The Society of Midland Authors recently announced its annual awards, honoring its choices for the best books by Midwest authors published in 2022.
In each category, a panel of literary judges chose a winner as well as one or more honorees whose work was deemed worthy of recognition. The winners and honorees will be recognized at an awards dinner May 9 in Chicago, Illinois.
The categories were adult fiction, adult nonfiction, biography and memoir, history, poetry, children’s fiction and children’s nonfiction.
The latter category had three honorees, including Barbara Binns of Arlington Heights, Illinois, for her book “Unlawful Orders: A Portrait of Dr. James B. Williams, Tuskegee Airman, Surgeon and Activist.”
The book shares the true story of Williams, a grandson of slaves who battled segregation in the military as a Tuskegee Airman and discrimination in health care to become the first Black chief of surgery at a major Chicago hospital. Seymour and Freeman Field play a significant role in the story.
The Society of Midland Authors, founded in 1915 by a group of authors, has given out annual awards since 1957. The juried competition is open to authors who live in, were born in or have strong ties to Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota or Wisconsin.
This year’s winners will receive a $500 award and a recognition plaque.
For information about the society, visit midlandauthors.org. For information about Binns and her book, visit babinns.com.
Binns said her book also has been chosen as a pick by the New York Public Library.