California Book Awards


The California Book Awards are annual literary awards given to California Writers and Publishers since 1931. The event is sponsored by Commonwealth [Club World Affairs of California]. The California Book Awards are funded by an endowment from Dr. Martha Heasley Cox, late professor of American Literature at San Jose State University. Medals and cash prizes are currently awarded in the categories of Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, First Work of Fiction, Californiana, Juvenile Literature, Young Adult Literature, and Notable Contribution to Publishing. More than 400 books are submitted per year. The winning books are selected by an independent jury.

Winners

Californiana

Contribution to publishing

Fiction fiction / work

The California Book Award for First Fiction was first presented in 1977. In 1995, it was presented as the California Book Award for First Work.
YearTitleAuthorResult
1977'Gold
1978'Silver
1979Years of the FrenchGold
1982Story for a Black NightSilver
1983'Silver
1984Tapping the SourceSilver
1986Small Business: A NovelSilver
1987Imagining ArgentinaSilver
1987Unremembered Country PoemsSilver
1992CantoraSilver
1993TuscaloosaSilver
1995Jackson Street and other Soldier StoriesGold
1995Reckless DriverSilver
1996Sacred DustSilver
1997CircumnavigationSilver
1998HungerSilver
1999Oxygen ManGold
1999'Silver
1999CrookedSilver
2000'Silver
2000Rope Burns: Stories from the CornerSilver
2001Edgewater AngelsSilver
2002'Silver
2002'Silver
2003Drinking Coffee ElsewhereSilver
2004Every Night is Ladies' NightSilver
2005'Silver
2006Artificial LightSilver
2007Sons and Other Flammable ObjectsSilver
2008Telex From CubaGold
2008'Silver
2009'Gold
2010'Gold
2011Turn of MindGold
2012'Gold
2012Masha'allah and Other StoriesSilver
2013'Gold
2014Waiting for the ElectricityGold
2014'Silver
2015'Gold
2016Dog YearsGold
2017Goodbye, VitaminGold
2018There ThereGold
2018Fruit of the Drunken TreeSilver
2019Home RemediesGold
2019Last of Her NameSilver
2021How Much of These is GodGold
2022SkinshipGold
2022City of a Thousand GatesSilver
2023NightcrawlingGold
2023'Silver
2024All-Night PharmacyGold
2025Your Presence is MandatoryGold

Fiction

General literature

Juvenile and young adult

Nonfiction

Poetry

Controversy

The California Book awards sparked controversy after awarding John Steinbeck his third Gold Medal for The Grapes of Wrath, which triggered a series of protests throughout the state. The Club was criticized for acknowledging a book that portrayed California in a poor light. It didn't take long, however, for The Grapes of Wrath to become an American classic.