Victoria writers Yasuko Thanh and Bill Gaston are shortlisted for the top fiction award at the B.C. Book Prizes.
Thanh is shortlisted for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize for her short story collection Floating Like the Dead, while Gaston received the nod for his novel The World.
Also shortlisted: Victoria resident C.P. Boyko for Psychology and Other Stories, Anne Fleming for Gay Dwarves of America and Anakana Schofield for Malarky.
Victoria poet Patricia Young is also shortlisted for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize for her collection Night-Eater. Also shortlisted: Colin Browne, The Properties; Sarah de Leeuw, Geographies of a Lover; Roger Farr, IKMQ; and Evelyn Lau, A Grain of Rice.
The shortlist for best non-fiction literary work (the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize) includes: Luanne Armstrong, The Light Through the Trees: Reflections on Land and Farming; George Bowering, Pinboy; Sandra Djwa, Journey with No Maps: A Life of P.K. Page; Geoff Meggs and Rod Mickleburgh, The Art of the Impossible: Dave Barrett and the NDP in Power, 1972-75; Carol Shaben, In the Abyss: How a Deadly Plane Crash Changed the Lives of a Pilot, a Politician, a Criminal and a Cop.
The shortlist for the Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize is: Hey Canada! by Vivien Bowers, illustrated by Milan Pavlovic; Rainbow Shoes by Tiffany Stone, illustrated by Stefan Czernecki; Gift Days by Kari-Lynn Winters, illustrated by Stephen Taylor; What’s Up Bear?: A Book About Opposites by Frieda Wishinsky, illustrated by Sean L. Moore; and Maggie’s Chopsticks by Alan Wood, illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant.
The shortlist for the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize is: Caroline Adderson, Middle of Nowhere; Rachel Hartman, Seraphina; John Lekich, The Prisoner of Snowflake Falls; Victoria Miles, Mimi Power and the I-Don’t-Know-What; and Susin Nielsen, The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen.
The shortlist for the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award is: Jackson Davies and Marc Strange, Bruno and the Beach: The Beachcombers at 40; Shelley Fralic, Making Headlines: 100 Years of The Vancouver Sun; Daniel Francis, Trucking in British Columbia: A New Historical Atlas; and Harold Kalman and Robin Ward, Exploring Vancouver: The Architectural Guide.
Winners will be announced May 4 at the Lieutenant Governor’s B.C. Book Prizes Gala at Government House. For more information, visit bcbookprizes.ca.
