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24th Annual NEMBA
Thursday, May 17, 2012

Book Fair, Reception, Featured Speaker, and Awards Presentation

Thursday, May 17, 2012
Kirby Ballroom, UMD Campus

5:00 - 6:30 Book Fair / Refreshments

6:30 - 8:00 Speaker Brian Freeman / Awards Presentation

8:00 - 9:00 Extension of the Book Fair

The 24th annual Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards (NEMBA) will be presented at an evening public celebration on Thursday, May 17, 2012, at Kirby Ballroom on the University of Minnesota Duluth Campus. The 24th annual NEMBA will honor books published in 2011. Once again, the UMD Library, Friends of the Duluth Public Library, and Lake Superior Writers are collaborating to showcase and honor authors and books that capture the spirit of the Northland and substantially represent northeastern Minnesota. The awards will be emceed by Duluth's first poet laureate, Barton Sutter. The celebration will include a featured speaker, mystery writer Brian Freeman, and a book fair. The program and awards presentation is free and open to the public.

This year's speaker, Brian Freeman, is an international bestselling author of psychological suspense novels. His books - many of which are set in Duluth and feature Duluth police lieutenent Jonathan Stride - have been sold in 46 countries and published in 20 languages.

Brian Freeman

His fifth novel The Burying Place was a finalist for Best Novel of 2010 in the International Thriller Writer Awards. His debut thriller, Immoral won the Macavity Award and was a nominee for the Edgar, Dagger, Anthony, and Barry awards for best first novel. Immoral was chosen as International Book of the Month by book clubs around the world. Freeman published his second novel Stripped to widespread critical acclaim in 2006.

Prior to going out on his own as an author, Freeman established a reputation among the most respected writers and communication strategists in Minnesota. Through professional jobs, he helped for-profit and nonprofit organizations build relationships with clients, customers, donors, employees, and other important constituencies through the use of innovative organizational "storytelling" tools.

Freeman is a 1984 alumnus of Carleton College, where he graduated magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with distinction in the department of English. He has lived in Minnesota with his wife, Marcia, for more than 20 years.

Nominations:

Nominations were accepted in six categories:

(1) General Nonfiction: nonfiction works such as history, biography, guidebooks, cookbooks, books about science and nature, and scholarly works.

(2) Fiction: novels, short stories, plays, and other works of narrative fiction.

(3) Art, Photography: books that primarily serve to showcase (and annotate) the visual art contained in them.

(4) Children's Literature: books of any type intended for children and young adults.

(5) Poetry: collections of poetry or a single poem of book length.

(6) Memoir and Creative Nonfiction: books that examine some aspect of the world from a highly personal perspective, whether in the form of a memoir, personal essay, or other work of creative nonfiction.

Reading teams will choose a winner and honorable mention in each category. If a book is nominated in more than one area, the UMD Library NEMBA Team will determine the category for the entry.

Deadline for entry was February 1, 2012
for the 24th annual NEMBA; honoring books published in 2011

NOTE: nominations for the 25th NEMBA, honoring books published in 2012, will be accepted beginning November 1, 2012.

Prizes:

The winning author in each category will receive a cash prize of $200. The winning author and the honorable mention in each category will receive a glass plaque as well as 150 NEMBA book seals.