Stephen Reid, a writer and convicted bank robber, is a finalist for the $5,000 City of Victoria Butler Book Prize.
Reid is cited for A Crowbar in the Buddhist Garden: Writing From Prison, published by Thistledown Press. The non-fiction memoir is a collection of stories about Reid’s life in prison. These include reminiscences about his 1999 bank robbery in Victoria, for which he’s serving an 18-year sentence at William Head Institution.
Reid’s wife, author Susan Musgrave, said she was “really happy” for her husband.
Musgrave hopes that Reid will be paroled in time for Christmas.
Reid spent eight weeks on day parole this summer to attend a substance abuse program at the downtown Salvation Army.
He was a member of the infamous Stopwatch Gang which used stopwatches in the 1970s and ’80s to carry out about 100 bank robberies.
The list of Butler prize finalists also includes: Psychology and Other Stories by C.P. Boyko; The Book of Marvels: A Compendium of Everyday Things by Lorna Crozier; The World by Bill Gaston; and The Life and Art of Ina D.D. Uhthoff by Christina Johnson-Dean.
Finalists for the $5,000 Bolen Books Children’s Book Prize were also announced: Three Little Words by Sarah N. Harvey; One Year in Coal Harbour by Polly Horvath and And Nothing But the Truth by Kit Pearson.
The winners of each prize will be revealed at a public event at the Union Club on Oct. 16. Tickets are $15 and are available at Bolen Books, Ivy’s Bookshop, Munro’s Book and from the Victoria Book Prize Society at 250-595-8430.
