The British Columbia and Yukon Book Prizes shortlist was announced in Spring, celebrating the achievements of writers, illustrators, and publishers. The 2022 shortlist under eight categories is represented this year entirely by BC authors and illustrators. Winners will be announced at a gala in Vancouver on September 24.
In anticipation, the BC and Yukon Book Prizes is hosting the event Storied: On Writing When History Becomes A Character. On Wednesday, July 27th, 2022, Jordan Abel, author of NISHGA, Barry Gough, author of Possessing Meares Island, and Susan McClelland, co-author of Boy from Buchenwald, will discuss writing when history becomes a character. This discussion will be moderated by JJ Lee, author of The Measure of a Man, a finalist for the 2012 Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize. Abel’s book NISHGA is a finalist for the 2022 Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize and the 2022 Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize, Possessing Meares Island is a finalist for the 2022 Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize and McClelland’s Boy from Buchenwald is a finalist for the 2022 Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize.
The event begins at 7 pm (PT).
This is a free event, but registration is required.
The Shortlist of the BC and Yukon Book Prizes:
Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize (literary fiction)
- Astra by Cedar Bowers (McClelland and Stewart/Penguin Random House Canada)
- Victoria Sees It by Carrie Jenkins (Strange Light/Penguin Random House Canada)
- Monster Child by Rahela Nayebzadah (Wolsak & Wynn)
- We Want What We Want by Alix Ohlin (House of Anansi Press)
- The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki (Viking/Penguin Random House Canada)
Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize (literary nonfiction)
- NISHGA by Jordan Abel (McClelland & Stewart/Penguin Random House Canada)
- Dog Flowers by Danielle Geller (One World/Penguin Random House Canada)
- Peyakow: Reclaiming Cree Dignity by Darrel J. McLeod (Douglas & McIntyre)
- Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard (Allen Lane Canada/Penguin Random House Canada)
- Disorientation: Being Black in the World by Ian Williams (Random House Canada/Penguin Random House Canada)
Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize
- NISHGA by Jordan Abel (McClelland & Stewart)
- Luschiim’s Plants: Traditional Indigenous Foods, Materials and Medicine by Dr. Luschiim Arvid Charlie and Nancy J. Turner (Harbour Publishing)
- Where the Power Is: Indigenous Perspectives on Northwest Coast Art by Karen Duffek, Bill McLennan, and Jordan Wilson, in collaboration with the Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia (Figure 1 Publishing)
- Possessing Meares Island: A Historian’s Journey into the Past of Clayoquot Sound by Barry Gough (Harbour Publishing)
- Monster Child by Rahela Nayebzadah (Wolsak & Wynn)
Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize
- Antonyms for Daughter by Jenny Boychuk (Véhicule Press)
- No Shelter by Henry Doyle (Anvil Press)
- blue gait by shauna paull (Mother Tongue Publishing)
- Ghosthawk by Matt Rader (Nightwood Editions)
- Pebble Swing by Isabella Wang (Nightwood Editions)
Jim Deva Prize for Writing That Provokes
- Spílexm: A Weaving of Recovery, Resilience, and Resurgence by Nicola I. Campbell (HighWater Press/Portage & Main Press)
- Dog Flowers, by Danielle Geller (One World/Penguin Random House Canada)
- Peyakow: Reclaiming Cree Dignity by Darrel J. McLeod (Douglas & McIntyre)
- Testimonio: Canadian Mining in the Aftermath of Genocides in Guatemala by Catherine Nolin and Grahame Russell, eds. (Between the Lines)
- Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism by Harsha Walia (Fernwood Publishing)
Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize
- Long Distance by Whitney Gardner (Simon & Schuster for Young Readers)
- The Secret Fawn by Kallie George and Elly McKay (ill.) (Tundra Books/Penguin Random House Canada)
- The Midnight Club by Shane Goth and Yong Ling Kang (ill.) (OwlKids)
- Time is a Flower by Julie Morstad (Tundra Books/Penguin Random House Canada)
- On the Trapline by David A. Robertson, Julie Flett (ill.) (Tundra Books/Penguin Random House Canada)
Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize
- Peter Lee’s Notes from the Field by Angela Ahn and Julie Kwon (ill.) (Tundra Books)
- A Soft Place to Fall by Tanya Christenson (Red Deer Press)
- Dear Peter, Dear Ulla by Barbara Nickel (Thistledown Press)
- Boy from Buchenwald: The True Story of a Holocaust Survivor by Robbie Waisman with Susan McClelland (Bloomsbury/Raincoast Books)
- Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (Penguin Teen/Penguin Random House)
Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award
- Luschiim’s Plants: Traditional Indigenous Foods, Materials and Medicine by Dr. Luschiim Arvid Charlie and Nancy J. Turner (Harbour Publishing)
- Island Eats: Signature Chefs’ Recipes from Vancouver Island and the Salish Sea by Dawn Postnikoff and Joanne Sasvari (Figure 1 Publishing)
- Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard (Allen Lane Canada/Penguin Random House)
- A is for Anemone: A First West Coast Alphabet by Roy Henry Vickers and Robert “Lucky” Budd (Harbour Publishing)
- A Lethal Lesson: A Lane Winslow Mystery by Iona Whishaw (TouchWood Editions)
