Friends of American Writers

Lisa Fenn of Beverly, Massachusetts, Nathan Hill of Naples, Florida, and Michelle Pretorius of Athens, Ohio, won the 2017 Friends of American Writers Literature Awards. Fenn won for her memoir, Carry On: A Story of Resilience, Redemption, and an Unlikely Family (Harper Wave); Hill won for his novel, The Nix (Knopf); and Pretorius won for her novel, The Monster’s Daughter (Melville House). They each received $1,500, and were honored at a ceremony

in Chicago on May 12. The annual awards are given for books published in the previous year by writers with strong Midwestern ties who have not published more than three books. The next deadline for nominations is December 10.