We are thrilled to share two BC-published and BC-authored titles have won 2018 Governor General’s Literary Awards in English. Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age by Darrel J. McLeod (Douglas & McIntyre) has won the nonfiction category, and Wayside Sang by Cecily Nicholson (Talonbooks) has won in the category of poetry. There is another interesting BC connection: Sarah Henstra, the Fiction winner for The Red Word (ECW Press), grew up in Abbotsford, BC.
On October 30, 2018, Canada Council for the Arts revealed the 2018 winners for the Governor General’s Literary Awards in both official languages. The titles were selected by peer assessment committees from the 70 finalist titles announced on October 3.
“Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age dares to immerse readers in provocative contemporary issues including gender fluidity, familial violence, and transcultural hybridity,” said the peer assessment committee for the English Non-Fiction category. “A fast-moving, intimate memoir of dreams and nightmares—lyrical and gritty, raw and vulnerable, told without pity, but with phoenix-like strength.” Committee members were Ted Bishop, Leslie Shimotakahara, and Merrily Weisbord.
“In this hypnotic suite of long poems, Cecily Nicholson makes room, offering glimpses and echoes of the Canadian landscape as she explores ideas of borders, identity, industry and travel. She offers a catalogue of impressions, a collage of the ephemeral, held together by image and the pulsing phrase that stays with you long after the journey is over,” said the poetry peer assessment committee of Garry Gottfriedson, Sachiko Murakami, and Patrick Warner.
The 14 winners are considered the best Canadian books in seven categories for both official languages. Each winner will receive $25,000 and the publisher of each winning book receives $3,000 to support promotional activities. Non-winning finalists each receive $1,000.
The winners will be presented with their awards on November 28, 2018, in Ottawa, by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Julie Payette, Governor General of Canada.