About the Pacific Northwest Book Awards

Each year since 1965, the Pacific Northwest Book Awards have celebrated exceptional books written by Northwest authors. The 2021 winners were selected by a volunteer committee of independent booksellers from PNBA's five-state member region who considered 400 nominated titles published in 2020.

PNBA and its 130 member stores will present the first ever virtual celebration of the annual Pacific Northwest Book Awards. In the program's 55+ years, the honors have been celebrated in many ways by the winning authors and the Association members who sponsor and support the "PNBA Awards." But we've never brought the winners, the booksellers, librarians, and the book loving customers of the Northwest to the same venue to revel simultaneously!

Visit our NWBookLovers blog for an announcement of this year's winners, featuring committee comments for each book. Original essays by the winning authors will be published on NWBL over the next several weeks.

2021 Winners:

Cemetery Boys

Aiden Thomas (Portland, OR)

Lupe Wong Won't Dance

Donna Barba Higuera (Issaquah, WA)

The Magical Language of Others

E.J. Koh (Seattle, WA)

Mexican Gothic

​Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Vancouver, BC)

rough house

Tina Ontiveros (Hood River, OR)

This Is My America

Kim Johnson​ (Eugene, OR)