Congratulations to the Pacific Northwest Writers Association’s 2022 Nancy Pearl Book Award winner for memoir, La Finca: Love, Loss and Laundry on a Tiny Puerto Rican Island by Corky Parker; as well as the other winners (fiction) The Way Home by Eliana West and (literary/ mainstream) Where Are We Tomorrow by Tavi Taylor Black.
PNWA’s Nancy Pearl Book Award is a literary contest designed to recognize published works by PNWA members. “It’s being selected by librarians that makes this award so special,” says author Corky Parker of Port Townsend, Washington. “As a Northwesterner, I listened to Nancy locally and was delighted when she went to NPR. As a devotee of my local library, to be recognized here is a huge honor.”
For twenty-plus years, Parker ran La Finca Caribe, an eco-lodge in Vieques, Puerto Rico. What started as a rough-and-tumble dream grew into a paradise enjoyed by guests from around the world. Sketchbook in hand, Parker chronicled her daily adventures living with the land. La Finca (published last year Trinity University Press) is a lively graphic memoir about a woman creating a new life amid countless challenges, including hurricanes that led her to reconsider everything. It is a story about trusting oneself, self-discovery, accepting disappointment and loss, and falling in love with a place.
“Corky’s story was a wonderful discovery, and the book poignantly captures the creativity and challenge that defined her adventure,” says Tom Payton, publisher and director of Trinity University Press. “We are proud of our connection to the many authors in the Pacific Northwest and are thrilled for this to have won a Nancy Pearl award. We have such admiration for Nancy and her advocacy for books and readers. She’s a legend.”
More on the award HERE.
La Finca Wins Audies Award!