Golden Pen Nomination Form

Ellen Kartz
October 11, 2022

Jon Whyte Memorial Essay Award

This award was established in 1992 in honour of Jon Whyte, a much-respected writer, historian and community leader in Alberta. He was a poet, storyteller, journalist, curator and conservationist. A passionate master of the English language, Whyte was deeply committed to writing about, researching and advocating for the area in which he grew up – the Rockies around Banff – and its culture and natural history. He wrote or contributed to more than 20 books on the Rockies, and his poetry collection Homage, Henry Kelsey was the inaugural recipient of the WGA’s Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry.

Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Nonfiction

This award was established in 1982 in honour of Wilfrid Eggleston (1901-1986). Eggleston’s family homesteaded near Manyberries, AB in 1909. He was a teacher with the Golden Prairie School District and later attended Queen’s University and became a journalist. His career included jobs with the Toronto Daily Star and the Reuters News Agency. He headed the school of journalism at Carleton University and was awarded the Order of the Empire in 1943. In addition to his career as a journalist, Eggleston published several non-fiction works, including his memoir Literary Friends (1980).

Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry

This award was established in 1982 in honour of Stephan G. Stephansson (1853-1927) who immigrated to Alberta and homesteaded near Markerville at the age of 36. He was considered the voice of the Icelandic immigrant community and his poetry expressed the alienation and loneliness felt by many who found themselves belonging neither to their homeland nor their newly adopted country. Considered Iceland’s greatest poet since the 13th century, he was an avid reader, an ardent pacifist and a philosopher. By 1923, five volumes of his poems had been published and a sixth was published posthumously.

R. Ross Annett Award for Children’s Literature

This award was established in 1982 in honour of children’s author Ronald Ross Annett (1895-1988). Annett is best known for his Babe and Joe series of more than 70 stories in the Saturday Evening Post. His Especially Babe stories, set in Jenner, AB, were collected into a book in 1942 and reprinted by Treefrog Press in 1978. George Melnyk, in The Literary History of Alberta, comments that Annett’s stories dealt with “a family trying to make ends meet on a Depression farm. The stories had simple, homely dialogue and happy endings, comforting words for such uncertain times.”

James H. Gray Award for Short Nonfiction

The James H. Gray Award for Short Nonfiction was established in 2010 in honour of Dr. James H. Gray (1906 – 1998) whose first book, The Winter Years was published when he was 66 years old. He then went on to write a dozen more books including Red Lights on the Prairies and Men Against the Desert, all of which profiled Western Canadian experiences and history. After 12 years as an Ottawa senior correspondent for the Winnipeg Free Press he then became the Editor of the Calgary-based Farm and Ranch Review, and later of the Western Oil Examiner. James H. Gray was inducted into the Alberta Order of Excellence in 1987 and the Order of Canada in 1988.

Howard O’Hagan Award for Short Story

This award was established in 1982 in honour of accomplished short story writer Howard O’Hagan (1902-1982). O’Hagan was born in Lethbridge and educated in law at McGill University. He was known as a mountain guide, and lived in Australia, England, the US, and the Alberta Rockies. He authored two novels and two books of short stories. Michael Ondaatje writes that “Howard O’Hagan’s Tay John was one of the first novels to chart important motifs that have become crucial to the work of later western writers.”

Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for Drama

This award was established in 1985 in honour of Gwen Pharis Ringwood (1910-1984). Ringwood was born in Washington State in 1910 and moved with her family to a farm near Lethbridge in 1913. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the U of A in 1939 and was appointed the registrar of the Banff School of Fine Arts. Her first published play, Still Stands the House, published in 1939, was the most performed one-act play in Canadian theatre. Ringwood was honoured for her achievement with honourary doctorates from both the University of Lethbridge and the University of Victoria and the Governor General’s Medal for outstanding service in the development of Canadian drama.

George Bugnet Award for Fiction

This award was established in 1982 in honour of novelist Georges Bugnet (1879-1981), who immigrated to Canada and homesteaded near Gunn, AB in 1905. Bugnet attended the Sorbonne in Paris, served in the French army and worked as an editor. He was also a botanist, researcher, poet, science fiction writer and novelist. At age 100, Bugnet was awarded a honourary doctorate from the University of Alberta.

