It’s been an unusual year, and an unusual South Dakota Festival of Books. The event, like everything else in 2020, has been turned on its ear by the coronavirus pandemic.

From hosting famous authors and facilitating intriguing conversations to researching historical topics, the South Dakota Humanities Council’s major grant recipients represent a variety of entertaining, educational and inspirational humanities projects.

The South Dakota Humanities Council, a non-profit that leads statewide advocacy for the humanities, is pleased to announce this year's winners of the Distinguished Achievement in the Humanities Awards.

The Journey continues.

Journalist and author Lee Shippey said, “The right book at the right time, may mean more in a person’s life than anything else.”

The South Dakota Humanities Council has opened a second round of grant funding to assist South Dakota cultural organizations struggling to maintain operations during the coronavirus pandemic.

The South Dakota Humanities Council, in cooperation with longtime SDHC scholar Lawrence Diggs, has developed a weekly discussion program to address civic unrest and racial bias in the wake of the George Floyd incident in Minneapolis.

The statewide South Dakota Humanities Council has awarded $99,568 to cultural organizations struggling to maintain operations during the coronavirus pandemic.

The South Dakota Humanities Council is sponsoring a storytelling contest for veterans that will culminate with an awards ceremony at the South Dakota Festival of Books Oct. 2-4 in Brookings.

We previously announced our pivot to virtual book club discussions; now, our Speakers Bureau events will be held online as well.