Sask. historian Bill Waiser wins Governor General's Literary Award
Waiser wins non-fiction prize for A World We Have Lost: Saskatchewan Before 1905
A well-known Saskatoon historian has won top honours in a national literary contest.
Bill Waiser has won this year's Governor General's Literary Award for non-fiction for his new book, A World We Have Lost: Saskatchewan Before 1905.
The book takes a long view of the province's history, and looks at the land through an Indigenous and environmental lens, starting with how glaciers shaped the terrain, and following the story through European contact.
- Governor General's Literary Award Winners
- Sask. authors Harold R. Johnson and Bill Waiser finalists for Governor General's Literary Awards
Waiser said writing the book was challenging, considering the huge amount of sources he had to pore over, such as Indigenous stories, archaeology, anthropology and scientific studies.
In 1997, Waiser was nominated for his book Loyal till Death: Indians and the North-West Rebellion, co-written by historian Blair Stonechild.
This year, another Saskatchewan author, Harold Johnson, was also nominated for his non-fiction book Firewater: How Alcohol is Killing my People (And Yours).
Finally, Catherine Ego won this year's Governor General's Literary Award for her translation of James Daschuk's Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life.