In the Unsettled Homeland of Dreams has just been awarded the Edna Ferber Fiction Book Award for 2019. The award has been around since 1944 and is awarded by the Wisconsin Council of Writers. There have been a handful of years where the Council did not believe an award was warranted.
My publisher, All Things That Matter Press, suggested that I ask my friends and followers to repost this news. I am certainly excited about having this kind of validation for my writing and particularly for this novel. Bennison Books published The Weirding Storm, my epic poem about dragons, kickstarting a writing career that I had largely put aside due to my work with the tribal colleges and universities. I feel a great debt of gratitude to both Bennison Books and All Things That Matter Press for publishing my books. At this point in time I have four novels, one non-fiction book, and two epic poems in print.
In the Unsettled Homeland of Dreams is about a black fisher community that settled in the remote wilderness off the coast of the Door Peninsula on Washington Island in the 1850s. Primarily about Joshua Simpson, who is fourteen years old at the start of the novel, it tells the story of an escape from slavery on a Missouri plantation and then the founding of a community on the shores of Death’s Door, a passage between the body of Lake Michigan and the tip of the Door Peninsula.
Under the leadership of the charismatic black Preacher, Tom Bennett, and the help of the Underground Railroad, Joshua, his family, and the other escaped slaves find their dream of New Jerusalem on the island, and then find that discovering paradise is only the first part of their journey.
This, for me, is a great, great day, and I certainly want to thank the Wisconsin Council of Writers. They have made my year!
fourwindowspress 
YAY! YAY! I am proud you call me Friend!
Thank you so much, Linda. Ethel and I both appreciate you guys.
Stay safe Our Friends!!!
That’s amazing, wonderful news Tom. Congratulations! I got quite excited! It must be your enthusiasm spilling over. Great stuff!
Thanks Bruce. I hear New Zealand is doing better than the U.S. with this virus. It’s difficult here.
The deaths are beginning to creap in now!
Wonderful news, hearty congratulations!
Reblogged this on Eremophila's Musings and commented:
A great author wins a well deserved award.
Thanks so much eremophila. I am excited.
Congratulations!
Thank you Kim. I appreciate the congratulations.
congratulations Tom. dream is a great read and it taught me about a part of the world I didn’t know.\
I hope you are well, I’m doing okay. I haven’t been out of my apartment in two weeks. new YORK city n is a ghost town,
but every night we cave dwellers go to ourjwindows or balconies ad cheer for the health care workers. its quite moving,
Hi Jim, Ethel and I have been worried about you and your family in New York. We are staying in too, although we have a state park just a little away from our house that we have been walking in every morning. So far not many people are there, so we are not in any danger, but yesterday there were more people, so we might have to think about not doing that. NY is much more dangerous than here so far.
I am still intrigued by your stories and think you ought to keep doing those. If you get enough for a book let Four Windows Press know. We are publishing Terence Winch’s new novel for the YA market right now. Terence is one of the most famous poets around. He’s won the American and Columbia Book awards and more honors than two major writers.
Thanks for the congratulations. I really respect you as a writer, and your words have always meant a lot to me. Please be safe through this. Say hello to your wife for me.
We are still working on the anthology. Mostly Standing Feather takes time to work through what he is thinking, and he wanted to do it in the first place. He is a great talent and a greater human being, but he is really really busy all the time. He has a small art gallery, restaurant, and RV park to run. You will certainly be well represented in the anthology. Ethel has really championed your poems.
I always appreciate you, my friend. I wish we could meet some day. Tom
Congratulations, Tom! This is very exciting news! It doesn’t surprise me though — it’s well-deserved and it makes me happy to hear about it. 😊
We owe you a small check that we have to remember to get out Betty. Thank you so much for the congratulations. You are always appreciated.
Tom, no need to send me a check. I’m eternally grateful for all you did publishing my book! 🙂 (Hard to believe that’s been almost two years ago already.)
I missed out on reading a chunk of the posts I ‘follow’ back in April. Now I am nearly back up to date and today came here. I am so happy to read of your recognition and achievement. May we never forget that bringing light always dissolves and banishes darkness. Ever onward and upward!