Bill Gaston and Monique Gray Smith were the big winners at the 15th annual Victoria Book Prize gala at the Union Club on Wednesday night.
Gaston won the Victoria Butler Book Prize for his short story collection, A Mariner’s Guide to Self-Sabotage.
Gray Smith took the Bolen Books Children’s Book Prize for Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation.
The authors each received $5,000.
The Victoria Book Prize Society and the City of Victoria said in a statement that Gaston’s stories showcased his “range and narrative versatility, moving seamlessly from the funny to the poignant to the surprising and absurd.”
The author of seven novels and six short story collections, Gaston last won the prize in 2007 for Gargoyles, which was short-listed for the Governor General’s Literary Award and the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize.
Gray Smith’s winning work explores the meaning of reconciliation.
“Readers will learn about the lives of residential school survivors and listen to allies who are putting the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into action,” the statement said.
Her first novel, Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience, won the 2014 Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature.
The City of Victoria Butler Book Prize was established in 2004 as a partnership between the City of Victoria and Brian Butler of Butler Brothers Supplies.
Mel Bolen founded the Bolen Books Children’s Book Prize in 2008 to recognize authors and illustrators of books for children and youth.
