Shortlists announced for 2022 BC and Yukon Book Prizes
Jordan Abel, author of NISHGA, and Finding the Mother Tree writer Suzanne Simard among the 38th annual event’s finalists
THE WEST COAST Book Prize Society has announced finalists for the 2022 BC and Yukon Book Prizes.
Vying for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, awarded to the author of the best work of literary fiction are Cedar Bowers, Astra (McClelland and Stewart/Penguin Random House Canada); Carrie Jenkins, Victoria Sees It (Strange Light/Penguin Random House Canada); Rahela Nayebzadah, Monster Child (Wolsak & Wynn); Alix Ohlin, We Want What We Want (House of Anansi Press); and Ruth Ozeki, The Book of Form and Emptiness (Viking/Penguin Random House Canada)
The finalists for the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize, awarded to the author of the best original non-fiction literary work, are: Jordan Abel, NISHGA (McClelland & Stewart/Penguin Random House Canada); Danielle Geller, Dog Flowers (One World/Penguin Random House Canada); Darrel J. McLeod, Peyakow: Reclaiming Cree Dignity (Douglas & McIntyre); Suzanne Simard, Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest (Allen Lane Canada/Penguin Random House); and Ian Williams, Disorientation: Being Black in the World (Random House Canada).
The writers up for the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize, which recognizes the author(s) of the book that contributes most to the enjoyment and understanding of British Columbia and Yukon, are: Jordan Abel, NISHGA (McClelland & Stewart/Penguin Random House Canada); Dr. Luschiim Arvid Charlie and Nancy J. Turner, Luschiim’s Plants: Traditional Indigenous Foods, Materials and Medicine (Harbour Publishing); Karen Duffek, Bill McLennan, and Jordan Wilson, in collaboration with the Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Where the Power Is: Indigenous Perspectives on Northwest Coast Art (Figure 1 Publishing); Barry Gough, Possessing Meares Island: A Historian's Journey into the Past of Clayoquot Sound (Harbour
Publishing); and Rahela Nayebzadah, Monster Child (Wolsak & Wynn).
The Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize, awarded to the author of the best work of poetry, has the following contenders: Jenny Boychuk, Antonyms for Daughter (Véhicule Press); Henry Doyle, No Shelter (Anvil Press); shauna paull, blue gait (Mother Tongue Publishing); Matt Rader, Ghosthawk (Nightwood Editions); and Isabella Wang, Pebble Swing (Nightwood Editions)
The Jim Deva Prize for Writing That Provokes is presented to a book that challenges or provokes ideas and forces that shape what writing, art, and/or society can become. The finalists in this category are: Nicola I. Campbell, Spílexm: A Weaving of Recovery, Resilience, and Resurgence (Portage & Main Press/HighWater Press); Danielle Geller, Dog Flowers (One World/Penguin Random House Canada); Darrel J. McLeod, Peyakow: Reclaiming Cree Dignity (Douglas & McIntyre); Catherine Nolin and Grahame Russell, eds.; Testimonio: Canadian Mining in the Aftermath of Genocides in Guatemala (Between the Lines); and Harsha Walia, Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism (Fernwood Publishing).
The finalists for the Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize, presented to the best illustrated book written for children, are: Whitney Gardner, Long Distance (Simon & Schuster for Young Readers); Kallie George, Elly McKay (illustrator), The Secret Fawn (Tundra Books/Penguin Random House Canada); Shane Goth, Yong Ling Kang (illustrator), The Midnight Club (OwlKids); Julie Morstad, Time is a Flower (Tundra Books/Penguin Random House Canada); and David A. Robertson, Julie Flett (illustrator), On the Trapline (Tundra Books/Penguin Random House Canada).
Up for the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize, awarded to the best non-illustrated book written for children, are: Angela Ahn, Julie Kwon (illustrator), Peter Lee’s Notes from the Field (Tundra Books/Penguin Random House Canada); Tanya Christenson, A Soft Place to Fall (Red Deer Press); Barbara Nickel, Dear Peter, Dear Ulla (Thistledown Press); Robbie Waisman with Susan McClelland, Boy from Buchenwald: The True Story of a Holocaust Survivor (Bloomsbury/Raincoast Books Inc.); and Xiran Jay Zhao, Iron Widow (Penguin Teen).
The Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award is presented to the originating publisher and author(s) of the best book in terms of public appeal, initiative, design, production, and content. The finalists are: Dr. Luschiim Arvid Charlie and Nancy J. Turner, Luschiim’s Plants: Traditional Indigenous Foods, Materials and Medicine (Harbour Publishing); Dawn Postnikoff and Joanne Sasvari, Island Eats: Signature Chefs’ Recipes from Vancouver Island and the Salish Sea (Figure 1 Publishing); Suzanne Simard, Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest (Allen Lane Canada/Penguin Random House); Roy Henry Vickers and Robert “Lucky” Budd, A is for Anemone: A First West Coast Alphabet (Harbour Publishing); and Iona Whishaw, A Lethal Lesson: A Lane Winslow Mystery (TouchWood Editions).
The winners in the eight categories, along with the recipient of the 2022 Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence, will be announced at the BC and Yukon Book Prizes Gala, hosted by Jillian Christmas, on September 24 at the University Golf Club. The winner of the Borealis Prize: The Commissioner of Yukon Award for Literary Contribution will be announced at the Dawson Daily News Print and Publishing Festival in Dawson City in June.
More information is at BC and Yukon Book Prizes.
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