jurors also are authorized to make no selections in a given year.

The 2011 Florida Book Award winners are:

Children’s Literature

Gold: Margaret Cardillo and Julia Denos, “Just Being Audrey” (HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray)
Silver: Marianne Berkes, “Over in Australia: Amazing Animals Down Under” (Dawn Publications)
Bronze: Angela DiTerlizzi, “Say What?” (Beach Lane Books)

Florida Non-Fiction

Gold: William McKeen, “Mile Marker Zero” (Crown)
Silver: Virginia LynnMoylan, “Zora Neale Hurston’s Final Decade” (University Press of Florida)
Bronze: Martin A. Dyckman, “Reubin O’D. Askew and the Golden Age of Florida Politics” (University Press of Florida)

General Fiction

Gold: Lynne Barrett, “Magpies” (Carnegie Mellon University Press)
Silver: Elizabeth Stuckey-French, “The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady” (Doubleday)
Bronze: Caren Umbarger, “Coming To: A Midwestern Tale” (Create-Space)

Poetry

Gold: Stephen Kampa, “Cracks in the Invisible” (Ohio University Press)
Silver: David Kirby, “Talking about Movies with Jesus” (Louisiana State University Press)
Bronze: Gianna Russo, “MoonFlower” (Kitsune Books)

Popular Fiction

Gold: Ward Larsen, “Fly By Night” (Oceanview Publishing)
Silver: David Hagberg, “ABYSS” (Macmillan)
Bronze: Senator Bob Graham, “Keys to the Kingdom” (Vanguard Press)

Visual Arts

Gold: Jerald T. Milanich and Nina J. Root, “Hidden Seminoles: Julian Dimock’s Historic Florida Photographs” (University Press of Florida)

Young Adult

Gold: Ryan G. Van Cleave, “Unlocked” (Walker Books for Young Readers)
Silver: Jessica Martinez, “Virtuosity” (Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse)
Bronze: Alex Flinn, “Cloaked” (HarperCollins/Harper Teen)

Spanish Language

No awards given this year.

Winners from Florida, by location

Daytona Beach:

Stephen Kampa

Gainesville:

Jerald T. Milanich

Hobe Sound:

Marianne Berkes

Jupiter:

Angela DiTerlizzi

Orlando:

Jessica Martinez

Miami:

Lynne Barrett

Sen. Bob Graham

Naples:

Margaret Cardillo

Palm Beach:

Virginia Lynn Moylan

Palmetto Bay:

Alex Flinn

Sarasota:

David Hagberg

Ward Larsen

Ryan G. Van Cleave

St. Augustine:

Caren Umbarger

Tallahassee:
David Kirby

Elizabeth Stuckey-French

Tampa:

Gianna Russo

The seven Gold Medal winners will be recognized on March 21 at the Historical and Cultural Awards Ceremony sponsored by the State of Florida’s Division of Cultural Affairs at the R.A. Gray Building in Tallahassee. In addition, all award recipients will be recognized at a luncheon hosted by First Lady Ann Scott at the Governor’s Mansion on March 21 and at the Florida Library Association Conference Banquet on April 19 in Orlando. For more information about the banquet, contact Sharon Gray at aplantomeet@earthlink.net.