In its most competitive year, the Ka Palapala Po'okela book competition presented 39 awards honoring books by, for and about Islanders and the Islands.

Sponsored by the Hawai'i Book Publishers Association, the awards program this year received 131 nominees from 69 separate book projects. Said Blair Collis, president of the organization, in a prepared statement: "The tremendous growth of Hawai'i's book-publishing industry is evident when this year's figures are compared with those of five years ago, when there were 81 entries from 47 different titles."

Two special trophy awards were given in the 12th annual program: