DAMMING THE OSAGE receives medal at 17th IPPY awards in New York

It was a warm, humid late spring evening in New York City for the 17th annual Independent Publisher Book Awards. A festive crowd gathered for the ceremony, emceed by Jim Barnes. Crystal Payton, co-author of Damming the Osage represented Lens & Pen Press, picking up the silver medal for regional non-fiction, Mid-West.

Crystal Payton with IPPY spokesperson Trey Gerrald

Award winning books covered a broad range of topics from the Royal Cavalry of Oman to poetry and pop-up books to – of course – the story of a prairie stream and the people who live on and with it. University presses, independent publishers, e-book producers and photographers brought a rich assortment of interests and entertainments to the event. Entries came from every U. S. state and several countries. This year the IPB received more than 5,300 entries, of which 382 received medals.

While not all medalists were able to attend the ceremony, all three winners in the non-fiction, Midwest region were there.

Crystal Payton/Damming the Osage; Noppadol Paothong, photographer/Save the Last Dance (written by Joel Vance);
and Glen Ediger/Leave No Threshing Stone Unturned