Finalists have been selected for the 2025 Golden Poppy Awards, sponsored by the California Independent Booksellers Alliance and celebrating "the best of California authors and creators."
The categories include fiction, nonfiction, mystery, the Octavia E. Butler Award (science fiction/fantasy/horror), poetry, romance, Glenn Goldman: California Lifestyle and Cooking, and the Martin Cruz Smith Award for Emerging Diverse Voices, a juried prize. In children's literature, categories are picture book, middle grade, YA, children's nonfiction, and the Mirrors & Windows Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, a juried prize. The finalists can be seen here.
California booksellers have until early in the new year to read as many finalists as possible before the voting period, which runs January 1-11, 2026. Winners of the Golden Poppy Awards will be announced at a virtual ceremony on January 29 (RSVP here).
For the 2026 awards, CALIBA is making some major changes that will allow the association for the first time to hold an in-person ceremony for winners, which will take place on the last day of its 2026 Fall Fest, September 15, 2026, in San Diego. All finalists will be invited to attend the ceremony and mix and mingle with booksellers afterward.
Changes also include having all 13 Golden Poppy committees be juried, with committee members choosing the five finalists and one winner for each category. The book submission calendar will start and end sooner. (See details about the new timeline here.) Bookstores will promote the finalists and winners throughout the fourth quarter and again in the new year.