The winners of the 2006 Independent Publisher Book Awards (the IPPYs) were recently announced. Given in sixty-five categories, the annual awards are intended to bring increased recognition to books published in the past year by independent and university presses as well as self-published titles. The awards program was launched in 1996 and is open to all members of the independent publishing industry. The following are this year's winners in select categories:
Poetry: Jonathan Schwartz for From the Dark Side: The Collected Poetry of Jonathan Schwartz, published by Jonathan Books
General Fiction: Kathy B. Steele for Rocks That Float, published by John F. Blair
Short Story Fiction: Philip O. Jung for The Soul in There: 14 Stories, published by CommonGood Publishing
Multicultural Fiction—Adult: Yolanda Barnes for When it Burned to the Ground, published by Sarabande Books
Essay/Creative Nonfiction: Stephen Lewis for Race Against Time, published by Anansi Press
Story Teller of the Year: Ana Castillo for Watercolor Women/Opaque Men, published by Curbstone Press