Golden Pen Award

The Writers’ Guild of Alberta’s Golden Pen Award is presented to acknowledge the lifetime achievements of outstanding Alberta writers. Past recipients include W.O. Mitchell, Grant MacEwan, Rudy Wiebe, Myrna Kostash, Robert Kroetsch, Merna Summers, Aritha van Herk, Fred Stenson, and George Melnyk.

The City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize

The City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize is awarded in honour of acclaimed Calgary writer W.O. Mitchell. The prize was established in 1996 and is administered by the Writers’ Guild of Alberta. The $5000 prize is awarded annually for an outstanding book of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, children’s literature or drama published in the preceding year.

The Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize

The Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize was established by the City Council in 1995 and is administered by the Writers’ Guild of Alberta. The award was named to honour the late Robert Kroetsch. Entries must deal with some aspect of the city of Edmonton: history, geography, current affairs, its arts or its people or be written by an Edmonton author. Entries may be fiction, nonfiction, poetry or drama written for adults or children, published in the preceding year. The winning author will receive a prize of $10,000. The prize is sponsored by Audreys Books and the Edmonton Arts Council.

The Alberta Screenwriters Initiative

The Alberta Screenwriters Initiative calls for submissions of feature film scripts of any genre from Alberta writers. An independent jury selects one script/screenplay to receive a workshop with an experienced story editor or screenwriter. The Writers’ Guild of Alberta administers the initiative on behalf of the Alberta Association of Motion Picture and Television Unions (AAMPTU). The initiative recognizes the importance of story in the creation of filmed entertainment and the necessity to actively encourage and develop the voices of Alberta writers in film and television.

The Sharon Drummond Chapbook Prize

Established in 2013 in memory of Calgary poet Sharon Drummond, this award recognizes adult Alberta writers who have not yet published a poetry collection. The winner receives a contract with Rubicon Press, including editorial assistance and publication of the edited chapbook. Sharon Drummond lived in Calgary from 1976 until her death in 2005. Her 1999 chapbook, Still the Rush, was nominated for the Milton Acorn People’s Poetry Award. Her first full-length book, Into This Room, was published in 2001. Her final book, Where it Began, was published posthumously in 2006.

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The Writers’ Guild of Alberta administers the annual Alberta Literary Awards every year to recognize outstanding Alberta writing. We also administer several additional awards throughout the year. Visit each award’s page below for more information and submission guidelines.

View past shortlists and winners.

Alberta Literary Awards

If you are interested in serving on the Board of Directors, please see our Board Recruitment Brochure for more information. For a breakdown of the time and financial commitments required of WGA Board members, click here.

The Writers’ Guild of Alberta is pleased to announce the winners of the 2022 Alberta Literary Awards and the Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize. This year’s award winners were announced at and in-person gala in Edmonton on June 11th. The City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize was presented at The Calgary Awards on June 15th.

This celebration marks the 40th 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.

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 read, and to advocate for the well-being of writers.

For more information, please contact the Writers’ Guild of Alberta by email at [email protected].

Our juries deliberated on more than 300 submissions to select winners in the following categories. Finalists represent excellence in literary work written by Alberta authors and published or created in 2020-21.

Deadline: The 2022 awards are now closed to submissions.

2022 Alberta Literary Award Winners

R. Ross Annett Award for Children’s Literature

(Sponsored by the Under the Arch Youth Foundation at The Calgary Foundation)

Lorna Schultz Nicholson (Edmonton) – When You Least Expect It, Red Deer Press

James H. Gray Award for Short Nonfiction

Supported by Marilyn and Bob Stallworthy)

Lisa Martin (Edmonton) – “The Wounded Man,” The New Quarterly

Howard O’Hagan Award for Short Story

(Supported by the Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society)

Rod Moody-Corbett (Lethbridge) – “Malady Head,” Soft Punk Magazine

Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry

(Sponsored by Stephan V. Benediktson)

Rayanne Haines (Edmonton) – Tell the birds your body is not a gun, Frontenac House

