Northeastern Minnesota Book Award Winners for 2025

Eight books in four categories have been recognized for this year’s Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards, which celebrate books that substantially represent the history, culture, heritage or lifestyle of northeastern Minnesota.

The NEMBA awards have honored regional authors since 1988. The awards are given to books published in the previous year, so all of the nominees were published in 2024.

NONFICTION/MEMOIR

Winner
Fur Trade Nation: An Ojibwe’s Graphic History
By Carl Gawboy
Judges write: A graphic history of pen and ink drawings set largely in northeastern Minnesota, Fur Trade Nation explores the history of the fur trade era from the perspective of the Ojibwe people. The author uses humor in explaining Ojibwe traditions and the obstacles the indigenous people faced. Customs and lifestyle are explored with the reader learning everything from harvesting wild rice to building a birchbark canoe. The exploitation of the indigenous people by the European white settlers is also explored. This was a very enjoyable book to read and learn from and was our unanimous choice for the award.

Honorable Mention
Gunflint Falling: Blowdown in the Boundary Waters
By Cary J. Griffith for
Judges write: A well-researched narrative of the events before, during, and after the 1999 blowdown on the Gunflint Trail and the BWCA, Gunflint Falling is an unexpected page turner! A rare storm called a dericho results in both human drama and a devastating environmental impact in northeastern Minnesota. A compelling introduction to the people involved, as well as personal accounts of campers, rescue personnel, and others affected by the storm sets the stage for the onset of the storm and the devastating aftermath.

POETRY

Winner
Natural Wonders
By Patrick Stevens
Judges write: In this collection of poetry that is lyrically evocative and deeply appreciative, the reader joins Patrick Stevens on a walk in the woods of northern Minnesota. Intertwined with lush and rich descriptions of forest plants and creatures are the poet’s own remembrances and reflections that parallel the circularity of seasons with our own lives. We are drawn into the honesty and candor in Stevens’ poetry, written a profound gratitude for the magical gift of our human existence as part of the magic of the natural world.

Honorable Mention
Cotton Grass: New and Selected Poems of the North
By Bart Sutter
Judges write: Bart Sutter’s collection of new and selected poems includes some of his very early work as well as recent and new pieces. It is a portrait of a poet and Minnesotan that is as masterful as it is engaging.

FICTION

Winner
Sister Lumberjack
By Candace Simar
Judges write: Sister Lumberjack by Candace Simar intertwines three compelling character voices in a tale set in the lumberjack era of northern Minnesota. These three very different characters find themselves in a rough lumber camp, a place of last hope for lumberjacks who’ve been turned away from more upstanding camps. Here a recently widowed woman working as camp cook in an effort to save her farm from bank repossession, a blacklisted logger with the tendency to drink away his wages and a feisty Benedictine nun from Duluth attempting to introduce an early version of health insurance to loggers come together during a memorable winter in the north woods.

Honorable Mention
The Day the World Burned
By Kristina Shuey
Judges write: Kristina Shuey’s The Day the World Burned offers an intimate portrayal of the Great Hinckley Fire. The narrative alternates between Anna and Karl as they learn to navigate immigrant life in Hinckley’s early sawmill days until they are tested by the fire itself and its ensuing effects. Shuey immerses readers in an unforgettable story of one of Minnesota’s most tragic historical events.

YOUTH LITERATURE

Winner
Downing for Just Keep Walking
By Erin Soderberg
Judges write: This story of a mother and daughter grappling with healing through the challenge of a 100- mile wilderness hike speaks strongly of our region. The familiarity of the terrain was evident — we’ve all seen that fog rolling in on the North Shore and know those low lying areas where the mosquitoes are terrible. The characters introduced were well-written and felt organic to the challenge of walking the Superior Trail. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

Honorable Mention
Belzi’s Blizzard
By Katharine Johnson
Judges write: In Belzi’s Blizzard, a girl learns to embrace the ways of her Finnish grandmother, and together they learn to deal with her absent mother’s dark past. Written with care and delicacy, the book handles a hard subject of separations in families and the introduction of the mother’s journal opened up dialogue and the broader story.

Read the names of all the nominees and learn more about the Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards on the Lake Superior Writers website.