The University of Guam Press publication “Lina’la’: Portraits of Life at Litekyan” has been selected as a bronze medal recipient in the 2019 Independent Publisher Book Awards. The book was in the Best Regional Non-Fiction category for the Australia/New Zealand/Pacific Rim region. Representatives from UOG Press and the UOG’s Richard Flores Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center will accept the award on May 28 at a ceremony in New York City.

“Lina’la’: Portraits of Life at Litekyan,” which was released in July, features a collection of photography, educational illustrations, stories, and research about the ancient village of Litekyan (Ritidian) in Northern Guam.

“The book is unique and powerful in that it gives readers an in-depth understanding of significant historic and cultural information, and it traces every period of human life that has been discovered on Guam,” said Victoria-Lola Leon Guerrero, managing editor of UOG Press.

The Independent Publisher Book Awards is one of the longest running, most established independent book awards programs in the industry. Some 2,400 publishers worldwide participate in the awards each year, competing for gold, silver, and bronze medals in 85 general categories, 24 regional categories, and 11 e-book categories.

“Lina’la’: Portraits of Life at Litekyan” was a community effort led by MARC, which holds the most extensive repository of information about Guam and Micronesia. Contributing to the book were Litekyan landowners, community organizations, traditional healers, cultural practitioners, researchers, the Guam Wildlife Refuge, and local artists and photographers. The book’s content was developed by:

• Mike T. Carson, lead author and contributing photographer * Anthony Tamayo, Jr., lead photographer
• Victoria-Lola M. Leon Guerrero, lead editor and contributing author * Brett Storie, contributing author
• Monique Storie, editor
• Mary E. Camacho, designer and illustrator

This award-winning book can be purchased at local vendors including UOG’s Triton Store, Bestseller, the Guam Museum gift shop, Faith Bookstore, and Amazon.com.

About University of Guam Press 

The University of Guam Press publishes an array of academic and literary books and journals with a specific focus on the unique history, environment, peoples, cultures, and languages of the islands that make up the Western Pacific region. UOG Press strives to increase the availability of exceptional scholarly and literary texts that can be used as learning resources about Guam and Micronesia for people and institutions in the region and throughout the world.