New England Book Festival Honors Novel Set in Small Maine Island
NEW ENGLAND_ The story of the deeply personal struggles of the people on a small island in Maine is the winner of the 2025 New England Book Festival, which honors the best books of the holiday season.
Author Kate Woodworth’s Little Great Island: A Novel (Sibylline Press) is the story of Mari McGavin, who retreats to the tiny Maine island where she grew up—a place she swore she’d never see again.
There Mari runs into her lifelong friend, Harry Richardson, one of the island’s summer residents, who returned to sell his family’s summer home. Mari and Harry’s lives intertwine once again, setting off a chain of events as unexpected and life altering as the shifts in climate affecting the whole ecosystem of the island…from generations of fishing families to the lobsters and the butterflies.
The rich writing and scene setting makes this novel an immersive work and well worthy of top honors in the competition.
Other winners in the competition:
COMPILATIONS/ANTHOLOGIES:
WINNER: Hollywood Remembered – Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince
RUNNER-UP:
So Many Shapes and Sizes – John Sheirer
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Little Fortified Stories – Barbara Black
Myopic Duplicity – Jeff Circle, Editor
GENERAL FICTION:
WINNER: Little Great Island – Kate Woodworth
RUNNERS-UP:
When The Rules Don’t Apply – Gerard Shirar
Little Bird – Barbara Viniar
Seeds of the Pomegranate – Suzanne Uttaro Samuels
To Know Good and Evil – Daniel V. Meier Jr.
After You, My Dear – PJ Ellis
One Ordinary Man – Steve Vesce
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Under Strange, Strange Skies – Don Stansberry
Keeper of the Fallen Ages – Clifton Wilcox
Tara Rising – Kris Girrell
The Remarkable Life of Lillian Bauer – Thomas Hall
Split – Michael Swartz
The Escape – Eve M. Riley
Born Posthumous – Fish Nealman
Once Upon a Safehouse – Carolyn Summer Quinn
Please Wait to Cross – Elissa Bass
The Game – Eve M. Riley
Trust: A Novella – Dr Rhonda M Lawson
The Invisible Hand – Douglas Cole
One-Legged Uncle Jesse – Mike Morris
The Monuments Must Bleed – Clifton Wilcox
An Improbable Alliance – Diane Coia-Ramsay
Swimming with Manatees – Bill Bennett
Widow’s Walk – Jane Willan
The Case Against Jasper – Clifton Wilcox
Charlie’s Wings – Karl L. Stewart
Forever, Now – Haleh Shahrzad
After Happily Ever – Jen Saffrey
Diamond City – Marianna Boncek
Conversations with My Mother – Ronald-Stephane Gilbert
Dream Me Dead – Laurie Elizabeth Murphy
Fangs of Fate – Rebecca Parcha
How the Story Ends – Tory Gates
A Thousand More – K.S. Lynn
The Clemency Protocol – Jessie Clark
Witches of Willow Creek – Jennie Wren Foster
He Was Given No Choice – Roy Dussouy
Out of Time – M. Jacqueline Murray
Estate: To My Once Darling Child – J. Andrew Shelley
Line ‘Em Up! – Oscar Avery
UNPUBLISHED STORIES:
WINNER: Fierce Innocence – Wendy MacGowan
POETRY:
WINNER: She Confuses Lovers, Movies, Angels and Poems – Gia Civerolo
RUNNERS-UP:
Drifter – Douglas Cole
Still Life – Marianna Boncek
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
And you cannot tell me why I must not love you anymore – Natia Khaduri
Writings of a West Virginia Paper Boy – Craig Erlewine
ROMANCE:
WINNER: Living on a Prayer – Katrina Alexander
YOUNG ADULT:
WINNER: The Ruinous Curse – The Hunt for Alesta – Mark K. McClain
RUNNERS-UP:
George Petit and the Whispers of Time – Luca Tom Bilotta
The Joker’s Revenge – Nancy Beaule
HONORBLE MENTION:
Star Fire – Kerry Reed
GENERAL NONFICTION:
WINNER: The Wheelman’s Daughter – Pamela Bauer Mueller
RUNNERS-UP:
Before Their Crimes – Dr. Wendy Smith
In the Valley of the Shadow – Steven Manchester/Brian Fox
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Story Seeds – Megan Lovely
True Crime and Consequences – David Lyons
#MakingBelievers – Greg Thomas
The Masterpiece of Nature – Rabei A. Wazzeh
From Vico ° Porta Nuova and Beyond – Egizia Santilli Brown
SCIENCE FICTION:
WINNER: The Princess Key – Rick Clogston
RUNNER-UP: Portal – Katrina McKee
CHILDREN’S BOOKS:
WINNER: Lawrence Likes to Dance – Don Stansberry
RUNNERS-UP:
Monsters Don’t Say Meep – Bridgetta Tomarchio
The Underground Hounds – Doreen Pulio-Fleisch
Martin the Mouse in Santa’s House – Richard Ballo
Five Different Boo-boos – Maggie Keefe
The Adventures of Belle Bear – Kathy Akopov Guillory
Welcome to the NIC-Zoo – Paige Pedroll
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
A Day to Play – Jennifer Butenas
Oliver the Oyster Saves Santa – J.B. Auchter
Papa’s Cookies – Mary C. Kerins
A Summer of Canoes – J.W. Elliot
Smalltown City and the Spirit of City Hall – Nancy Pearson
Freddy the Frog – D.L. Torres
The Incredible Trash Donkey – Jeanette Kamciyan
BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY:
WINNER: Clark Gable, King of Hollywood – Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince
RUNNER-UP: Faith, Cancer, God’s Miracle – Ray Scott
SPIRITUAL/RELIGIOUS:
WINNER: Identity Crisis: Who Am I, Really? – M.J. Kelley II
RUNNER-UP:
Spiritually Homeless – Kris Girrell
Spirit Guides and Angels: Death and Taxes – Wayne Cesaro
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Faith, Cancer, God’s Miracle – Ray Scott
The Magnificence of the – Timeout A. Taumua
REGIONAL LIT:
WINNER: The Given Up Girl – Ellen B. Rockmore
RUNNERS-UP:
Our Share of Morning – Laura Bonazzoli
On This Harvest Moon – Jennifer Safrey
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Breathe Easy – Tammy Donahue
Christmas Under a Cold Moon – Jennifer Safrey
The Pulse of the City – C.D. “Tony” Hylton III
MEMOIR:
WINNER: Outside the Lines – Helen Fremont
RUNNER-UP:
Reviving Artemis – Deborah Luskin
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
One Man’s Journey – Donald T. Hardison II
White-Tailed Eagles Rising – Rochelle Reynard
My Warp Threads – Maureen O’Hera
killing brumbies – Sue Andrews
WILD CARD:
WINNER: Before Their Crimes – Dr. Wendy Smith
RUNNERS-UP:
Story Seeds – Megan Lovely
The Mountains We Climb – Aimee Goodwin
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Born Posthumous – Fish Nealman
Grumpy Goes Home for the Holiday – Susan Marie Chapman
BUSINESS:
WINNER: Developing Your Marketing Mindset – Leora Halpern Lanz
HOW-TO:
WINNER: Daddy Days – John Turner, Jay Bouchard
RUNNER-UP:
Positive Politics – Neil Thanedar
HONORABLE MENTION:
Must: Becoming the Person You Are Meant to Be – Stephen Rue
GAY:
WINNER: Angel – Charles Lunsford