Victoria Book Prize winners were announced Sunday during a Victoria Festival of Authors gala, with writers Briony Penn and Leslie Gentile each receiving $5,000 for their efforts.
Penn took home the Butler Book Prize for her biography of Cecil Paul, Following the Good River, The Life and Times of Wa’xaid, which she co-authored with Paul. Gentile won the City of Victoria Children’s Book Prize for Elvis, Me and the Lemonade Stand Summer.
The 18th annual event, held at the Metro Theatre, was hosted by CBC’s Gregor Craigie.
The Butler Book Prize honours the best fiction, non-fiction, or poetry book within the city during the past year, while the City of Victoria Children’s Book Prize is awarded to a Greater Victoria author or illustrator for the best children’s book in the same time period.
For more information, visit victoriabookprizes.ca.
mdevlin@timescolonist.com
