These SouthCoast writers and illustrator won big for their latest works.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
BOSTON — Some SouthCoast writers and an illustrator won high praise for their books as part of a statewide competition this week.
On Tuesday, writers and illustrators gathered at the Massachusetts Statehouse in Boston to celebrate the 2023 winners of the Massachusetts Book Awards. The awards are distributed each year by the Massachusetts Center for the Book to authors, translators and illustrators who live in the state.
Ibram X. Kendi and Celeste Ng were some of the more high-profile writers to be honored this year. At least three award winners are from the SouthCoast:
Mark Elber, a Fall River resident and rabbi at Temple Beth El, won an award in the poetry category for Headstone, his first ever published poetry collection. The poetry collection centers on his children and family history — his parents were Holocaust survivors — and on the broader context of his family’s experiences.
“Words in all their intricate components can hurt, heal, inspire, intimidate, move and so much more,” he said in a speech during Tuesday’s ceremony.
A labor of love: Fall River rabbi wins prize for his first book of poetry
Fall River illustrator Nicole Wong won in the Picture Book/Early Reader category with Diving Deep: Using Machines to Explore the Ocean, written by Rochester resident Michelle Cusolito. The book explores the machines and equipment that undersea scientists use to explore the ocean.
Wong is the wife of Herald News reporter Dan Medeiros.
Dartmouth resident Ben Shattuck won in nonfiction for Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau. In it, Shattuck recounts his experiences recreating nature walks that Thoreau took more than 150 years earlier.
Bookstore and more: Shattuck brothers preserve small-town feel at Davoll's General Store in Dartmouth
Shattuck and his brother, Will, own Davoll's General Store in Dartmouth.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Fall River, Dartmouth, Rochester writers win Massachusetts Book Award
