So, like, guess what? Margaret Draft, Emma Hunsinger, Lucy Ives, and GennaRose Nethercott totally snagged the 2024 Vermont Book Award, which is, like, a big deal, you know? The winners were announced at Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier, and each of them scored $1,000 and a cowbell trophy made by Nikki Ibey. How cool is that?
Draft, the poetry queen, won for her debut collection, Nowhere Was a Lake. Hunsinger took home the children’s literature prize for her graphic novel, How it All Ends. Ives nabbed the creative nonfiction award for An Image of My Name Enters America. And Nethercott clinched the fiction prize for Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart and Other Stories. Impressive, right?
These talented ladies beat out 15 finalists for the top spots. I mean, that’s no small feat. Reviewer Jim Schley raved about Draft’s poetry, calling it “extraordinarily accomplished.” The New York Public Library even named her collection one of their faves of 2024. Talk about major props!
Hunsinger, the cartoonist extraordinaire, described How it All Ends as “rowdy, genuine, cartoony, sunny, and irreverent.” Sounds like a fun read, if you ask me. And let’s not forget about Ives, the creative nonfiction guru. Her essays in An Image of My Name Enters America have been hailed as “the most inventive and exciting work of nonfiction this year.” Now that’s something to brag about.
Nethercott, the fiction genius, has a unique way of blending folk myths, monster fables, and ghost tales in her stories. Reviewer Schley praised her ability to create montage-like assemblages that read more like prose poetry. And let’s not forget about the magical realism thread that ties everything together. Pretty cool, right?
Oh, and did I mention that the Vermont Book Award was created in 2015? Yeah, books by Vermont writers who live here for at least six months a year are eligible. A panel of judges made up of writers, booksellers, librarians, educators, and lit lovers picked the finalists and winners. It’s like the Oscars of Vermont lit, if you ask me.
So there you have it, folks. Margaret Draft, Emma Hunsinger, Lucy Ives, and GennaRose Nethercott are the literary queens of Vermont. Let’s give them a round of applause for their amazing work!
