Talk about the strength of writing in the region -- books by writers in three Northwest states and one Canadian province will receive the 2007 book awards from the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association.
Let me see if I understand this. The Pacific NW Booksellers Association gives out awards. NW writers receive them. This establishes writing strength in the region. Well, this might make sense if the competition were national. However, from their website:
Since 1965 the PNBA has presented annual awards to recognize excellence in writing from the Pacific Northwest. Rather than soliciting nominations for specific categories, we simply require that the author and/or illustrator reside within the five-state PNBA region (Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho)...
OK, so we require NW residency, we give awards to NW authors -- and this proves how great the region is? This writer must have worked for an ad agency.
Now, as a matter of fact, the NW is a strong literary region -- but you prove this by success at the national level, not some regional self-defining circular concoction of "evidence." Embarrassing.
Of course, the quickest way for an institution to legitimize itself is to give awards.
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