Julian Hoffman, winner of the 2012 AWP Prize for Creative Nonfiction, received a National Outdoor Book Award (NOBA) in the National History Literature category for The Small Heart of Things: Being at Home in a Beckoning World. According to the NOBA Foundation’s description, Hoffman’s book explores his home in Prespa Lake, which is situated between Albania, Greece, and the Republic of Macedonia.

“It is the small things that capture Hoffman’s attention, and through the simple power of his writing, they attract us as well,” the website’s description reads. “[Hoffman] very capably knits together these [images] and other reflections into a coherent and captivating treatment, an ode, in essence, to the small things which bind us to the places that mean the most in our lives.”

The NOBA Awards is a nonprofit educational program sponsored by the NOBA Foundation, the Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education, and Idaho State University. The awards’ purpose is to “recognize and encourage outstanding writing and publishing.” Judges include educators, academics, trade representatives, authors, book reviewers, and outdoor columnists.