Another awesome past winner is my former professor Scott Saul, for his book of music theory/cultural studies Freedom Is, Freedom Ain't.

How does the ABA stack up against, say, the Stranger Genius Award?

less money (actually, none). more prestige, i suppose.

Also, the American Book Award is expressly polemical: it identifies a canon of contemporary US writing that shows us the richness and excellence of multi-culturalism. Its sponsor, the Before Columbus Foundation (BCF), wants to remind us that culture here began before Columbus arrived and is still evolving from those polyglot origins. From last year's awards: "BCF has always employed the term 'multicultural' not as a description of an aspect of American literature, but as a definition of all American literature." The award's prestige comes from having made excellent choices for 25 years. In 1981, one of Seattle's most accomplished literary figures, Alan Lau (poet, painter, editor of International Examiner's superb book supplement)got an ABA for "Songs for Jadina." Other past winners: Ed Dorn; Susan Howe; Frank Chin; Russell Banks; Jessica Hangedorn; Peter Guralnick; Gary Snyder; Mei-mei Berssenbrugge; Sandra Cisneros; Terry McMillan. It's an excellent, focused award from a group that does a good job of advocating for their vision of what literature here could be.

Oops, I mean Hagedorn. Sorry Jessica.

MacKenzie Bezos
The Testing of Luther Albright (Fourth Estate)

Matt Briggs
Shoot the Buffalo (Clear Cut Press)

David Diaz
The White Tortilla: Reflections of a Second-Generation Mexican-American (BookSurge)

Darryl Dickson-Carr
The Columbia Guide to Contemporary African American Fiction
(Columbia University Press)

Thomas J. Ferraro
Feeling Italian: The Art of Ethnicity in America (New York University Press)

Tim Z. Hernandez
Skin Tax (Heyday Books)

Josh Kun
Audiotopia: Music, Race, and America (University of California Press)

P. Lewis
Nate (Back House Books)

Peter Metcalfe
Gumboot Determination: The Story of the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium
(SEARHC Foundation)

Kevin J. Mullen
The Toughest Gang in Town: Police Stories from Old San Francisco (Noir Publications)

Doris Seale and Beverly Slapin, editors
A Broken Flute: The Native Experience in Books for Children (AltaMira Press/Oyate)

Matthew Shenoda
Somewhere Else (Coffee House Press)

Carlton T. Spiller
Scalding Heart (Nuyorican Press)

Editor’s Award:
Chris Hamilton-Emery, Salt Publishing Ltd.

Lifetime Achievement Award:
Jay Wright