Purpose / Mission Statement

"The purpose of the award is to recognize and honor one book, selected from among all the books published in any one calendar year, which has made an outstanding contribution to the body of printed materials about Idaho. The award is intended to encourage the writing and publishing of books about Idaho, and to encourage excellence in writing and high standards of accuracy and readability in those books."

Nominees | Award Committee | Nominate a Book | Award Winners | Links

Book Award News

Smithsonian Anthropologist Wins ILA Book of the Year Award

A biography of Benedicte Wrensted won Idaho Book of the Year honors at the ILA Award Banquet on Oct.4. Wrensted immortalized Idaho Indians through her photographs taken at the turn of the 20^th century.

Author Joanna Cohan Scherer came to Nampa to receive the award. Scherer is a professional anthropologist from the Smithsonian Institution and has spent over 20 years working with Wrensted's legacy. The biography includes dozens of Wrensted photographs documenting Native Americans in eastern Idaho. Scherer's work also describes how the young Danish woman migrated to Pocatello and established a photography studio there.

The ILA Book Award Committee selected A Danish Photographer of Idaho Indians: Benedicte Wrensted from a field of dozens of literary works. Each year the Idaho Book of the Year recognizes a work that makes an outstanding contribution to Idaho literature. ILA Book Award Chair Ruth Funabiki said, "This title rose to the top very quickly. It's a remarkable story about a young Danish American immigrant who found her way to Pocatello and left this gift for all of us."

In addition to the Scherer book, the Book Award Committee selected Spence Campbell's self-published book, Lewis & Clark and Me to receive an honorable mention award.