Litekyan publication of UOG Press wins Independent Publisher Book Award

Litekyan publication of UOG Press wins Independent Publisher Book Award

Litekyan publication of UOG Press wins Independent Publisher Book Award


7/29/2019

 UOG Press accepted a bronze medal for its publication of "Lina'la': Portraits of Life at Litekyan"
UOG Press accepted a bronze medal for its publication of "Lina'la': Portraits of Life at Litekyan"

University of Guam Dean of University Libraries Monique Storie and UOG Press managing editor Victoria-Lola Leon Guerrero accepted a bronze medal at the Independent Publisher Book Awards held on May 28 in New York City. The coffee table publication of “Lina’la’: Portraits of Life at Litekyan” won in the category Best Regional Non-Fiction for Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Rim.

The IPPY Awards celebrated and honored 300 medalists at this year’s ceremony. As the world’s largest independent book awards, the program sees more than 2,400 publishers compete for gold, silver, and bronze medals every year in 85 categories, 24 regional categories, and 11 e-book categories.

According to Leon Guerrero, winning an IPPY Award has provided UOG Press with the opportunity to not only share the story of Litekyan and Guam’s people, but to build relationships with other publishers. Leon Guerrero and Storie met with other university presses, including Columbia University Press and University of Hawai’i Press.

“There were booksellers and publishers from all over the world and thousands of people celebrating all the books that were published this year,” Leon Guerrero said. “Lina’la’ was actually on display at this book expo as one of the new outstanding titles that had come out this year, and that was also really nice to see.”

The book is a publication of the Richard Flores Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC) and features a collection of photography, educational illustrations, stories, and research about the ancient village of Litekyan (Ritidian) in Northern Guam. The book highlights and traces every period of human life discovered on Guam.