CSUSB Professors Recipients of 2015 American Book Award

Award-winning poet Juan Delgado and photographer/author Thomas McGovern, both Cal State San Bernardino professors, received the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation for their book, “Vital Signs.” Delgado, from the English department, and McGovern, of the art department, toiled on “Vital Signs,” published by Heyday Books, for six years, documenting thorough photography and reflection on the cultural urban landscape of the city of San Bernardino. The two men were among the honorees who received the American Book Award on Oct. 26 at the San Francisco Jazz Center in San Francisco. The American Book Awards were created to provide recognition for outstanding literary achievement from the entire spectrum of America's diverse literary community. The purpose of the awards is to recognize literary excellence without limitations or restrictions. There are no categories, no nominees and, therefore, no losers. Award winners range from well-known and established writers to under-recognized authors and first works. There are no quotas for diversity; the winners list simply reflects it as a natural process. The Before Columbus Foundation views American culture as inclusive and has always considered the term “multicultural” to be not a description of various categories, groups, or “special interests,” but rather as the definition of all of American literature. The awards are not bestowed by an industry organization, but rather are writers’ awards given by other writers. McGovern, who teaches photography at CSUSB, used his photos of hand-painted signs and murals to illustrate the compellingly rich stories of the immigrant population of San Bernardino, a city often portrayed by media as a center of urban blight and high crime. McGovern has also written several books, including “Bearing Witness (to AIDS),” “Amazing Grace” and “Hard Boys + Bad Girls.” He earned an M.F.A. from Cal State Fullerton and a bachelor’s degree from Empire State College, New York City. Delgado, who teaches creative writing and Chicano literature at CSUSB, was named the university’s outstanding professor in 2013. His work often portrays the realities of the immigrant experience, with its related poverty and hardships as illustrated in his 1998 collection of poems, “El Campo,” about Mexican farm workers and their families. Other of Delgado’s works includes “Green Web” (1994), which was awarded the Contemporary Poetry Prize at the University of Georgia, and “A Rush of Hands” (2003). His poems have been included in the anthology “Touching the Fire: Fifteen Poets of Today’s Latino Renaissance” (1998). Delgado is a graduate of CSUSB with a bachelor’s degree in English. He holds an M.F.A. from the University of California, Irvine, where he was a Regents Fellow. The other 2014 American Book Award winners are: • Andrew Bacevich – “Breach of Trust: How Americans Failed Their Soldiers and Their Country,” Metropolitan Books; • Joshua Bloom and Waldo E. Martin – “Black Against Empire; The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party,” University of California Press; • Alex Espinoza – “The Five Acts of Diego León,” Random House; • Jonathan Scott Holloway – “Jim Crow Wisdom: Memory and Identity in Black America Since 1940,” University of North Carolina Press; • Joan Naviyuk Kane – “Hyperboreal,” University of Pittsburgh Press; • Jamaica Kincaid – “See Now Then,” Farrar, Strauss and Giroux; • Tanya Olson – “Boyishly,” YesYes Books; • Sterling D. Plumpp – “Home/Bass,” Third World Press; • Emily Raboteau – “Searching For Zion: The Quest for Home in the African Diaspora,” Atlantic Monthly Press; • Jerome Rothenberg with HeribertoYepez – “Eye of Witness: A Jerome Rothenberg Reader,” Commonwealth Books; • Nick Turse – “Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam,” Metropolitan Books; • Margaret Wrinkle – “Wash,” Atlantic Monthly Press; • Koon Woon – “Water Chasing Water,” Kaya Press; The American Book Awards also recognized Armond White with its Anti-Censorship Award and Michael Parenti with its Lifetime Achievement award.