Spring award season is in full swing. We’re happy to share a lot of great news about BC-published books. Read on for all the details.
Inaugural Emerging Indigenous Voices award
Emerging Indigenous Voices award is the direct result of a crowdfunding campaign. After several media professionals joked on Twitter about backing a prize for cultural appropriation in literature, Toronto lawyer Robin Parker initiated the campaign, and with help from author Silvia Moreno-Garcia, the award raised $125,000 from 1,500 donors.
The award is administered by the Indigenous Literary Studies Association and the winners were announced on May 29 in Regina. Among the finalists was Carleigh Baker, whose story collection Bad Endings (Anvil Press) was shortlisted for Most Significant Work of Prose in English by an Emerging Indigenous Writer.
NorthWords Book Prize
Richard Van Camp‘s The Journey Forward, A Novella on Reconciliation: When We Play Our Drums, They Sing! (McKellar & Martin) won the 2018 NorthWords Book Prize.
Trillium Award finalists
The finalists for the annual Trillium Book Award were announced on May 24. The prize has one award for writing in English and one in French, and is for literary achievement by an Ontario-based author. The winner will be presented on June 21 and awarded$20,000.
Catherine Hernandez is shortlisted for her BC-published novel, Scarborough (Arsenal Pulp Press).
Sunburst Award longlist announced
On June 1, the 2018 longlist for the Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic was announced.
The Adult Fiction longlist included two BC-published books: The Clothesline Swing by Ahmad Danny Ramadan (Nightwood Editions) and Tarry This Night by Kristyn Dunnion (Arsenal Pulp Press).
Chocolate Lily Awards on a roll
The Chocolate Lily Awards are BC’s Reader’s Choice Children’s Book Award. The winners of the 2018 Chocolate Lily Awards were announced on May 31. In the novel category, the winner was Everyday Hero by Kathleen Cherry (Orca Book Publishers).
The following day, on June 1, the finalists were announced for the 17th annual award. Among the 15 finalist books is another Orca title: Black Gold by Sara Cassidy, nominated in the Chapter Book/Early Novel (Grades 2 – 4) category.
Indigenous Literature Awards
First Nation Communities READ announced the Indigenous Literature Awards shortlists for the combined Children’s and Young Adult/Adult categories on May 30, 2018. Chosen by a jury of Indigenous librarians from across Ontario, these titles represent the best of Indigenous literature from throughout Turtle Island today.
The 2018 finalists include My Heart Fills with Happiness, by Monique Gray Smith and illustrated by Julie Flett (Orca Book Publishers) in the Children’s category and He Who Dreams, by Melanie Florence (Orca) in the YA/Adult category.
The Indigenous Literature Award winners will be announced in Toronto at Yonge-Dundas Square on June 27 as part of the ninth annual Indigenous History Month Celebration. This is the fifth year that the Periodical Marketers of Canada will present the Indigenous Literature Award.
IPPY Awards
- Dirty Windshields: The Best and the Worst of the Smugglers Tour Diaries by Grant Lawrence (Douglas & McIntyre)
- Performing Arts (Music / Dance / Cinema / Theatre) | BRONZE
- The Clothesline Swing by Ahmad Danny Ramadan (Nightwood Editions)
- LGBT+ Fiction | GOLD
- Cooking with the Wolfman: Indigenous Fusion by David Wolfman and Marlene Finn (Douglas & McIntyre)
- Cookbooks (General) | BRONZE (tie)
- The World’s Most Travelled Man: A Twenty-Three-Year Odyssey to and Through Every Country on the Planet by Mike Spencer Bown (Douglas & McIntyre)
- Travel – Essay | GOLD
- Beyond Mile Zero: The Vanishing Alaska Highway Lodge Community by Lily Gontard; photography by Mark Kelly (Harbour Publishing / Lost Moose)
- Travel – Essay | SILVER
- Louis Riel: Let Justice be Done by David Doyle (Ronsdale Press)
- Best Regional Non-Fiction (Canada-West) | SILVER
- North of Familiar: A Woman’s Story of Homesteading and Adventure in the Canadian Wilderness by Terry Milos (Caitlin Press)
- Best Regional Non-Fiction (Canada-West) | BRONZE (tie)