Jon Whyte Memorial Essay Award

(Supported by the Haynes Family – In Memory of Dr. Sterling Haynes)

Jessica Waite (Calgary) – “In Defense of Grief”

Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for Drama

David van Belle (Edmonton) – Love is Magic

Memoir Award

(Supported by Vivian Hansen)

Trina Moyles (Peace River) – Lookout: Love, Solitude, and Searching for Wildfire in the Boreal Forest, Random House Canada

Short Story Collection Award

Lori Hahnel (Calgary) – Vermin, Enfield & Wizenty

Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Nonfiction

Omar Mouallem (Edmonton) – Praying to the West: How Muslims Shaped the Americas, Simon & Schuster

Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction

Theresa Shea (Edmonton) – The Shade Tree, Guernica Editions

Visit our FAQ page here

Awards Background

The Alberta Literary Awards were created by the Writers’ Guild of Alberta in 1982 to recognize excellence in writing by Alberta authors. Entries are judged by an independent jury recruited by the WGA. Submissions are evaluated on originality, creativity, and quality of writing, as well as appropriate fit within a category.

Golden Pen Award

The Writers’ Guild of Alberta Golden Pen Award is presented to acknowledge the lifetime achievements of outstanding Alberta writers. Past recipients are W. O. Mitchell, Grant MacEwan, Rudy Wiebe, Myrna Kostash, Robert Kroetsch, Merna Summers, Aritha van Herk, Fred Stenson, George Melnyk, Alice Major, Betty Jane Hegerat, Greg Hollingshead, Cecelia Frey, Bob Stallworthy, and Vivian Hansen.

Deadline: Nominations are now closed

The 2022 recipient is Chris Wiseman

Dr. Chris Wiseman came to Alberta and Canada in 1969 to teach English at the University of Calgary. Early in his career at the university, he established the Creative Writing section of the English department. He went on to teach Creative Writing at all levels from first year to graduate until his retirement.

A writer/poet himself, Chris came to the University of Calgary with a PhD from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland and with three years under his belt from the Iowa writers workshop. Soon after arriving in Calgary he realized that the writing community was very small and had little prominence in community life. Among the things he did to increase the profile of writers in the community was to advocate for writers with government agencies, including sitting on literary juries for the Canada Council for the Arts, Alberta Foundation for the Literary Arts and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and promote the creation of public poetry readings within the Calgary community. In 1980, he became the founding Vice President of the Writers’ Guild of Alberta. Three years later, he took on the role of President of the Guild.

He has published 11 books of poetry, written numerous academic articles and papers, and supervised many graduate students and their work. The result is well over 100 books being produced by both graduate and undergraduate students over the years. Amongst those students, three of them went on to receive Governor General Awards and three more have been shortlisted for the same award.

Chris has received numerous awards for his work, as well. He received a Teaching Excellence Award from the Student Union at the University of Calgary. He has also received the Alberta Culture’s Best Book Award twice; a Hawthorn Fellowship; won the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry once and was shortlisted once; received an Alberta Achievement Award; won The City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize; been presented with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, and was also presented with the Order of Canada.

The 2022 Golden Pen Award will be presented to Chris at an in-person event in Calgary later in the year.

(Bio by Bob Stallworthy)

Supported by Aritha van Herk.

WGA Golden Pen Award Past Recipients

The Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize

The Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize was established by the City Council in 1995 and is administered by the Writers’ Guild of Alberta. The prize was renamed in 2011 after the late Robert Kroetsch, who was best known for his Governor General’s Award-winning novel, The Studhorse Man. Entries are judged by an independent jury recruited by the Writers’ Guild of Alberta. The winning author will receive a $10,000 cash prize. The award is sponsored by Audreys Books, the Edmonton Arts Council and the City of Edmonton. The winner was announced and the prize awarded in the spring of 2022.

The winner for the 2022 City of Edmonton Book Prize was Glen Huser Burning the Night, NeWest Press. Also on the 2022 list of finalists was Trina Moyles, Lookout: Love, Solitude, and Searching for Wildfire in the Boreal Forest (Random House Canada) and Premee Mohamed, The Annual Migration of Clouds (ECW Press).

