Since 1931, the California Book Awards have honored the exceptional literary merit of California writers and publishers. Each year a select jury considers hundreds of books from around the state in search of the very best in literary achievement. Over its 90 years, the California Book Awards have honored the writers who have come to define California to the world. Among them are John Steinbeck, Wallace Stegner, MFK Fisher, Thom Gunn, Richard Rodriquez, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Joan Didion, Ishmael Reed, and Amy Tan. Recent award winners include Hector Tobar, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Susan Orlean, Rachel Kushner, Rachel Khong, Tommy Orange, Morgan Parker and Steph Cha.
This year’s winners include:
GOLD MEDALSFICTION
A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth, Daniel Mason, Little, Brown and Company 
FIRST FICTION
How Much of These Hills Is Gold, C Pam Zhang, Riverhead Books
NONFICTION
South to Freedom: Runaway Slaves to Mexico and the Road to the Civil War, Alice L. Baumgartner, Basic Books
JUVENILE
Efrén Divided, Ernesto Cisneros, Quill Tree Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
YOUNG ADULT
Private Lessons, Cynthia Salaysay, Candlewick Press
POETRY
Quiet Orient Riot, Nathalie Khankan, Omnidawn 
CALIFORNIANA
California Exposures: Envisioning Myth and History, Richard White, with photos by Jesse Amble White, W.W. Norton & Company 
CONTRIBUTION TO PUBLISHING
A Natural History of the Anza-Borrego Region, Marie Simovich and Mike Wells, Sunbelt Publications
SILVER MEDALSFICTION
Interior Chinatown, Charles Yu, Pantheon/Vintage
NONFICTION
Golden Gates: The Housing Crisis and a Reckoning for the American Dream, Conor Dougherty, Penguin Press
YOUNG ADULT
The Black Kids, Christina Hammonds Reed, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
SPEAKERS
Julia Flynn Siler
Juror, California Book Awards—Moderator
Peter Fish
Jury Chair, California Book Awards—Moderator
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on August 16th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.
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