Manitoba Book Awards takes temporary pause to deal with challenges to current structure

After more than three decades of recognizing writing talent from across the province, organizers of Manitoba's biggest night for books says it will undergo a temporary hiatus next year to reorient itself.

The Manitoba Book Awards offer about 10 prizes annually, including awards for non-fiction, fiction, poetry and illustration, as well as specialized honours devoted to emerging, francophone and Indigenous writers.

However, the 2023-24 awards cycle will be used as a restructuring period to confront several emerging challenges, according to Matt Joudrey, president of the Association of Manitoba Book Publishers.

"One of the biggest items is ensuring the awards financially, so that they can grow and thrive," he said, adding that the management framework of the awards is another major issue to tackle.

"It's key that we are taking this time to do this now, as opposed to later, as the struggle could potentially just grow," he said.

Over the last five years, the awards have been organized by a coalition formed among the Winnipeg International Writers Festival, Association of Manitoba Book Publishers, Winnipeg Public Library and Manitoba Writers' Guild, Joudrey says.

The coalition is made up of people who are engaged and passionate about Manitoba's literary scene, Joudrey says, and he's hopeful for what the future holds.

"The Manitoba Book Awards showcase the exceptional talent from the writing and artistic community that the province has to offer," he said. "So it's really integral for us to reorganize the awards, and make sure that they have a viable long-term plan."

Joudrey says organizers hope to gain new funding streams through public and private partnerships during the temporary hiatus.

"No decision is ever easy when you're involved in the arts, because the arts is one of the most overlooked, underfunded and underappreciated industries in the country."

Writer 'sad to hear it' 

Authors who would have been eligible to apply for an award this year will not be overlooked since they will be able to apply for the 2024-25 award cycle, Joudrey says.

"It will be coming considerably after other awards have come and gone, so it could prove [to be an] opportunity to reinvigorate the book again," he said.

However, Donna Besel, a writer based in Lac du Bonnet, Man., says that could also mean a packed slate of competitors during the next award cycle.

"I feel sad to hear it. I feel sorry for my friends who've had books come out this year. There are excellent books," she said.

Besel, a former board member of the awards, says she was surprised to learn of the temporary hiatus, since she has seen it go ahead despite other funding struggles in the past.

Winning the award helps raise an author's profile and offers the chance to have their work acknowledged, she says.

"That means something to the writers," she said."it means something to other writers [and] something to publishers, when they see someone won a book award or any award of any kind."

Besel says it's even harder for rural writers such as herself to gain recognition, and the pause means "just one more lost opportunity to get your writing promoted."

"People don't realize how many great writers there are in Manitoba," she said.