The Washington Center for the Book has officially announced the winners of the 2026 Washington State Book Awards, recognizing seven authors across seven different categories. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the awards program, which celebrates outstanding books written by Washington residents. Judges reviewed a total of 308 eligible books published in 2025 before selecting this year’s winners.
The 2026 winners include Cori Winrock, who received the Creative Nonfiction/Memoir award for Alterations; Leyna Krow, who won Fiction for Sinkhole, and Other Inexplicable Voids; Cat Bohannon, who received the General Nonfiction/Biography award for Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution; and Esther Lin, who won the Poetry category for Cold Thief Place. The winning authors represent different communities and literary backgrounds across Washington.
The awards also recognized three books for younger readers. Martha Brockenbrough won the Picture Books category for A Gift of Dust: How Saharan Plumes Feed the Planet, while Donna Barba Higuera received the Books for Young Readers award for Unlikely Aventuras of Ramón and El Cucuy. Vanessa L. Torres won the Young Adult Literature category for On the Wings of la Noche. The winners come from communities including Seattle, Spokane, Bellingham, Poulsbo and Olympia, highlighting the statewide reach of Washington’s literary community.
The Washington State Book Awards have been recognizing Washington writers for six decades and remain an important part of the state’s literary tradition. This year’s winning books cover a wide range of subjects and styles, from fiction and poetry to science, memoir, environmental topics and stories for younger audiences. The 2026 awards once again highlight the variety of voices and stories being created by authors across Washington.