Desideria “Desi” Mesa (center) was the winner of the 2023 Thorpe Menn Book Award for literary excellence on Saturday, October 7, 2023 for her debut novel Bindle Punk Bruja. Second Place went to Catherine Browder (left) for her book of short stories, Resurrection City: Stories of the Disaster Zone, and Third Place to Olivia Hill for her memoir, Travel North Black Girl: 3,000-Mile Journey in Search of Love, Peace, and Home. Desi was awarded $300, and Catherine and Olivia each received an award of $100. They all received a framed certificate of their award.
Alvin Brooks, 2022 Thorpe Menn Book Award winner for his memoir, Binding Us Together, was the keynote speaker at the Award Luncheon before 61 attendees. The luncheon was held in the Auditorium at Woodneath Library Center, Mid-Continent Public Library. This was the 45th year the award, sponsored by AAUW-Kansas City branch, was presented to authors residing in the Greater Kansas City area.
Congratulations to these authors nominated for the 2023 Thorpe Menn Literary Excellence Award.
My Brother Speaks in Dreams: Of Family, Beauty & Belonging by Catherine Anderson
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen
By the Side of the Road by Marla Bernard
The Fall of Faith by Jeff Berney
Orion O’Brien and the Ghost of Samuel Grayhawk by Fran Borin
Salt Holds No Secret But This by Steve Brisendine
To Dance with Cassiopeia and Die by Steve Brisendine
Resurrection City: Stories from the Disaster Zone by Catherine Browder
made of earth by Alisha Christensen
Ripple: A Long Strange Search for a Killer by Jim Cosgrove
Home is the Road: Wandering the Land, Shaping the Spirit by Diane Glancy
Love of Ornamental Fish by Beth Gulley
Travel North Black Girl: A 3,000-Mile Journey in Search of Love, Peace, and Home by Olivia Hill
The Fork Who Ate Cake by Alyssa Suzanne Hodges
The Thread by Andrew Michael Johnson
Invisible Storm: A Soldier’s Memoir of Politics and PTSD by Jason Kander
One-Match Fire by Paul Lamb
The Undead Truth of US by Britney S. Lewis
Stealing Chaos by Sarah Leyton
Bindle Punk Bruja by Desideria Mesa
Comets: Relationships That Wander by Annie Klier Newcomer
From the Heart of the Hood to the Pinnacle of Paris by Steve Penn
An Old Woman Walks into a Bar by Deborah Shouse
The Salt of My Tears by Latonya Stephens
Memory Box by John L. Swainston
Call Me Fool by William Trowbridge