Three people and one South Dakota-based bank were recognized at the South Dakota Festival of Books with the 2016 Distinguished Achievement in the Humanities award for their contributions to humanities in the state.

The Reunion by James R. Teller won the 2016 Veterans Writing Prize, coordinated by the South Dakota Humanities Council.

A new biography on General George Armstrong Custer, Custer’s Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America by T.J. Stiles, focuses on the life and events in Custer’s world, saving the famous battle, the Battle of Little Bighorn – or Greasy Grass, to the epilogue.

At the 2014 Festival of Books, Brookings County writer Jerry Nelson attended Pitchapalooza, an idea generating session led by The Book Doctors, Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry.

Writing and teaching have been the lifework of Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve. Her stories come from childhood experiences on the Rosebud Reservation.

Last winter’s blockbuster movie The Revenant brought renewed attention to the story of frontiersman Hugh Glass and his near-fatal encounter with a grizzly bear near present-day Lemmon in 1823.

The first Veterans Writing Prize presented by the South Dakota Humanities Council will highlight the writings of South Dakota veterans and service members. A $1,000 cash prize is offered to the winning author.

John Luther Adams won both a Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy for his composition "Become Ocean." He joins the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and the South Dakota Humanities Council for a series of events, Oct. 6-8, 2016, ending with a performance with the SDSO in Sioux Falls.

What could be better than having all South Dakotans read and reflect on the same book? For 14 years the SD Center for the Book (a part of the SD Humanities Council) has been selecting a book for the state to enjoy together. The choice is usually relevant to life in South Dakota.

Nine humanities projects in South Dakota are receiving $32,450 in grants from the South Dakota Humanities Council. Programs and projects are selected for their impact and value on the humanities in South Dakota.