Darcy Tamayose and Anthony Bidulka among finalists for 2023 Alberta Book Publishing Awards
Bridget Raymundo | CBC Books | Posted: July 11, 2023 2:11 PM | Last Updated: July 11, 2023
The awards celebrate Alberta's best books of the year across 14 categories
Canadian writers Darcy Tamayose and Anthony Bidulka are among the finalists for the 2023 Alberta Book Publishing Awards.
The prize, administered by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta, annually celebrates the province's best books of the year across 14 categories.
Ezra's Ghosts is a finalist in three categories: for trade fiction book of the year, book design and the Douglas Barbour Award for speculative fiction.
In Ezra's Ghosts, a collection of fantastical stories, Tamayose introduces a cast of characters whose lives intersect in a quiet prairie town called Ezra. From a seeker of truth trapped in Ezra after her violent death, to the oldest man in town who came to Canada to escape imperial hardships, the stories in Ezra's Ghosts are linked by language, culture and grief.
Tamayose is a writer and graphic designer from southern Alberta. Her work includes Odori and the YA book Katie Be Quiet. Tamayose lives in Lethbridge, Alta.
Going to Beautiful is a finalist for mystery & thriller book of the year.
When thriving celebrity chef Jake Hardy has a horrible accident, his life is upended as he moves to a small snowy town in the Prairies. Going to Beautiful follows Hardy during his recovery in a scenic new environment as he befriends his 78 year old transgender neighbour. When Hardy begins to believe what happened to him might not have been an accident at all, he and his neighbour discover murder cases from decades ago.
Bidulka is a crime and mystery writer from Saskatoon. He is also the author of the Adam Saint books, the Russell Quant Mysteries and Flight of Aquavit which was the first Canadian book to win the Lambda Literary Award in the men's mystery category. Going to Beautiful also won the Independent Publisher Book Award for Canada West Best Fiction.
LISTEN | Saskatoon writer wins best Canadian crime novel award:
See the complete list of nominees below:
Mel Hurtig Publisher of the Year:
- Durvile & UpRoute Books
- NeWest Press
Trade Fiction Book of the Year:
- Ezra's Ghosts by Darcy Tamayose
- Grieving for Pigeons: Twelve Stories of Lahore by Zubair Ahmad, translated by Anne Murphy
- The Taste of Hunger by Barbara Joan Scott
Trade Non-Fiction Book of the Year:
- Ghosts in a Photograph: A Chronicle by Myrna Kostash
- Modern Fables by Mikka Jacobsen
- A Stunning Backdrop: Alberta in the Movies, 1917–1960 by Mary Graham
- Tracking the Caribou Queen: Memoir of a Settler Girlhood by Margaret Macpherson
Robert Kroetsch Award for Poetry:
- Separation Anxiety by Gavin Bradley
- Transcribing Moonlight by Skylar Kay
- You Might Be Sorry You Read This by Michelle Poirier Brown
Graphic Novel of the Year:
- Alberta Comics: Home by Alexander Finbow, Shea Proulx, and Emily Pomeroy
- Five Stalks of Grain by Adrian Lysenko and Ivanka Theodosia Galadza
- King Warrior by Jay Bulckaert, Erika Nyyssonen, and Lucas Green
- Siegfried: Dragon Slayer by Mark Allard-Will and Jasmine Redford
Children's & Young Adult Book of the Year:
- Howdy, I'm Flores LaDue by Ayesha Clough, and Hugh Rookwood with Keegan Starlight
- King Warrior by Jay Bulckaert, Erika Nyyssonen, and Lucas Green
- Olya & Olena Escape the Invaders by Olya Illichov, Maddy Shyba, and Diana Bezukh
- Samuel and the Little People by Arnold James Isbister
Mystery & Thriller Book of the Year:
- Going to Beautiful by Anthony Bidulka
- There Are Wolves Here Too by Niall Howell
- To Those Who Killed Me by J.T. Siemens
- Why Are You Still Here? by Lynda Partridge and Dave Nicholson
Douglas Barbour Award for Speculative Fiction:
- The Astronaut Always Rings Twice by Shannon Allen and JR Campbell
- Ezra's Ghosts by Darcy Tamayose
- Pawns and Phantoms by Misha Handman
- The Rosetta Mind by Claire McCague
Regional Book of the Year:
- Canadian Rockies Trail Guide by Brian Patton and Bart Robinson
- Howdy, I'm Flores LaDue by Ayesha Clough, and Hugh Rookwood with Keegan Starlight
- A Stunning Backdrop: Alberta in the Movies, 1917–1960 by Mary Graham
Scholarly & Academic Book of the Year:
- Canadian Performance Documents and Debates: A Sourcebook by Anthony J. Vickery, Glen F. Nichols, and Allana C. Lindgren
- The Joint Arctic Weather Stations: Science and Sovereignty in the High Arctic, 1946-1972 by Daniel Heidt and P. Whitney Lackenbauer
- Memory and Landscape: Indigenous Responses to a Changing North by Kenneth L. Pratt and Scott A. Heyes
Learning Book of the Year:
- Canadian Performance Documents and Debates: A Sourcebook by Anthony J. Vickery, Glen F. Nichols, and Allana C. Lindgren
- Principles and Techniques for the Aspiring Surgeon: What Great Surgeons Do Without Thinking by Dr. Keegan Guidolin
- Vancouver Notes for Internal Medicine: High Yield Consult Guides by Dr. Brandon Tang, Dr. Meiying Zhuang, and Dr. James Tessaro
Book Illustration:
- Alberta Comics: Home by Alexander Finbow, Shea Proulx, and Emily Pomeroy
- King Warrior by Jay Bulckaert, Erika Nyyssonen, and Lucas Green
- Olya & Olena Escape the Invaders by Olya Illichov, Maddy Shyba, and Diana Bezukh
- Siksikaitsitapi: Stories of the Blackfoot People by Payne Many Guns, Crystal Many Fingers, Sheena Potts, Latasha Calf Robe, Tim Fox, Marlene Yellow Horn, DerRic Starlight
Book Cover Design:
- Grieving for Pigeons: Twelve Stories of Lahore by Zubair Ahmad, translated by Anne Murphy; design by Natalie Olsen, Kisscut Design
- Little Wet-Paint Girl by Ouanessa Younsi, translated by Rebecca L. Thompson; design by Natalie Olsen, Kisscut Design
- There Are Wolves Here Too by Niall Howell; design by Michel Vrana
- Who Has Seen the Wind by W.O. Mitchell; design by Natalie Olsen, Kisscut Design
Book Design:
- Ezra's Ghosts by Darcy Tamayose; designed by Natalie Olsen, Kisscut Design
- Ghosts in a Photograph: A Chronicle by Myrna Kostash; designed by Natalie Olsen, Kisscut Design
- Memory and Landscape: Indigenous Responses to a Changing North by Kenneth L. Pratt and Scott A. Heyes, eds.; cover design by Marvin Harder, interior design by Natalie Olsen, Kisscut Design
- Wan by Dawn Promislow, design by Natalie Olsen, Kisscut Design
The winners of the 2023 Alberta Book Publishing Awards — including the pecial Achievement in Publishing Award, the Lois Hole Award for editorial excellence and the Lifetime Achievement in Publishing Award categories — will be announced at a reception in Edmonton to be held on Sept. 21, 2023.
Previous winners include Canadian writers such as Dionne Brand, Dawn Dumont, Abu Bakr al Rabeeah and Wayne Arthurson.