Deadline: This award is now closed to submissions

Read 2022 submission guidelines

Visit ou r FAQ page

The City of Edmonton Book Prize Past Finalists

The City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize

The City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize is awarded in honour of acclaimed Calgary writer W.O. Mitchell and recognizes literary achievement by Calgary authors. The prize was established in 1996 and is coordinated through a partnership between The City of Calgary and the Writers’ Guild of Alberta. The $5,000 prize is awarded annually for an outstanding book of fiction, poetry, non-fiction, children’s literature, or drama published in the preceding year. Entries are judged by an independent jury recruited by the Writers’ Guild of Alberta. Authors who have been shortlisted had the opportunity to delivery a reading in mid-April. The prize was announced with The Calgary Awards presentation in June 2022.

The 2020 W.O. Mitchell Book Prize was presented to Jaspreet Singh for My Mother, My Translator (Vehicule Press). Also on the shortlist were Julie Sedivy for Memory Speaks: On Losing and Reclaiming Language and Self (Harvard University Press) and Neil Surkan for Unbecoming (McGill-Queen’s University Press). For more information, please visit calgary.ca/ca/city-clerks/citizen-recognition-protocol/calgary-awards/calgary-awards.html.

Deadline: This award is now closed to submissions

Read 2022 submission guidelines

Visit our FAQ page

The City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize Past Finalists

Kemosa Scholarship for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Mothers Who Write

The Writers’ Guild of Alberta and Nhung Tran-Davies are happy to announce the launch of the 5th Annual Kemosa Scholarship for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Mothers Who Write! Author Jeananne Kirwin is back again this year to share the vision of effecting positive changes in our community through stories. Because of the generosity of our sponsors, we will award three scholarships this year: 1st place $3000, 2nd place $2000, 3rd place $1000. We are so happy to welcome back Tlicho Dene author Richard Van Camp and introduce Jacqueline Guest as this year’s judges! Deadline: This scholarship is now closed to submissions

Submission Guidelines

If you are an emerging First Nations, Métis or Inuit writer and mother living in Alberta and are interested in applying for the Kemosa Scholarship, please send the following to [email protected]

A sample of your writing (no more than 15 pages) — either prose, poetry, nonfiction, fiction and/or illustrated literature, e.g. graphic novel, comic, etc.
A cover letter describing why the scholarship is important for you.
Previous entrants may resubmit, as long as you have not won a scholarship within 24 months.
The deadline for scholarship submission is December 17, 2021. Winners will be announced in early 2022.

2021 Winners

The Writers’ Guild of Alberta and Nhung Tran-Davies announced the winners of the 4th Annual Kemosa Scholarship for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Mothers Who Write This year, there were many amazing entries for the Kemosa Scholarship, and it was a challenge for the judges to choose the winners from among them. After much thought and careful deliberation, here are this year’s recipients:

First Place ($3000): Sierra Roberts
Second Place ($2000): Teresa Jane Wouters
Third Place($1000): Holly Gerlach
Honourable Mention: Melissa Caillou

For more information or media inquiries, please contact us at [email protected]. Meet the Winners

Sponsors & Donors

We are so grateful to the Co-Sponsors:

Nhung N Tran-Davies As a Vietnamese immigrant to Canada, I am fascinated by the stories of this land and its people. In 2017, after speaking with renowned author Richard Van Camp and learning more about the struggles of Indigenous women, I was moved to found the Kemosa Scholarship for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Mothers Who Write. As a writer and mother of three young children, I know how difficult it is to find time to write. Financial constraints can make this time even more difficult. Fortunately, I also work as a physician and therefore, I felt that I, in some way, could help my fellow aspiring writers focus on their creativity, to help give voice to Indigenous mothers who write.

Jeananne Kathol Kirwin Jeananne Kathol Kirwin lives in Edmonton, Alberta with her husband and four children. Although she is a practicing lawyer and erstwhile sailor, her childhood dream to become a writer was rekindled during the sailing sabbatical that is the subject of her book Greetings from Cool Breezes/A Family’s Year Aboard (Borealis Press, 2005). That book won the Canadian Authors Association – Alberta Branch Exporting Alberta Award in 2006.