The Writers Guild of Alberta announces the 2011 Alberta Literary Awards Shortlist!

The Writers Guild of Alberta (WGA) is thrilled to announce the finalists for the 2011 Alberta Literary Awards! The Alberta Literary Awards recognize and celebrate the highest standards of literary excellence from Alberta authors.

Awards jurors have deliberated 164 submissions to select 25 finalists in eight categories. Finalists represent extraordinary literary work written by Alberta authors and published in 2010.

Winners will be announced and awards presented at the Alberta Book Awards Gala on Saturday June 11, 2011 in conjunction with Book Publishers Association of Alberta’s (BPAA) Alberta Book Publishing Awards and Alberta Readers’ Choice Award.  The celebration will take place in Calgary alongside the WGA’s “Writing the HIstory, Inscribing the Future” 30th Anniversary Conference.

Information on this year’s shortlisted authors is attached with this media release.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, the Writers Guild of Alberta is the largest provincial writers’ organization in Canada, and was formed in 1980 to provide a meeting ground and collective voice for the writers of the province. Its mission is to inspire, connect, support, encourage and promote writers and writing, to safeguard the freedom to write and to read, and to advocate for the well-being of writers.

Registration for the Awards Gala and Conference begin on April 11, 2011.For more information or to register, please call 1-800-665-5354 or visit www.writersguild.ab.ca.

2011 Alberta Literary Awards Shortlist

R. Ross Annett Award for Children’s Literature
      ·         Sheldon Casavant (Edmonton)—Morton the Magician and his Magnificent Magic Show, Sheldon Casavant Productions
      ·         Victor Lethbridge (Rolling Hills)—Little Chief and Mighty Gopher: The Pemmican Frenzy, Tatanka Productions
      ·         Deidre Ann Martin (Calgary)—The Elegant Cockroach, Uppercase Publishing

Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction (Sponsored by The Banff Centre)
      ·         Todd Babiak (Edmonton)—Toby: A Man, HarperCollins
      ·         Lee Kvern (Okotoks)—The Matter of Sylvie, Brindle & Glass
      ·         Rudy Wiebe (Edmonton)—Rudy Wiebe: Collected Stories, 1955-2010, University of Alberta Press

Wilfred Eggleston Award for Nonfiction (Sponsored by Lokken.com)
      ·         Tim Bowling (Edmonton)—In the Suicide’s Library: A Book Lover’s Journey, Gaspereau Press
      ·         Myrna Kostash (Edmonton)—Prodigal Daughter: A Journey to Byzantium, University of Alberta Press
      ·         Clem Martini and Olivier Martini (Calgary)—Bitter Medicine, Freehand Books
Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for Drama (Sponsored by Alberta Views)
·         Meg Braem (Calgary)—Blood: A Scientific Romance
·         Mark Stubbings (Edmonton)—Dry the Rain
·         David van Belle and Eric Rose (Calgary)—The Highest Step in the World
Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry (Supported by Stephan V. Benediktson)
      ·         Tim Bowling (Edmonton)—The Annotated Bee and Me, Gaspereau Press
      ·         Jannie Edwards (Edmonton)—Falling Blues, Frontenac House
      ·         Robert Kroetsch (Leduc)—Too Bad: Sketches Toward a Self-Portrait, University of Alberta Press
      ·         Alice Major (Edmonton)—Memory’s Daughter, University of Alberta Press
James H. Gray Award for Short Nonfiction (Sponsored by Western Financial Group’s West Magazine)
      ·         Leah Bailly (Calgary)—“Bamako, Believe Me”
·         Jessica Kluthe (Edmonton)—“Traces”
·         Margaret Macpherson (Edmonton)—“A Thousand Years North of Dorothy”
Howard O’Hagan Award for Short Story
      ·         Jane Cawthorne (Calgary)—“Weight” in FreeFall
      ·         Stephen Howard (St. Albert)—“Saturday” in The Prairie Journal
      ·         Rudy Wiebe (Edmonton)—“Shadow of a Rock” in Rudy Wiebe: Collected Stories, 1955-2010, University of Alberta Press
Jon Whyte Memorial Essay Prize (Supported by Vanna Tessier and Guy Tessier, and House of Blue Skies)
      ·         Carolyn Hall (Edmonton)—“A Pinch of Time”
·         Marguerite Watson (Edmonton)—“Closer to the Bone”
·         Janice Williamson (Edmonton)—“The Turquoise Sea” in Alberta Views
Amber Bowerman Memorial Travel Writing Award
      It has been decided not to present an award in this category for this year.

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      Nicholas Mather
      Communications and Partnerships Coordinator,
      Writers Guild of Alberta
      780. 422. 8216
      1.800.665.5354
www.writersguild.ab.ca