UL Press books are garnering literary prizes, nominations and recognition.
Dirty Rice: A Season in the Evangeline League and Hell or High Water: How Cajun Fortitude Withstood Hurricanes Rita and Ike both have earned 2013 Independent Publishers Book Awards.
The awards recognize work from independent authors and publishers, according to information at independentpublisher.com.
Dirty Rice is a novel by Gerald Duff about minor league baseball set in south Louisiana during the Great Depression. It was awarded a silver medal in the Best Regional Fiction category.
Hell or High Water is a non-fiction book by Ron Thibodeaux about the places and people affected by Hurricanes Rita and Ike. It was awarded a silver medal in the Best Regional Non-Fiction category.
Of more than 5,200 entries in national, regional and e-book categories, 382 medals were awarded. The medals represented submissions from 10 countries and 44 U.S. states.
Dirty Rice, and another UL Press book, Grand Coteau, also both have been named finalists for ForeWord Reviews’ Book of the Year Awards.
The Foreword Reviews journal and website covers independent, alternative, university and self publishing industries, according to information at forwardreviews.com.
Grand Coteau, a photographic record of the town that spans 35 years by John Slaughter, is a finalist in the Adult Non-Fiction Photography category.
Dirty Rice is a finalist in the General Adult Fiction category.
A panel of 60 judges, librarians and booksellers will determine the winners. They will be announced at the American Library Association’s annual conference on June 28 in Chicago.
In addition, Dirty Rice last year was tabbed one of the 25 best fiction books of 2012 by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper.
The UL Press, founded in 1973, is the publishing arm of UL Lafayette's Center for Louisiana Studies. It publishes books that make significant contributions to the study of Louisiana history and culture. With more than 100 titles in print, the press currently publishes 10-12 titles yearly.
For more information, visit ulpress.org.