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Massachusetts Book Awards

The Massachusetts Book Awards are a foundational program of the Massachusetts Center for the Book. Through the awards program we highlight the work of our vital contemporary writing community and encourage readers to do some "close reading" of those imaginative works created by the authors among us.

Each year, the MassBooks recognize significant achievements in fiction, general nonfiction, poetry, and children's literature from the previous calendar year. To be eligible, books must have been written by authors who currently live and work in Massachusetts or must present topics of particular and specific importance to the Commonwealth regardless of their author’s residency.

Throughout the award year, we promote an award winner and two honors books in each of the four award categories by producing/hosting reading, discussion, and activity guides for each title at our web site and by featuring the books at the Massachusetts table in the Pavilion of the States at the National Book Festival. The award and honors titles are also deposited in Special Collections at the State Library.

In addition, we help to put readers and writers together by facilitating author visits to public libraries in Massachusetts. To that end, we publish an annual MassBook Census of books written in or about our commonwealth.