The awards in question: The Mary Scorer Award for Best Book by a Manitoba Publisher, and the Michael Van Rooy Award for Genre Fiction!

Sadly, I won’t be able to attend the awards gala, as I’m on the program at Ad Astra in Toronto that weekend, but the indomitable Samantha Beiko has agreed to be my acceptee should I be fortunate enough to be honoured.

Congrats to all the nominees, and thank you to the Manitoba Writers’ Guild and Association of Manitoba Publishers for always putting on a great night. Here’s the press release, and full list of all nominees and categories.

Write on!

WINNIPEG, April 7, 2016 – This year we are awarding accolades, some small amount of fame, and over $30 000 to Manitoba writers, illustrators/designers, and publishers through the Manitoba Book Awards.

The writing and publishing industry is thriving sector of the economy in Manitoba and the Manitoba Book Awards strives to acknowledge the wit, the art, and the profound dedication of all of those who fill our pages with “made in Manitoba” literature.

This year’s shortlists exemplify the diverse talent that exists here in Manitoba. We can see in the words and lines of each shortlisted book an illustration of local lives and stories.

Join us in honouring the literary community of Manitoba at this year’s Gala event:

Life Lines | Lignes de Vies

April 30, 7-10pm

The Radisson Hotel Downtown, Ambassador Ballroom

Tickets: $10+agency fees, available at Eventbrite.ca

Une averse printanière de prix sur la littérature manitobaine :

Dévoilement de la liste des candidats aux Prix du livre du Manitoba 2016

Winnipeg, 7 avril 2016 – Grâce aux Prix du livre du Manitoba, nous félicitons des écrivains, des illustrateurs/concepteurs et des éditeurs, nous leur offrons aussi un peu de célébrité et leur octroyons plus de 30 000 $.

Le secteur de l’édition est une part vibrante de l’économie manitobaine et les Prix du livre du Manitoba s’évertuent à faire valoir l’esprit, l’art et le profond dévouement de toutes celles et de tous ceux qui couvrent nos pages d’une littérature typique au Manitoba.

Cette année, la liste des candidats révèle la diversité des talents d’ici. Les mots et les lignes de chacun des livres sélectionnés illustrent les vies et les histoires du Manitoba.

Retrouvez-nous au Gala où nous honorerons la communauté littéraire manitobaine :

Life Lines | Lignes de Vies

Le 30 avril 2016, de 19h à 22h

Hôtel Radisson du centre-ville, salle Ambassador

Billets : 10$ + frais, disponibles à Eventbrite.ca

Manitoba Book Awards | Les Prix du livre du Manitoba

Shortlists | Les Listes de candidats sélectionnés

Lansdowne Prize for Poetry | Prix Lansdowne de poésie

• Calling Down the Sky by Rosanna Deerchild, published by BookLand Press
• Monologue Dogs by Méira Cook, published by Brick Books
• Niche by Basma Kavanagh, published by Frontenac House Poetry

Manuela Dias Book Design and Illustration Awards

Prix Manuela-Dias de conception graphique et d’illustration en édition

Design Category

• Exquisite Monsters by K.I. Press, design by Jamis Paulson, published by Turnstone Press
• The Idea of a Human Rights Museum, edited by Karen Busby, Adam Muller and Andrew Woolford, design by Jess Koroscil, published by University of Manitoba Press
• The Land We Are: Artists & Writers Unsettle the Politics of Reconciliation, edited by Gabrielle L’Hirondelle-Hill and Sophie McCall, cover design by Sébastien Aubin, interior design by Relish New Brand Experience, published by ARP Books

General Illustrated Category

• A Daytripper’s Guide to Manitoba: Exploring Canada’s Undiscovered Province by Bartley Kives, design and typography by Relish New Brand Experience, published by Great Plains Publications
• Warehouse Journal Volume 24, edited and cover design by Amanda Austin and Ainsley Johnston, published by University of Manitoba Faculty of Architecture
• Wish You Were Here: Hand-Tinted Postcards from Winnipeg’s Halcyon Days by Stan Milosevic, design and typography by Relish New Brand Experience, published by Great Plains Publications

Children’s Illustrator Category

• Alexia Wants to Fly by Talia Pura, illustrated by Wai Tien, published by Lily Star Press
• Fur Is Only Fur Deep by Julia Schettler, illustrated by Sarah Neville, published by Peasantry Press
• Misaabe’s Stories: A Story of Honesty by Katherena Vermette, illustrated by Irene Kuziw, published by Portage & Main Press

Graphic Novel Category

The Graphic Novel Category will be awarded for the first time in 2017. For the first year (2017) we will accept entries published in 2015 and 2016. In following years entries will only be accepted from the current publishing year.

