Eli Saslow’s ‘Rising Out of Hatred’ among the winners at Pacific Northwest Book Awards

The 2019 Pacific Northwest Book Award winners include Eli Saslow’s “Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist,” the September selection of The Spokesman-Review’s Northwest Passages Book Club.

The awards, announced Wednesday, honor six books by regional authors published this past year.

Saslow, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer from Portland, chronicles the story of former white nationalist Derek Black, who was groomed for leadership in the movement practically from birth and made a highly public decision to break away at age 24.

“I think the power of Derek’s personal transformation is really hopeful,” Saslow said in a recent interview. “People’s opinions are so intractable, and we’re so certain about what we think, that the idea that somebody who’s that far on the other side can still be reached – I do think is profoundly hopeful.”

The other books honored by the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association are:

“A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America” by Ken Armstrong, a former Seattle Times reporter.

“Washington Black” by Esi Edugyan of Victoria, British Columbia.

“Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees” by Thor Hanson of Friday Harbor.

“Blood Water Paint” by Joy McCullough of Seattle.

“Libba: The Magnificent Musical Life of Elizabeth Cotton” by Laura Veirs of Portland.