This year’s nominations for B.C. and Yukon Book Prizes offer more evidence of the Contemporary Indigenous Literary Renaissance underway in Canada. Ojibway writer Drew Hayden Taylor coined this term, which is reflected in the large number of nominations for books by Indigenous writers.
Nearly a dozen titles written or co-written by Indigenous authors are finalists. Larry sʔəyəɬəq Grant, a mixed Chinese and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Elder, is nominated with Scott Steedman in two categories—the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize and the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize. This came for Reconciling: A Lifelong Struggle to Belong (ECW Press).
Another Indigenous nominee for the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize is Julian Brave Noisecat, a member of the Canim Lake Band Tsq’escen and a descendant of the Lil’Wat Nation of Mount Currie. He’s a finalist for We Survived the Night: An Indigenous Reckoning (Alfred A Knopf).
Meanwhile, in the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award, four of the five nominated books were written or co-written by Indigenous authors. Northern Secwepemc (Shuswap) author and activist Phyllis Webstad, the creator of Orange Shirt Day, is nominated for Decolonization and Me: Conversations about Healing a Nation and Ourselves (Medicine Wheel Publishing). Her co-author is registered Métis writer Kristy McLeod, who traces her family roots back to the Lac St. Anne and Red River Settlements.
Another finalist in this category, A Monumental Practice (Figure 1 Publishing), was co-authored by Haida artist and Hereditary Chief 7IDANsuu James Hart and Audain Art Museum chief curator Curtis Collins.
Two Indigenous writers nominated for children’s literature
A third finalist for the Bill Duthie Award, The Teachings of Mutton: A Coast Salish Woolly Dog (Harbour Publishing), was written by master spinner and textile researcher Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa, settler-scholar Alison Ariss, and a long list of Indigenous co-authors: Kerrie Charnley, Tsumi’tsiye Violet Elliott, Tuwuxwul’t-hw Tyrone Elliott, Andrea Fritz, Chepximiya Siyam Chief Dr. Janice George, Skwetsimeltxw Willard (Buddy) Joseph, Danielle Morsette, Michael Pavel, sałamitća Susan Pavel, Xweliqwiya Rena Point Bolton, Quwasen Debra Sparrow, Eliot White-Hill Kwulasultun, Jared Qwustenuxun Williams, and Senaqwila Wyss.
And the fourth Bill Duthie Award nominee is Gwawa’enuxw Hereditary Chief Bob Joseph‘d 21 Things You Need to Know About Indigenous Self-Government: A Conversation about Dismantling the Indian Act (Page Two Books).
There are also Indigenous writers up for the Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize. They include Norway House Cree Nation member David A. Robertson for Little Shoes (Tundra Books), which was illustrated by Maya McKibbin. Another nominee in this category is Samantha Beynon—who is Nisg̱a’a, Ts’msyen, and Irish—for Celebrating Potlatches (Strong Nations Publishing Inc.). It was illustrated by Métis / Cree artist Carla Joseph.
Former B.C. minister of state for childcare, Katrina Chen, along with co-author Elaine Su and illustrator Delphie Côté-Lacroix, were nominated for the Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize for A Stronger Home (Orca Book Publishers).
For the Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes, there is one Indigenous nominee. Kelly Lake Cree Nation writer Tracey Lindberg is the author of The Cree Word for Love: Sâkihitowin (HarperCollins Publishing Ltd.). Plains Cree Nation artist George Littlechild created the illustrations. And Gitxaala Nation writer Kim Spencer is a finalist for the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize for I Won’t Feel This Forever (Orca Book Publishers).
B.C. and Yukon Book Prize shortlists
The winners will be announced on September 19 at the University Golf Club in Vancouver. A soirée to celebrate the shortlisted authors will be held on Thursday, May 21, at 6:30 pm at Book Warehouse in Vancouver (632 West Broadway).
Below, you can read the full list of nominees.
Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize awarded to the author of the best work of literary fiction:
- Sarah Louise Butler, Rufous and Calliope (Douglas & McIntyre)
- Bill Gaston, Tunnel Island: Stories (Thistledown Press)
- Susan Juby, Contemplation of a Crime (HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.)
