Each year the Library of Virginia grants a Lifetime Achievement Award to recognize outstanding and long-lasting contributions to literature by a Virginian. The 2012 recipient swas TOM ROBBINS, author of several popular fiction novels, including Another Roadside Attraction (1971), Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1976), Still Life with Woodpecker (1980), Jitterbug Perfume (1984), and Skinny Legs and All (1990).

The Whitney and Scott Cardozo Award for Children’s Literature was established in 2007 to recognize outstanding works of children’s literature by authors living in Virginia and the mid-Atlantic region. Books are selected by a juried panel from nominated titles. Readers online and at public libraries and bookstores vote for the winner. The winner, who receives a cash prize and an engraved crystal book, is announced each year at the Library of Virginia Literary Awards Celebration. Voting is open until August 3.

The Carole Weinstein Prize in Poetry, established in 2005, is awarded each year to a poet with strong connections to central Virginia. The $10,000 annual prize recognizes significant recent contributions to the art of poetry and is awarded on the basis of a range of achievement in the field of poetry. There is no formal application process or competition. Selection and notification of the annual prize will be made by a three-member Board of Curators.

The Annual People’s Choice Awards were established in 2004 to give readers an opportunity to share their enthusiasm for favorite works by Virginia authors. An independent panel of judges selects finalists for the People’s Choice Awards from the books nominated for the annual Library of Virginia Literary Awards. The People’s Choice winners are chosen by readers voting in public libraries and bookstores, as well as online. The winners each receive a cash prize and an engraved crystal book.

The Mary Lynn Kotz Award for Art in Literature is named in honor of Mary Lynn Kotz, an award-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author, who, as an art patron, has herself created or sponsored important art writing and journalism awards. It is a joint collaboration between two of America’s most prestigious institutions: the Library of Virginia and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The award, which will be presented to its first recipient in October 2013, will encompass many forms of writing, including poetry, history, journalism, fiction, biography, and museum exhibition catalogs. For a printable nomination form, click here!