2017 Alberta Literary Awards Gala

THE 2017 ALBERTA LITERARY AWARDS SHORTLIST

The Writers’ Guild of Alberta is excited to announce the finalists for the 2017 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 June 10, 2017 in the Lister Centre at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

The WGA would like to send their congratulations to those who have been placed on this year’s Alberta Literary Awards shortlists!

Our juries deliberated on more than 220 submissions to select the following 24 finalists in eight categories. Finalists represent excellence in literary work written by Alberta authors and published or created in 2016. We encourage you to check out these fantastic titles!

The 2017 Alberta Literary Awards Shortlist:

R. Ross Annett Award for Children’s Literature (Picture Books) – Sponsored by the Under the Arch Foundation at The Calgary Foundation

• Paige Feurer (Calgary) – And Then It Rained on Malcolm, Sky Pony Press
• Georgia Graham (Lacombe) – Cub’s Journey Home, Red Deer Press
• Alison Hughes (Edmonton) – What Matters, Orca Book Publishers

James H. Gray Award for Short Nonfiction – Supported by Tony Johnson

• Austen Lee (Edmonton) – “Among Cougars and Men,” Glass Buffalo
• Omar Mouallem (Edmonton) – “Welcoming Omar Khadr,” University Affairs
• Shelley Youngblut (Calgary) – “House of Cards,” The Walrus

Howard O’Hagan Award for Short Story – Supported by Vanna Tessier and Guy Tessier

• Laurie MacFayden (Edmonton) – “Haircut,” Alberta Views
• Gisèle Villeneuve (Calgary) – “Nuit Blanche with Gendarme,” University of Alberta Press
• Thomas Wharton (Edmonton) – “Bestiary,” Hingston & Olsen

Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry – Sponsored by Stephan V. Benediktson

• Nora Gould (Consort/Edmonton) – Selah, Brick Books
• Helen Hajnoczky (Calgary) – Magyarázni, Coach House Books
• Richard Harrison (Calgary) – On Not Losing My Father’s Ashes in the Flood, Wolsak and Wynn

Jon Whyte Memorial Essay Award

• Rona Altrows (Calgary) – “Letter of Intent”
• Mary Graham (Calgary) – “The Plight, and the Power, of the Stoney Nakoda”
• Lee Kvern (Okotoks) – “Heavy Weight for Silence”

Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for Drama – Sponsored by Alberta Views

• Ellen Close & Braden Griffiths (Calgary) – My Family & Other Endangered Species
• Mieko Ouchi (Edmonton) – I Am For You
• Vern Thiessen (Edmonton) – Of Human Bondage

Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Nonfiction

• Marty Klinkenberg (Edmonton) – The McDavid Effect: Connor McDavid and the New Hope for Hockey, Simon & Schuster Canada
• Myrna Kostash (Edmonton) – The Seven Oaks Reader, NeWest Press
• Sydney Sharpe & Don Braid (Calgary) – Notley Nation, Dundurn Press

Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction – Sponsored by the Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity

• Lauralyn Chow (Calgary) – Paper Teeth, NeWest Press
• Lisa J. Lawrence (Edmonton) – Rodent, Orca
• Gisèle Villeneuve (Calgary) – Rising Abruptly, University of Alberta Press

The Writers’ Guild of Alberta gratefully acknowledges the supporters and sponsors of our 2017 Alberta Literary Awards:

Sponsors:

• Alberta Views
• Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
• Stephan V. Benediktson
• Under the Arch Youth Foundation

Supporters:

• Tony Johnson
• Vanna Tessier and Guy Tessier
• WGA Board of Directors