The New England Booksellers Association, representing more than 400 independent bookstores in New England and New York, announces the 2002 winners of the New England Book Awards: Chris Bohjalian for Fiction; Leonard Everett Fisher for Children’s Fiction; University Press of New England for Publishing; and Howard Zinn for Nonfiction.

Each author award is accompanied by a $500 grant from NEBA to a literacy organization chosen by the winner. The awards presentation takes place Sunday Sept. 29, during the New England Booksellers Association Trade Show in Providence, R.I.

Chris Bohjalian is the author of eight novels, including “Trans-Sister Radio,” “The Law of Similars,” “Midwives,” and most recently “The Buffalo Soldier.” He has written for a variety of magazines and has been a columnist for The Burlington Free Press for more than 10 years. He lives in Vermont with his wife and daughters.

Leonard Everett Fisher is the author and illustrator of many award-winning picture books, including “The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt,” “Star and Stripes,” “Thesus and the Minotaur” and “Moses.” Fisher has pursued a diversified career as painter, author illustrator, designer and educator, striving in his words “to stretch the vision of children and adults in a variety of ways.” Fisher and his wife live in Westport, Conn.

Founded in 1970, University Press of New England is an award-winning university press supported by a consortium of schools: Brandeis University, Dartmouth College, Middlebury College, the University of New Hampshire and Tufts University. UPNE is based at Dartmouth College, the host institution. The Hardscrabble Books imprint publishes “fiction from New England.”

Howard Zinn, professor of political science emeritus at Boston University, is perhaps the preeminent American radical historian. His many books include his memoir “You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times,” the best-selling “A People’s History of the United States,” and “Declarations of Independence,” which won an Olive Branch Award in 1991. His most recent book is “Three Strikes,” co-written with Dana Frank and Robin D.G. Kelley. He and his wife live in Auburndale, Mass.