January 18, 2024 

Media Contacts:  
Derek Sheffield, WVC English faculty, 509-682-6737, dsheffield@wvc.edu 
Jennifer Korfiatis, WVC interim public information officer, 509-682-6650, jkorfiatis@wvc.edu 

Wenatchee Valley College English faculty Derek Sheffield has won a 2024 Pacific Northwest Book Award for “Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry.” He co-edited and co-wrote the guide with CMarie Fuhrman of McCall, Idaho, and Elizabeth Bradfield of Provincetown, Mass. 

“Cascadia Field Guide” was selected from 300 nominated titles by authors residing in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Montana, Idaho, and British Columbia. In an interview with Jefferson Robbins featured on “Wake Up Wenatchee Valley,” Sheffield said that he and his co-editors thought they had a good chance of winning a PNBA award. “As we finished making the book, we realized we’d made something special that didn’t exist anywhere else,” he said. “My co-editors and I are over the moon.” 

The PNBA will have an online event to honor “Cascadia Field Guide” and the five other award winners on Feb. 8 at 6 p.m. on Zoom. More details and a registration link can be found on the PNBA website, pnba.org.  

A Book for All Seasons will also host an event in honor of the book in Leavenworth; additional details and the event date will be announced soon. 

Blending art and science, “Cascadia Field Guide” includes work from more than 100 poets and 14 artists. The editors have work published in the guide, in addition to WVC English faculty Jack Johnson and WVC alumnus Joe Feddersen. The guide celebrates the diversity of the Cascadia region, which extends from Southeast Alaska to British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon, the Pacific Ocean to the Continental Divide in Idaho and Montana. “Cascade Field Guide” was published in 2023 by Mountaineers Books. 

The Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association has conducted this award since 1964. Previous winners include Ursula K. Le Guin, Ivan Doig, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Harrison, Timothy Egan, and Sherman Alexie.  

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To report discrimination or harassment: Title IX Coordinator, Mish ee twie 1321A, (509) 682-6716, title9@wvc.edu. 

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