Sara Wiles and Pat Frolander are High Plains Book Awards finalists

After the review of 86 nominated books, 19 finalists have been chosen for 7 categories in the 2012 High Plains Book Awards. The books were reviewed and ranked by volunteer readers throughout Billings, Mont. The books by finalists in each category have been send to professional authors in the US and Canada. The authors come from eleven different states – Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Texas, Maine, Washington, Iowa, Connecticut, Arizona and Montana as well as the Canadian providences of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Winner is each category will receive a $500 cash prize.

Two Wyoming writers made the final list of 19:

Best Art & Photography category: Arapaho Journeys: Photographs and Stories from the Wind River Reservation, Sara Wiles, Lander, Wyoming
Best Woman Writer category: Married Into It, Patricia Frolander, Sundance, Wyoming

Sara has been awarded the Wyoming Govenor's Arts Award and Pat is Wyoming's poet leaureate.

The High Plains Book Awards and BookFest will take place October 18-20, 2012. There will be a reception for the finalists on Friday, October 19, at the Babcock Theatre, followed by a public reading. All the finalists are invited to read at the Yellowstone Art Museum on Saturday, October 20 as a part of the 10th annual High Plains BookFest. The High Plains Book Award Banquet will also be held at the Yellowstone Art Museum later that night. Readings are free and open to the public. Tickets for the banquet will be available later this year.

The Parmly Billings Library Board established the High Plains Book Awards in 2006. The awards were established to recognize regional authors and/or literary works which examine and reflect life on the High Plains including the states of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, and Kansas, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.