Celebration: 43rd Annual Northern California Book Awards

Saturday, 9/7/2024
2:00 - 5:00
Koret Auditorium
Koret Lobby
Latino/Hispanic Meeting Room A
Latino/Hispanic Meeting Room B
Main Library

100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
United States

415-557-4400

The 43rd Annual Northern California Book Awards recognize the best published works of 2023 by Northern California authors and California translators state-wide.

Presented by the Northern California Book Reviewers, Poetry Flash, and San Francisco Public Library, with our community partners Mechanics' Institute Library and Women’s National Book Association-San Francisco Chapter. 

The Fred Cody Award for Lifetime Achievement and Service will be presented to a distinguished member of the Northern Californian literary community. The winning Northern California authors will speak and briefly present their books. 

Eligible books are divided into categories: Fiction, General Nonfiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, and Children's Literature (Younger Readers, Middle Grade, Young Adult). The California Translation Awards in Poetry and Prose will honor works of translation by translators based in California. 

The Northern California Book Reviewers, editors and book reviewers, select the awards. 

History of the Northern California Book Awards

Since 1981, the Northern California Book Reviewers, a volunteer group of book reviewers and book review editors, have honored the work of Northern California authors. One of the group's founders was Fred Cody, proprietor of the famed independent bookstore in Berkeley. The NCBR created an award in his name to honor a lifetime of achievements and distinguished service to the literary community. The Fred Cody Award for lifetime achievement is presented every year to a member of the literary community. Previous recipients include Jack Hirschman, Sandra M. Gilbert, Daniel Ellsberg, Judy Grahn, Susan Griffin, Willis Barnstone, Adam Hochschild, Kay Ryan, Michael Pollan, Al Young, Andrew Hoyem, Diane di Prima, Orville Schell, Philip Levine, Ronald Takaki, Francisco X. Alarcón, Carolyn Kizer, Ishmael Reed, Maxine Hong Kingston, Robert Hass, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Malcolm Margolin, Adrienne Rich, Wallace Stegner, Kay Boyle, William Everson, Alice Walker, Gary Snyder, Jessica Mitford, Tillie Olsen, M.F.K. Fisher, Robert Duncan, Nancy J. Peters and Tamim Ansary.

The award ceremony will take place from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., followed by a book sale, signing, and a meet-and-greet mingle.

Nominated books will be available for purchase at the event.

Author Readings & Lectures

Engage with your favorite writers and discover your next read.

Celebrations

Connect with your community through Library gatherings.

Read & Write

Discover new titles, share inspiring works and participate in challenges and contests. 

Spotlight

This program is sponsored by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.

Attending Programs

All programs are drop-in (no registration necessary) unless otherwise noted. All SFPL locations are wheelchair accessible. For accommodations (such as ASL), call (415) 557-4557 or contact accessibility@sfpl.org. Requesting at least 3 business days in advance will help ensure availability.

This program will be conducted in English unless otherwise noted.

Notice: This event may be filmed or photographed. By participating in this event, you consent to have your likeness used for the Library’s archival purposes and promotional materials. If you do not want to be photographed, please inform a staff person or the photographer. A sticker will be provided to help identify you so that we can avoid capturing your image.

Public Notice and Disclaimer

This program uses a third-party website link. By clicking on the third-party website link, you will leave SFPL's website and enter a website not operated by SFPL. This service may collect personally identifying information about you, such as name, username, email address, and password. This service will treat the information it collects about you pursuant to its own privacy policy. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of each third-party website or service that you visit or use, including those third parties with whom you interact through our Library services. For more information about these third-party links, please see the section of SFPL’s Privacy Policy describing Links to Other Sites.

The views and opinions expressed in programs presented by groups unaffiliated with SFPL do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SFPL or the City.