Mary Scorer Award for Best Book by a Manitoba Publisher

Prix Mary-Scorer pour le meilleur livre par un éditeur du Manitoba

• After Light by Catherine Hunter, cover design by Doowah Design, published by Signature Editions
• Indigenous Men and Masculinities: Legacies, Identities, Regeneration, edited by Robert Alexander Innes and Kim Anderson, cover photo by Thosh Collins, cover design by Marvin Harder, interior design by Karen Armstrong Graphic Design, published by University of Manitoba Press
• Life Among the Qallunaat by Mini Aodla Freeman, edited and with an afterword by Keavy Martin and Julie Rak, with Norma Dunning, cover design by Mike Carroll, interior design by Jess Koroscil, published by University of Manitoba Press
• The Road to Atlantis by Leo Brent Robillard, cover design by Jamis Paulson, interior design by Sharon Caseburg, published by Turnstone Press
• Too Far Gone by Chadwick Ginther, cover design by Jamis Paulson, interior design by Sharon Caseburg, published by Ravenstone, an imprint of Turnstone Press

Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction

• After Light by Catherine Hunter, published by Signature Editions
• Last Known Whereabouts by Margaret Riddell, published by Margaret Riddell
• Lessons from a Nude Man by Donna Besel, published by Hagios Press
• Let Us Be True by Erna Buffie, published by Coteau Books
• Nightwatching by Méira Cook, published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-Fiction

Prix Alexander-Kennedy-Isbister pour les études et les essais

• Decolonizing Employment: Aboriginal Inclusion in Canada’s Labour Market by Shauna MacKinnon, published by University of Manitoba Press
• Letters to Brian: A Year of Living and Remembrance by Martha Brooks, published by Turnstone Press
• The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew, published by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Canada
• This Benevolent Experiment: Indigenous Boarding Schools, Genocide, and Redress in Canada and the United States by Andrew Woolford, published by University of Manitoba Press
• We’re Going to Run This City: Winnipeg’s Political Left after the General Strike by Stefan Epp-Koop, published by University of Manitoba Press

Beatrice Mosionier Award for Aboriginal Writer of the Year

Prix Beatrice-Mosionier pour l’écrivain.e autochtone de l’année

• Chantal Fiola (Rekindling the Sacred Fire: Métis Ancestry and Anishinaabe Spirituality, published by University of Manitoba Press)
• David Alexander Robertson (Betty: The Helen Betty Osborne Story,illustrated by Scott B Henderson, published by HighWater Press, an imprint of Portage & Main Press)
• Roland Vandal (Off the Ropes: My Story, as told to Carlene Rummery, published by J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing Inc.)

Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award

Prix littéraire Carol-Shields de la ville de Winnipeg

• 100 Things Jets Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die by Jon Waldman, published by Triumph Books
• After Light by Catherine Hunter, published by Signature Editions
• The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew, published by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Canada
• We’re Going to Run This City: Winnipeg’s Political Left after the General Strike by Stefan Epp-Koop, published by University of Manitoba Press
• Winnipeg Cooks: Signature Recipes from the City’s Top Chefs by Robin Summerfield, published by Figure 1 Publishing

Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book

• From the Barren Lands: Fur Trade, First Nations and a Life in Northern Canada by Leonard G. Flett, published by Great Plains Publications
• Let Us Be True by Erna Buffie, published by Coteau Books
• Street Sex Work and Canadian Cities: Restoring a Dangerous Orderby Shawna Ferris, published by the University of Alberta Press
• We’re Going to Run This City: Winnipeg’s Political Left after the General Strike by Stefan Epp-Koop, published by University of Manitoba Press

John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer

Prix John-Hirsch pour L’écrivain.e manitobain le plus prometteur

• Donna Besel
• Jodi Carmichael
• G.M.B. Chomichuk
• Joanne Epp
• Chantal Fiola
• Alix Sobler

Michael Van Rooy Award for Genre Fiction

• Blue Vengeance by Alison Preston, published Signature Editions
• Infinitum by G.M.B. Chomichuk, published by ChiGraphic, an imprint of ChiZine Publications
• Kraken Bake by Karen Dudley, published by Ravenstone, an imprint of Turnstone Press
• Put on the Armour of Light by Catherine Macdonald, published by Dundurn
• Too Far Gone by Chadwick Ginther, published by Ravenstone, an imprint of Turnstone Press

McNally Robinson Books for Young People Awards (younger)

• Alexia Wants to Fly by Talia Pura, illustrated by Wai Tien, published by Lilly Star Press
• Fur Is Only Fur Deep by Julia Schettler, illustrated by Sarah Neville, published by Peasantry Press
• InvisiBill by Maureen Fergus, illustrated by Dušan Petričić, published by Tundra Books
• Misaabe’s Stories: A Story of Honesty by Katherena Vermette, illustrated by Irene Kuziw, published by Portage & Main Press
• Nana and Me by Kathy Knowles, illustrated by Edmund Opare, published by Osu Children’s Library Fund

McNally Robinson Books for Young People Awards (older)

• Betty: The Helen Betty Osborne Story by David Alexander Robertson, illustrated by Scott B Henderson, published by HighWater Press, an imprint of Portage & Main Press
• Broken Stone by Gabriele Goldstone, published by Rebelight Publishing Inc.
• Forever Julia by Jodi Carmichael, published by Great Plains Teen Fiction, an imprint of Great Plains Publications
• Ghost Most Foul by Patti Grayson, published by Coteau Books

McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award

• After Light by Catherine Hunter, published by Signature Editions
• Calling Down the Sky by Rosanna Deerchild, published by BookLand Press
• Monologue Dogs by Méira Cook, published by Brick Books
• The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew, published by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Canada Books Inc.
• We’re Going to Run This City: Winnipeg’s Political Left after the General Strike by Stefan Epp-Koop, published by University of Manitoba Press