- Maria Reva, Endling (Knopf Canada)
- Sam Wiebe, The Last Exile (Harbour Publishing)
Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize awarded to the author(s) of the best original non-fiction literary work:
- Sarah Boon, Meltdown: The Making and Breaking of a Field Scientist (University of Alberta Press
- Larry Grant with Scott Steedman, Reconciling: A Lifelong Struggle to Belong (ECW Press)
- Garth Mullins, Crackdown: Surviving and Resisting the War on Drugs (Doubleday Canada)
- Julian Brave Noisecat, We Survived the Night: An Indigenous Reckoning (Alfred A. Knopf)
- Phillip Seagram, No Judgement: And Other Busking Stories (Caitlin Press)
Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize to recognize the author(s) of the book that contributes most to the enjoyment and understanding of British Columbia and Yukon:
- Eric M. Adams and Jordan Stanger-Ross, Challenging Exile: Japanese Canadians and the Wartime Constitution (UBC Press)
- Ruby Smith Díaz, Searching for Serafim: The Life and Legacy of Serafim “Joe” Fortes (Arsenal Pulp Press)
- Larry Grant with Scott Steedman, Reconciling: A Lifelong Struggle to Belong (ECW Press)
- Robert J. Muckle, Once upon This Land: Archaeology in British Columbia and the Stories It Tells (UBC Press, Purich Books)
- Paul Wong and Tamio Wakayama, Enemy Alien (Figure 1 Publishing)
Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize awarded to the author of the best work of poetry:
- Amber Dawn, Buzzkill Clamshell (Arsenal Pulp Press)
- Lorna Goodison, The Inferno (Véhicule Press)
- Joseph Kidney, Devotional Forensics (icehouse poetry/Gooselane Editions)
- Rahat Kurd, The Book of Z (Talonbooks)
- Bruce McRae, Boxing in the Bone Orchard (Frontenac House Ltd.)
Jim Deva Prize for Writing That Provokes presented to a book that challenges or provokes ideas and forces that shape what writing, art, and/or society can become:
- Ruby Smith Díaz, Searching for Serafim: The Life and Legacy of Serafim “Joe” Fortes (Arsenal Pulp Press)
- L.E. Fox, This Book Is a Knife: Radical Working-Class Strategies in the Age of Climate Change (Arsenal Pulp Press)
- Kawika Guillermo, Of Floating Isles: On Growing Pains and Video Games (Arsenal Pulp Press)
- Tracey Lindberg (author), George Littlechild (illustrator), The Cree Word for Love: Sâkihitowin (HarperCollins Publishers Ltd)
- Jen Sookfong Lee, The Hunger We Pass Down (McClelland & Stewart)
Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize presented to the best illustrated book written for children:
- Samantha Beynon (author), Carla Joseph (illustrator), Celebrating Potlatches (Strong Nations Publishing Inc.)
- Katrina Chen and Elaine Su (authors), Delphie Côté-Lacroix (illustrator), A Stronger Home (Orca Book Publishers)
- GuoJing, Oasis (Godwin Books)
- Deborah Kerbel (author), Udayana Lugo (illustrator), No Huddles for Heloise (Orca Book Publishers)
- David A. Robertson (author), Maya McKibbin (illustrator), Little Shoes (Tundra Books)
Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize awarded to the best non-illustrated book written for children:
- Tanya Boteju, Messy Perfect (HarperCollins Publishing Ltd.)
- Gregor Craigie, Saving Wolfgang (Orca Book Publishers)
- Rachel Hartman, Among Ghosts (Penguin Teen Canada)
- Kim Spencer, I Won’t Feel This Way Forever (Orca Book Publishers)
- Léa Taranto, A Drop in the Ocean (Arsenal Pulp Press)
Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award presented to the originating publisher and author(s) of the best book in terms of public appeal, initiative, design, production, and content:
- Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa, Kerrie Charnley, Tsumi’tsiye Violet Elliott, Tuwuxwul’t-hw Tyrone Elliott, Andrea Fritz, Chepximiya Siyam Chief Dr. Janice George, Skwetsimeltxw Willard (Buddy) Joseph, Danielle Morsette, Michael Pavel, sałamitća Susan Pavel, Xweliqwiya Rena Point Bolton, Quwasen Debra Sparrow, Eliot White-Hill Kwulasultun, Jared Qwustenuxun Williams, Senaqwila Wyss, and Alison Ariss, The Teachings of Mutton: A Coast Salish Woolly Dog (Harbour Publishing)
- 7IDANsuu James Hart and Curtis Collins, 7IDANsuu James Hart: A Monumental Practice (Figure 1 Publishing)
- Bob Joseph, 21 Things You Need to Know About Indigenous Self-Government: A Conversation about Dismantling the Indian Act (Page Two Books)
- Phyllis Webstad and Kristy McLeod, Decolonization and Me: Conversations about Healing a Nation and Ourselves (Medicine Wheel Publishing)
- Iona Whishaw, A Season of Spies (TouchWood Editions)
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