The Writers’ Guild of Alberta is pleased to reveal the winners of the 2017 Alberta Literary Awards. More than 100 guests attended the 2017 Alberta Literary Awards Gala, part of the Writers’ Guild of Alberta’s 2017 Edmonton Conference, Juxtapositions.
This celebration marked the 35th anniversary of the Alberta Literary Awards and brought together writers from across Alberta.
The Alberta Literary Awards were created by the Writers’ Guild of Alberta in 1982 to recognize excellence in writing by Alberta authors. This year, jurors deliberated over 250 submissions to select 25 finalists in eight categories.
The Writers’ Guild of Alberta is the largest provincial writers’ organization in Canada, and was formed in 1980 to provide a meeting ground and collective voice for the writers of the province. Our mission is to inspire, connect, support, encourage, and promote writers and writing, to safeguard the freedom to write and to read, and to advocate for the well-being of writers.
Congratulations to all of this year’s winners!
2017 Alberta Literary Award Winners
R. Ross Annett Award for Children’s Literature (Sponsored by the Under the Arch Youth Foundation)
Georgia Graham (Lacombe) – Cub’s Journey Home, Red Deer Press
Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction (Sponsored by the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity)
Gisèle Villeneuve (Calgary) – Rising Abruptly, University of Alberta Press
Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Nonfiction
Sydney Sharpe and Don Braid (Calgary) – Notley Nation: How Alberta’s Political Upheaval Swept the Country, Dundurn Press
Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for Drama (Sponsored by Alberta Views)
Vern Thiessen (Edmonton) – Of Human Bondage, Playwrights Canada Press
Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry (Sponsored by Stephan V. Benediktson)
Richard Harrison (Calgary) – On Not Losing My Father’s Ashes in the Flood, Wolsak and Wynn
James H. Gray Award for Short Nonfiction (Supported by Tony Johnson)
Austen Lee (Edmonton) – “Among Cougars and Men,” Glass Buffalo
Howard O’Hagan Award for Short Story (Supported by Vanna Tessier and Guy Tessier)
Laurie MacFayden (Edmonton) – “Haircut,” Alberta Views
Jon Whyte Memorial Essay Award (Supported by The Writers’ Guild of Alberta Board of Directors)
Rona Altrows (Calgary) – “Letter of Intent”
WGA Golden Pen Award for Lifetime Achievement (Supported by Aritha van Herk)
Candas Jane Dorsey
Youth/Emerging Writing Contest (Supported by Nicole Duley)
Katie Bickell – “Angels in the Snow”
The WGA is also grateful to the following organizations for their support of the 2016 Alberta Literary Awards!
