By Okon Ekpenyong

Eight Ohio-based authors were honored at the 2025 Ohio Book Awards to celebrate their literary achievements, including three authors from the New American community: Claudia Owusu, a Ghanaian American, Yalie Saweda Kamara, a Sierra Leonean American, and Andrea Wang, a Chinese American author.

The Ohio Book Awards were established in 1942 to recognize Ohio authors and illustrators for outstanding books published each year.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine emphasized the impact of literature from across the spectrum as a way for folks to learn about others and how certain stories affect how people interpret or see things.

While on stage accepting their award, Claudia Owusu, Yalie Saweda Kamara, and Andrea Wang thanked their families and reflected on how their upbringing, culture, and ethnicity significantly influenced their work.

As their work was displayed across the table, one could see how it enriched Ohio’s literary landscape and showcased the state’s diverse cultural tapestry, ensuring everyone feels included and represented.

According to the Ohioana website, the award is an ongoing effort to recognize the world of literature in the state and continue its tradition of promoting Ohioana authors at its annual Ohioana Book Festival. Next year’s festival will be at the State Library of Ohio and the Ohioana Library on April 18, 2026.

The awards ceremony also highlighted how Ohio’s Governor and First Lady, DeWine, continue to promote literacy in the state, such as the science of reading. It underscored the transformative power of literacy initiatives like the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. With its generous contribution of over 400,000 books to children across all 88 counties in Ohio, this program serves as a beacon of hope and inspiration for the future of literature and cultural appreciation.

First Lady Fran DeWine credits the work of Ohio’s Dolly Parton Imagination Library as being a driving force in getting young people to love reading and literature at a young age and hopes that one day, one of those young people can stand on this stage to receive recognition for their own published work.

Wang was recognized for her enchanting novel, “Summer at Squee. The prestigious Ohioana Library Association recently unveiled this year’s winners, highlighting the exceptional achievements within Ohio’s literary community.

This year’s awards recognized the recipient of the Marvin Grant and honored seven authors with Ohio Book Awards. The Readers’ Choice Award, determined by an online poll, saw over 3,500 votes. Over its 80-year history, the Ohio Book Awards have celebrated distinguished writers like James Thurber, Robert McCloskey, Toni Morrison, and Hanif Abdurraqib.

Each year, award recipients are chosen from various categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, About Ohio or an Ohioan, Young Adult Literature, Middle Grade Literature, and Juvenile Literature. The awards also feature the Readers’ Choice Book Award and the Walter Rumsey Marvin Grant, which honors emerging writers.

Walter Rumsey Marvin Grant

This year’s Walter Rumsey Marvin Grant went to Ghanaian-American Claudia Owusu for her poignant essay “Swim.” Owusu is also a writer and filmmaker. Her work has appeared in esteemed publications like Vogue, Narrative Northwest, and Brittle Paper. She has garnered multiple accolades, including the Julia Reichert Award for Emerging Female Documentarians.

Yalie Saweda Kamara’s Literary Journey

Meanwhile, Yalie Saweda Kamara, a Sierra Leonean-American associate professor at Xavier University in Cincinnati, won the best poetry award for her poem Besaydoo: Poems. Kamara was previously a professor at the University of Cincinnati and Indiana University in France. Her other published or recognizable works include the Jake Adam York Prize and the Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship, attesting to her significant contributions to contemporary poetry.

Andrea Wang’s Captivating Storytelling includes her early years living in Yellow Springs, Ohio, as one of only a few Chinese-Americans at the time, and how that experience shaped her both as an adolescent and as an adult. Wang, a Newbery Honor-winning author, crafts heartfelt narratives that delve into themes of identity, culture, and community—growing up as a Chinese American in Ohio has profoundly shaped her storytelling. Her celebrated works, such as Watercress, The Nian Monster, and Magic Ramen, culminate in her latest novel, Summer at Squee, which follows a Chinese American tween’s journey of reconnecting with her heritage at a cultural camp.

Other Winners of the 2025 Ohio Book Awards were :

1. Fiction: Christopher Bollen. Havoc. Harper: New York, NY, 2024.
2. Poetry: Yalie Saweda Kamara.Besaydoo: Poems. Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions, 2024.
3. Nonfiction: Timothy Snyder. On Freedom. New York, NY: Crown, 2024.
4. Young Adult: Mindy McGinnis. Under This Red Rock. New York, NY: Katherine Tegen Books, 2024.
5. Middle Grade: Andrea Wang. Summer at Squee. New York, NY: Kokila, 2024.
6. Juvenile: Loren Long. The Yellow Bus. New York, NY: Roaring Brook Press, 2024.
7. About Ohio or an Ohioan: Keith O’Brien.Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball. New York, NY: Pantheon, 2024.
8. Readers’ Choice: Amanda Flower. To Slip the Bonds of Earth (A Katharine Wright Mystery). Kensington: New York, NY, 2024.

The Ohio Book Awards were held at the historic Ohio Statehouse, celebrating the remarkable achievements of these outstanding authors. The Ohioana Library is currently accepting nominations for the 2026 Ohio Book Awards, and submissions are open until December 31, 2025.

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