The Writers’ Guild of Alberta is thrilled to announce the finalists for the 2015 Alberta Literary Awards! Each year, the Alberta Literary Awards recognize and celebrate the highest standards of literary excellence from Alberta authors. Winners will be announced and awards presented at the Alberta Literary Awards Gala on May 23, 2015 at the Chateau Lacombe Hotel (10111 Bellamy Hill Road, Edmonton). The celebration will also take place alongside the 2015 Words in 3 Dimensions Conference. The Writers’ Guild of Alberta would like to send their congratulations to those who have been placed on this year’s Alberta Literary Awards shortlist.
Our awards jurors have deliberated on more than 150 submissions to select 24 finalists in eight categories. Finalists represent excellence in literary work written by Alberta authors and published or created in 2014. We encourage you to check out these fantastic titles:
Ross Annett Award for Children’s Literature (Supported by UTA Youth Foundation Fund at the Calgary Foundation)
- Victor Lethbridge (Rolling Hills) – You’re Just Right, Tatanka Books
- Leanne Shirtliffe (Calgary) – The Change Your Name Store, Sky Pony Press
- Richard Van Camp (Edmonton) – Little You, Orca Book Publishers
James H. Gray Award for Short Nonfiction (Supported by Tony Johnson)
- Susan Hagan (Edmonton) – “Manuals on Being Woman,” WestWord
- Bobbi Junior (Edmonton) – “Tell Me About Today,” Telling Truths: Storying Motherhood
- Chris Turner (Calgary) – “Owen’s Ark,” The Walrus
Howard O’Hagan Award for Short Story (Supported by Vanna Tessier and Guy Tessier)
- Katie Bickell (Sherwood Park) – “But For the Streetlamps and the Moon and All the Stars,” Tahoma Literary Review
- Lee Kvern (Okotoks) – “High Ground,” Enfield & Wizenty
- Sheryl Normandeau (Calgary) – “Early Retirement,” Pages of Stories
Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry (Sponsored by Stephan V. Benediktson)
- Tim Bowling (Edmonton) – Circa Nineteen Hundred and Grief, Gaspereau Press
- Sarah Lang (Edmonton) – For Tamara, House of Anansi Press
- Sharanpal Ruprai (Calgary) – Seva, Frontenac House
Jon Whyte Memorial Essay Award (Sponsored by Members of the Writers’ Guild of Alberta Board of Directors)
- Ali Bryan (Calgary) – “Mints After the Meal”
- Jennifer Delisle (Edmonton) – “Micrographia”
- Kim McCullough (Calgary) – “Tributaries”
Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for Drama (Sponsored by Alberta Views)
- Cheryl Foggo (Calgary) – John Ware Reimagined
- Conni Massing (Edmonton) – The Invention of Romance
- David van Belle (Calgary) – Liberation Days
Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Nonfiction (Supported In Memory of Ed Marshall)
- Ted Bishop (Edmonton) – The Social Life of Ink: Culture, Wonder, and Our Relationship with the Written Word, Viking Canada
- Lynette Loeppky (Calgary) – Cease: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Desire, Oolichan Books
- Chris Turner (Calgary) – How to Breathe Underwater: Field Reports from an Age of Radical Change, Biblioasis
Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction (Sponsored by The Banff Centre)
- Wendy McGrath (Edmonton) – North East, NeWest Press
- Fred Stenson (Cochrane) – Who by Fire, Doubleday Canada
- Rudy Wiebe (Edmonton) – Come Back, Knopf Canada
Golden Pen Award (Supported by Aritha van Herk)
- The recipient of this year’s Golden Pen Award is Betty Jane Hegerat
Read about the Alberta Literary Awards shortlisted authors here.
The Writers’ Guild of Alberta gratefully acknowledges the supporters and sponsors of our 2015 Alberta Literary Awards:
Sponsors:
Stephan V. Benediktson Writers’ Guild of Alberta Board of Directors
Supporters:
- In Memory of Ed Marshall
- Tony Johnson
- Vanna and Guy Tessier
- UTA Youth Foundation Fund at the Calgary Foundation
- Aritha van Herk