Retiring Graywolf Press publisher Fiona McCrae wins Kay Sexton Award

Graywolf Press publisher Fiona McCrae has been named the winner of this year's Kay Sexton Award, an annual prize given by the Minnesota Book Awards to a person who has contributed greatly to the state's literary community.

McCrae has significantly raised the profile of Graywolf Press during her 28 years with the publisher, which has in that time published authors who have won the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the National Book Award and other major awards. She announced in November that she will retire this June.

During McCrae's time, Graywolf's budget tripled, from $2 million to $6 million, and the press has been recognized with the Sally Award from the Ordway, the Excellence Award from the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, and the AWP Small Press Publisher Award.

McCrae serves on the board of the Anderson Center in Red Wing and is vice-chair of the National Book Foundation board. She is a frequent guest speaker and literary judge.

McCrae will be honored at the Minnesota Book Awards ceremony on April 26.

Also announced was the winner of the biannual Hognander Minnesota History Award, which this year will go to David Hugill for his book "Settler Colonial City: Racism and Inequity in Postwar Minneapolis."

Laurie Hertzel is the Star Tribune senior editor for books.