Lake Superior Writers has announced the titles of the 24 books nominated for 2023 Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards. For the past three decades, the awards have recognized books that substantially represent the history, culture, heritage and lifestyle of northeastern Minnesota.

Volunteer readers applied to evaluate the books throughout the summer and early fall. The winners and honorable mentions will be announced in early October.

The list of nominated books is below, organized into six categories. For this year’s Middle Grade / Young Adult category, which received two nominations, only a winner will be designated.

Nonfiction

• 100 Years: St. Louis County Historical Society Celebrating the Collection from 1922 to 2022 by Kathleen M. Cargill, MA; published by the St. Louis County Historical Society
• A Slice of Life on the Gunflint Trail by Robert R Olson, published by Page Publishing Inc.
• Duluth’s Grand Old Architecture, 1870–1940 by Tony Dierckins and Maryanne C. Norton, published by Zenith City Publishing
• Murder at Minnesota Point: Unraveling the captivating mystery of a long-forgotten true crime by Jeffrey M. Sauve, published by North Star Editions
• The Communist Chasm: How the Dreams of a Better Life Became a Terrible Nightmare by Nan Wisherd, published by Cable Publishing Inc.
• The Steger Homestead Kitchen by Will and Rita Mae Steger, published by the University of Minnesota Press

Fiction

• Nothing Else Matters by Jean Smith Carlton, self-published through Amazon
• The Evening Hero by Marie Myung-Ok Lee, published by Simon and Schuster
• The Ski Jumpers by Peter Geye, published by University of Minnesota Press
• The Sturgeon’s Heart by Amy E. Casey, published by Gibson House Press
• Steel by Kathleen Novak, published by Black Cat Text

Children’s Literature

• Firefly – A Boarding School Story by Elizabeth Albert-Peacock, published by Black Bears and Blueberries Publishing
• Hummingbird and the Little People by Elizabeth Albert-Peacock, published by Black Bears and Blueberries Publishing
• Lily Leads the Way by Margi Preus, Illustrated by Matt Myers, published by Candlewick Press
• One Winter Up North by John Owens, published by the University of Minnesota Press

Middle Grade / Young Adult

• Controlled Burn by Erin Soderberg Downing, published by Scholastic Press
• Sylvie’s Silence by Katharine Johnson, published by Silver Fox Books

Poetry

• A Threshold We Carry by Nick Trelstad, published by Kelsay Books
• Kekekabic by Eric Chandler, published by Finishing Line Press
• Panning Gold by Patrick Stevens, published by Finns Way Books
• Surface Displacements by Sheila Packa, published by Wildwood River Press

Memoir

• Morlocks in the Basement by Carolyn Colburn, published by Running Wild Press
• Seven Aunts by Staci Lola Drouillard, published by University of Minnesota Press
• Upside Down and Backwards by Cathy LaForge Tonkin, published by Latour Press