The West Coast Book Prize Society is pleased to announce the names of the winners of the 33rd Annual BC Book Prizes, presented during a gala dinner and ceremony at the Pinnacle Harbourfront Hotel in Vancouver on Saturday, April 29.
The winners are:
Jennifer Manuel, The Heaviness of Things That Float, published by Douglas and McIntyre, has been awarded the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize awarded to the author of the best work of fiction;
Neil J. Sterritt, Mapping My Way Home: A Gitxsan History, published by Creekstone Press, has won the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize to recognize the author of the book that contributes most to the enjoyment and understanding of British Columbia;
Deborah Campbell, A Disappearance in Damascus: A Story of Friendship and Survival in the Shadow of War, published by Knopf Canada, has won the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize awarded to the author of the best original non-fiction literary work;
Adèle Barclay, If I Were in a Cage I’d Reach Out for You, published by Nightwood Editions, has been awarded the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize awarded to the author of the best work of poetry;
Monique Gray Smith, My Heart Fills With Happiness, illustrated by Julie Flett and published by Orca Book Publishers, have won the Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize presented to the best illustrated book written for children;
Iain Lawrence, The Skeleton Tree, published by Tundra Books, won the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize awarded to the best non-illustrated book written for children; and
Richard Wagamese, Embers: One Ojibway’s Meditations, published by Douglas and McIntyre, has been awarded the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award presented to the originating publisher and author of the best book in terms of public appeal, initiative, design, production, and content.
Douglas Coupland is the previously announced winner of the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence. This award was established in 2003 by the Honourable Iona Campagnolo to recognizes BC writers who have contributed to the development of literary excellence in the province. A total of $14,000 is awarded to winners with each prize providing $2,000. The recipient of the Lieutenant Governor’s Award receives $5,000, thanks to the generosity of the Government House Foundation.
For more information visit www.bcbookprizes.ca.
