2023 Awards

Below are the winners and finalists for the 2023 SWBDA Awards, announced on August 23, 2023 at the NMBA Summer Gala held as The Club at Las Campanas in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The event also included a guitar performance by Nacha Mendez and a keynote address by Jimmy Santiago Baca. 

Links for most books are to NMBA's shop at Bookshop.com. NMBA may earn a small commission for purchases made there, and purchases also benefit your local bookstore. In cases where books are not available 

Trade Books (Non-Illustrated)

WINNERS

• Pablo Abeita: The Life and Times of a Native Statesman of Isleta Pueblo, 1871–1940 by Malcolm Ebright & Rick Hendricks. University of New Mexico Press. Isaac Morris, Designer. Michael Millman, Editor. 
• The Way of the Bear: A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel by Anne Hillerman. HarperCollins. Jarrod Taylor, Designer. Sarah Stein, Editor.

FINALISTS

• ​Blood on the Moon by Alan K. Rode. University of New Mexico Press. Felicia Cedillos, Design. Andrew Patrick Nelson, Series Editor.
• Ride Lonesome by Kirk Ellis. University of New Mexico Press. Felicia Cedillos, Design. Andrew Patrick Nelson, Series Editor.
• Big Medicine Pretty Water by Mike Katko. Wilhelmina Press. Charlyn Designs, Designer. Ellen Kleiner & Lillian Griego, Editors.
• The Secret of the Old Cloche: Agatha Christine Mystery Stories by Leslie Stahlhut. Coyote Arts. Felicia Cedillos, Cover Designer. Jordan Jones, Book Designer and Editor.

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Art & Photography

WINNERS

• Vincent Valdez: In Memory by Vincent Valdez. Radius Books. David Chickey & Mat Patalano, Designers. Nick Larsen, Editor. 
• Speaking with Light: Contemporary Indigenous Photography by John Rohrbach & Will Wilson (Diné). Radius Books. David Chickey & Mat Patalano, Designers. Megan Mulry & Nick Larsen, Editors. 
• Travels Across the Roof of the World: A Himalayan Memoir by William Frej & Anne Frej. George F. Thompson Publications. David Skolin, Designer. Joanna Hurley, Editor.

FINALISTS

• Agnes Martin: Independence of Mind by Agnes Martin. Radius Books. David Chickey & Mat Patalano, Designers. Chelsea Weathers & Megan Mulry, Editors.
• Show Me the Way to Go to Home by Sandy Sugawara & Catiana Garcia Kilroy. Radius Books. David Chickey & Mat Patalano, Designers. Nick Larsen, Editor.

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Scholarly & Technical

​​WINNERS

• Exposure: Native Art & Political Ecology by Manuela Well-Off Man. Radius Books. David Chickey & Mat Patalano, Designers. Chelsea Weathers, Editor.
• Speaking with Light: Contemporary Indigenous Photography by John Rohrbach & Will Wilson (Diné). Radius Books. David Chickey & Mat Patalano, Designers. Megan Mulry & Nick Larsen, Editors.

​FINALISTS

• Shirin Neshat: Land of Dreams by Shirin Neshat & Brandee Caoba. Radius Books. David Chickey & Mat Patalano, Designers. Lucy Flint & Nick Larsen, Editors.
• Show Me the Way to Go to Home by Sandy Sugawara & Catiana Garcia Kilroy. Radius Books. David Chickey & Mat Patalano, Designers. Nick Larsen, Editor.

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Guides

WINNER 
Encyclopedia of Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico by Mark H. Cross. Caminito Publishing. Kathleen Dexter, Designer.

FINALIST
The Official Cookbook of the Chile Pepper Institute by Paul W. Bosland & Wendy V. Hamilton. University of New Mexico Press. Felicia Cedillos, Designer. Lucy Flint & Nick Larsen, Editors.

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Gift Books

WINNER
Unplugged Voices: 125 Tales of Art and Life from Northern New Mexico, the Four Corners and the West compiled and edited by Sara Frances. Photo Mirage Books. Sara Frances, Designer.

FINALIST
The Lanny and Sharon Martin Building by various authors. The Denver Art Museum. Dae Ann Knight, Designer. Kati Woock, Editor.

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Poetry

WINNER
The Algorithm of I: Poems by Jack Crocker. Mimbres Press of the Western New Mexico University. Paul Hotvedt, Designer. Marvel Harrison, Editor. 

FINALIST
Still: Haiku by Jan Marquart. Jan Marquart, Publisher. Rich Carnahan, Designer. Mary Hall, Editor.

Children's

WINNERS

• UFOhs!: Mysteries in the Sky by Deborah Blumenthal & Ralph Blumenthal. University of New Mexico Press. Adam Gustavson, Illustrator. Felicia Cedillos, Designer. Stephen Hull, Editor.
• The Biscochito Bandito by Tita Stasny. Art Academy Publishing. Sandi Wright, Illustrator. Patrick Golden & Jared Gann, Designers.

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Body, Mind, Spirit

WINNER
100 Days: Poems After Cancer by James Navé. 3: A Taos Press. Castro Watson, Designer. Andrea Watson, Editor.

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History

WINNER
Show Me the Way to Go to Home by Sandy Sugawara & Catiana Garcia Kilroy. Radius Books. David Chickey & Mat Patalano, Designers. Nick Larsen, Editor.

​FINALISTS

• Exposure: Native Art & Political Ecology by Manuela Well-Off Man. Radius Books. David Chickey & Mat Patalano, Designers. Chelsea Weathers, Editor.
• Encyclopedia of Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico by Mark H. Cross. Caminito Publishing. Kathleen Dexter, Designer.

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Memoirs

WINNERS

• Truth or Consequences: Improbable Adventures, a Near-Death Experience, and Unexpected Redemption in the New Mexico Desert by Daniel Asa Rose. University of New Mexico Press. Isaac Morris, Designer. Stephen Hull, Editor.
• Travels Across the Roof of the World: A Himalayan Memoir by William Frej & Anne Frej. George F. Thompson Publications. David Skolin, Designer. Joanna Hurley, Editor.

FINALISTS

• Junkyard Girl: A Memoir of Ancestry, Family Secrets, and Second Chances by Carlyn Montes De Oca. Goose Hill Press. Christy Day, Constellation Book Services, Designer. David Aretha & Krissa Lagos, Editors.
• Late Work: A Literary Autobiography of Love, Loss, and What I Was Reading by Joan Frank. University of New Mexico Press. Felicia Cedillos, Designer. Elise McHugh, Editor.

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Bilingual

WINNER
Unveiling Estilo Palmer: The 50 Impassioned Years of Mildred Palmer in Guatemala, 1929-1981 by Ana Livingston Paddock. Centro de Investigaciones Regionales de Mesoamerica (CIRMA). Kathleen Dexter, Book Designer, Guillermo Duran, Cover Designer. Kathleen Dexter (English Editor), Guisela Asensio Lueg & Roberto Broll (Spanish Editors).

FINALIST
Nostalgias of November / Nostalgias de Noviembre: Poems by Arturo Magaña Amaya. Mimbres Press of Western New Mexico University. Paul Hotvedt, Designer.

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Jim Mafchir Best-in-Show Award

WINNERS

• Speaking with Light: Contemporary Indigenous Photography by John Rohrbach & Will Wilson (Diné). Radius Books. David Chickey & Mat Patalano, Designers. Megan Mulry & Nick Larsen, Editors. 
• Travels Across the Roof of the World: A Himalayan Memoir by William Frej & Anne Frej. George F. Thompson Publications. David Skolin, Designer. Joanna Hurley, Editor.

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