Louise Erdrich became the most celebrated author in the state on Saturday night, becoming the first writer to win five Minnesota Book Awards. She was honored in the fiction category for "The Round House," her National Book Award-winning novel about a teenage boy on a North Dakota reservation who tries to solve the mystery of his mother's brutal rape.
Her previous awards were for "The Plague of Doves," "The Painted Drum," "The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse" and "Tales of Burning Love."
Three men named David — Treuer, Housewright and LaRochelle — were repeat winners, in the categories of nonfiction, genre fiction, and children's literature. Treuer and LaRochelle had each won once before, and Housewright had won twice. He was a finalist in genre fiction this year for two different titles.
A total of 256 books were nominated, with the finalist list pared to 32 in eight categories; the Readers' Choice Award was discontinued. The winners are:
Children's literature, sponsored by Books for Africa: David LaRochelle, "It's a Tiger!"
General nonfiction, sponsored by Minnesota AFL-CIO: David Treuer, "Rez Life: An Indian's Journey through Reservation Life."
Genre fiction, sponsored by Marvin Windows and Doors: David Housewright, "Curse of the Jade Lily."
Memoir and creative nonfiction, sponsored by Leonard, Street and Deinard: Atina Diffley, "Turn Here Sweet Corn."
