Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Strong roster of local authors competing for the B.C. Yukon Book Prizes in September

Victoria-Galiano writer Cedar Bowers among contenders
web1_cedar-bowers
Cedar Bowers, who splits her time between Galiano Island and Victoria, is competing for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, which is awarded to the author of the best work of literary fiction. Credit ASTRA

Nominees in eight categories at the BC and Yukon Book Prizes were announced Wednesday, with 11 writers from the Vancouver Island area in contention at the 38th annual event in September.

Cedar Bowers, who splits her time between Galiano Island and Victoria, is the lone local nominee competing for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, which is awarded to the author of the best work of literary fiction. Bowers in nominated for the critically-acclaimed Astra, which also drew a Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist nomination in 2021.

Other categories are more congested. Danielle Geller (Victoria) and Darrel J. McLeod (Sooke) are both vying for the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize, awarded to the author of the best original non-fiction literary work. Geller and McLeod are also nominated for the Jim Deva Prize for Writing That Provokes, which is presented to a book that challenges or provokes ideas and forces that shape what writing, art, and/or society can become.

Dr. Luschiim Arvid Charlie (Cowichan) and Nancy J. Turner (Nanaimo) are in the running against Barry Gough (Victoria) for the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize, which recognizes the author(s) of the book that contributes most to the enjoyment and understanding of British Columbia and Yukon.

Charlie and Turner also drew a nod for the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award, which is presented to the originating publisher and author(s) of the best book in terms of public appeal, initiative, design, production, and content. Dawn Postnikoff (Courtenay), Roy Henry Vickers (Victoria), and Robert Lucky Budd (Victoria) are also competing in the same category.

Jenny Boychuk (Victoria) is a nominee for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize, while Whitney Gardner (Victoria) is up for the Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize.

The awards will be given out Sept. 24 during a gala at the University Golf Club in Vancouver hosted by Jillian Christmas. The winners of each award receive a cash prize of $3,000, plus a certificate.

For the full list of nominees, visit bcyukonbookprizes.com.

mdevlin@timescolonist.com