The Connecticut Center for the Book (CCB) is now accepting submissions for its 2018 Connecticut Book Awards. The deadline is April 20.

Finalists will be announced in September and winners in October.

The categories and last year's winners in each are: Poetry ("Fugitives" by Danielle Pieratti); Lifetime Achievement for Literary Excellence (poet Gray Jacobik); Young Readers ("The Weight of Zero" by Karen Fortunati); Nonfiction ("Never Look an American in the Eye" by Okey Ndibe); and Fiction ("Cajun Waltz" by Robert H. Patton).

Eligibility requirements include birth or a minimum three-year residency in the state or a work set substantially in Connecticut; first-time publication between Jan. 1, 2017, and Dec. 31, 2017, or a 2017 copyright; all books must have a valid ISBN; works by deceased authors accepted only if the writer was alive on Jan. 1, 2017. Anthologies are accepted, but not reprints, eBooks, or titles by staff or families of CCB/judges.

For more information, access http://ctcenterforthebook.org/submission-guidelines.