The Minnesota Book Award nominations are out, and the voting for the Readers’ Choice Award has just begun. The Minnesota Historical Society Press is happy to congratulate our three nominees and urge you to cast your vote for great Minnesota books.

Trout Caviar: Recipes from a Northern Forager by Brett Laidlaw is nominated in the General Nonfiction category, and Anishinaabe Syndicated: A View from the Rez by Jim Northrup and Sisterhood of War: Minnesota Women in Vietnam by Kim Heikkila are both nominated in the Minnesota category.

The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, sponsor of the awards, is also hosting the annual Readers’ Choice Event in a couple of weeks. You can meet Northrup, Heikkila, and some of the other finalists on Friday, March 16, starting at 7 p.m., at Open Book in Minneapolis (1011 Washington Avenue South). This event is free and open to the public. The evening will feature brief presentations by several of the authors, book sales and signing opportunities, plus a reception with wine, hors d’oeuvres and desserts. You have until the end of March to cast your vote.

Hearty congratulations, as well, to Alan Kornblum, founder and senior editor of Minneapolis-based Coffee House Press, who is the recipient of the Kay Sexton Award in 2012. We’ll see you at the gala!