Dickinson, Dafoe, and Harris Receive Indie Book Top Honors for Work

Rachel Dickinson, Nancy Dafoe, and Lisa Harris recently received Indie Book top honors for their writing in 2023.

Dickinson's nonfiction book The Loneliest Places and the Long Journey Home (Three Hills, Imprint of Cornell University Press) earned the ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors) award as the 2023 winner for Memoir/Autobiography in their annual writing awards competition. The ASIA judges wrote: "Rachel Dickinson’s book about grief is beautiful, haunting, and explores a topic many of us would rather avoid, but that all of us will experience in one form or another in our lives. The essays are connected, but not chronological, and their arrangement is an important part of the beauty of the book as a whole. Grief and healing are big topics and Dickenson shares her family’s experience with great vulnerability." Dickinson's book is also a finalist in the 2023 Best Indie Book Awards (that have not yet been announced).

Dafoe's memoir Unstuck in Time, a Memoir and Mystery on Loss and Love (Pen Women Press) won the 2023 Director's Award across all categories from the Human Relations Indie Book competition. Her memoir also won Gold in the general category of books involving "medical or health issues," and silver in the memoir category of books centered on a "personal relationship." In addition, Dafoe's new novel Socrates is Dead Again (Pen Women Press) won Gold in the "Life Changes Realistic Fiction" fiction category from the Indie Book Awards.

Harris's novel The Raven's Tale (Ravenna Press) won Gold in the general category with "spiritual focus." Her poetry collection Dwelling Space (Cayuga Lake Books) won Gold in the "wisdom" category of poetry, and her chapbook of poetry Carry Light, Carry Fire (Wasteland Press) won Gold in the "insightful" category of the Human Relations Indie Book Awards.

Indie Books are defined as any books produced by independent publishers, small presses, or self-published books. They do not include books published by the "big five," Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Harper Collins, and MacMillan. Books by Indie authors win major awards (including those produced by the big five) every year. Pulitzer Prize top three winners this year were all Indie books.