Bertrand Bickersteth and Will Ferguson among writers shortlisted for 2021 Alberta Literary Awards
Bertrand Bickersteth and Will Ferguson are among the writers shortlisted for the 2020 Alberta Literary Awards and Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize.
The Alberta Literary Awards, the Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize and the City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize, all administered by the Writers' Guild of Alberta, annually recognize the best in literary works by Alberta authors.
The Alberta Literary Awards highlight works in eight categories, including children's literature, short nonfiction, short story, poetry, essay, drama, nonfiction and fiction.
Bickersteth is nominated for the City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize and Stephan G. Stephansson Award for his poetry collection The Response of Weeds.
"Storied soil" is the phrase Bertrand Bickersteth uses to describe his home province of Alberta in his debut poetry collection The Response of Weeds. The collection brings to life the experience of early Black settlers in Western Canada. In The Response of Weeds, Bickersteth relates stories rooted in the prairie landscape, including his own experience growing up as a Black Albertan.
Bickersteth is a poet, author and educator who was born in Sierra Leone, raised in Alberta, and has lived in the U.K. and the U.S.
Ferguson is nominated for the City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize and Georges Bugnet Award for his novel The Finder.
The Finder is an adventure novel about finding things that are lost in the world. The story takes readers to Japan, Australia and New Zealand as Interpol agent Gaddy Rhodes, photographer Tamsin Greene and travel writer Thomas Rafferty unexpectedly cross paths as they track "The Finder" — a mysterious figure who believes they can find history's lost objects, such as the missing Romanov Fabergé eggs and Muhammad Ali's Olympic gold medal.
Ferguson has written humour, travel books and fiction. He won the 2012 Scotiabank Giller Prize for his thriller 419. He has won the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour three times: for his novel Generica (now titled Happiness), his Canadian travel book Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw and his travel memoir Beyond Belfast. He currently lives in Calgary.
More than 250 titles were submitted for consideration.
You can see the full shortlists below.
The Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize is a $10,000 prize that is awarded to the best book of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, children's literature or drama published in the year prior. The finalists are:
- Like Rum-Drunk Angels by Tyler Enfield
- Nest City by Beth Sanders
- Taken by the Muse by Anne Wheeler
The City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize is a $5,000 prize that recognizes the best book in a given year written by a Calgary author. The finalists are:
- The Response of Weeds by Bertrand Bickersteth
- The Finder by Will Ferguson
- Under Shifting Stars by Alexandra Latos
The Georges Bugnet Award is a $1,500 prize that recognizes the best fiction of the year. The finalists are:
- Always Brave, Sometimes Kind by Katie Bickell
- The Finder by Will Ferguson
- And This Is The Cure by Annette Lapointe
The Stephan G. Stephansson Award is a $1,500 prize that recognizes the best poetry collection. The finalists are:
- The Response of Weeds by Bertrand Bickersteth
- Ghosts Still Linger by Kat Cameron
- I know something you don't know by Amy LeBlanc
The R. Ross Annett Award for Children's Literature is a $1,500 prize that recognizes the best picture book. The finalists are:
- The Silence Slips In by Alison Hughes, illustrated by Ninon Pelletier
- My Mommy, My Mama, My Brother, and Me by Natalie Meisner, illustrated by Mathilde Cinq-Mars
- Boxitects by Kim Smith
The Wilfrid Eggleston Award is a $1,500 prize that recognizes the best nonfiction book of the year. The finalists are:
- Relax, Dammit! by Timothy Caulfield
- One Game at a Time by Harnarayan Singh with Michael Hingston
- Storying Violence by Gina Starblanket with Dallas Hunt
The Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award is a $1,500 prize that recognizes the best drama of the year. The work can be published or produced. The finalists are:
- Everybody Loves Robbie by Ellen Chorley
- Bears by Matthew Mackenzie
- Cantata by Clem Martini
The Howard O'Hagan Award is a $700 prize that recognizes the best short fiction of the year. The finalists are:
- Andwànikàdjigan by Gabe Calderon
- Players by Lee Kvern
- Fur Hat by Stephanie Tamagi
The James H. Gray Award is a $700 prize that recognizes the best short nonfiction. The finalists are:
- The Floating Library by Tim Bowling
- January 8, 2020 by Omar Mouallem
- The Boys of Summer by Deborah Waldman
The Jon Whyte Memorial Essay Award is a $700 prize that recognizes the best unpublished essay. The finalists are:
- Meditations on Tenderness in a Time of Plague by Jannie Edwards
- Bird by Peter Midgley
- Black Diamond by Barbara Scott
