The BC and Yukon Book Prizes

We have a new episode of Writing the Coast for you to start your weekend! This episode features Colleen Brown, author of if you lay down in a field, she will find you there (published by Radiant Press). In her conversation with host Megan Cole ), Colleen talks about why she wanted to create a portrait of her mother separate from her murder, and how working on the book changed her visual writing practice. To listen to this episode visit: https://soundcloud.com/bcyukonbookprizes/season-6-episode-10-colleen-brown-on-writing-about-her-mother-beyond-her-murder/s-gX97HMvfWsZ?si=1536a5e3c4bd4aaaba92f16d39de164b&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

This week on Writing the Coast, Francine McCabe talks about why we need to support local fibre and textile producers. Francine's book Fleece and Fibre (published by Heritage House) has become a necessary resource for anyone interested in slow fashion and the fibreshed movement, along with being a guide for knitters, spinners, crocheters and more for where to find fibre on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. To listen to this episode visit: https://soundcloud.com/bcyukonbookprizes/season-6-episode-9-francine-mccabe-on-supporting-local-fibre-and-textile-producers/s-sIRlGPg9H2V?si=1536a5e3c4bd4aaaba92f16d39de164b&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

This week on Writing the Coast, Darrel McLeod talks about his debut novel A Season in Chezgh'un (published by Douglas & McIntyre). On this episode Darrel talks about how writing fiction changed his writing practice, and how he came up with his protagonist, James. To listen to this episode visit: https://soundcloud.com/bcyukonbookprizes/season-6-episode-8-darrel-mcleod-on-how-fiction-changes-his-writing-practice/s-MMI3MXDPK1P?si=1536a5e3c4bd4aaaba92f16d39de164b&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

We have a fresh new episode of Writing the Coast to help you start your weekend right. This week we have a conversation with Bradley Peters. Bradley's book, Sonnets from a Cell (published by Brick Books) is his debut collection which uses the sonnet as a tool to write about prison. In his conversation with host Megan Cole, Bradley talks about how he found the sonnet, and why it's fun to be a poet these days. Also Rob Taylor and Sheryda Warrener, Bradley wants to be friends!

To listen to this episode visit: https://soundcloud.com/bcyukonbookprizes/season-6-episode-6-andrea-warner-how-she-started-rise-up-and-sing/s-Ba9Xx6jMBoa?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing&si=c2dd3011a4da4c1d9e96dd36a30f7514

This week on Writing the coast, Andrea Warner talks about her book Rise Up and Sing! Power, Protest, and Activism in Music (published by Greystone Books). In her conversation with host Megan Cole, Andrea talks about what inspired her to become a music writer, she also talks about the concert that inspired her music fandom, and how she started to work on Rise up and Sing! To listen visit: https://soundcloud.com/bcyukonbookprizes/season-6-episode-6-andrea-warner-talks-about-becoming-a-music-writer/s-eanGMGamq3Q?si=4ebda0e7d982459cac320e400d0e62be&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Tickets for the 40th annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes Gala are on sale NOW! Join us to celebrate the winners and finalists of the 2024 Prizes. We're excited to have CBC broadcaster Margaret Gallagher hosting this year's festivities. Margaret is the host of NXNW and has a passion for books and local stories. We hope that you can join us for what's sure to be a fun and memorable evening. To buy tickets visit: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/event/40th-annual-bc-and-yukon-book-prizes-gala/

In case you missed it, this week's episode of Writing the Coast featured Julie Lawson. In her conversation with host Megan Cole, Julie talked about her writing process and the personal stories that have inspired her books. To listen to the podcast visit:
https://soundcloud.com/bcyukonbookprizes/season-6-episode-5-julie-lawson-talks-about-the-family-stories-that-have-inspired-her-books?si=eab911e310db4a6ea6889a3429f362f2&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Out of the Dark was published by Nimbus Publishing and Vagrant Press

“Landbridge is the most unforgettable book I’ve read in years, a work of astounding humanity and honesty in the face of unimaginable grief. It is no small undertaking, to wrestle with the generational toll of genocide, migration, upended pasts and unreachable futures, yet this is what Y-Dang Troeung does. In their totality, the fragments that make up this memoir are a vital, visceral reminder that, across all manner of tragedy and violence and even time, we are bound to one another by love. For all the pain it charts and of which its author manages to make meaning, Landbridge is, above all else, a love story, one that will be remembered.” —Omar al Akkad, Giller-prize winning author of What Strange Paradise and American War

For more information about Landbridge visit: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/landbridge/

We're doing something a bit different this year for Storied! With the finalists of the 2024 BC and Yukon Book Prizes we're doing pre-recorded videos on themes related to writing, creativity and publishing. These videos will be available ongoing and we invite you to watch, re-watch and share them. For our first video Jennifer Bonnell (author of Stewards of Splendour), David Norwell (author of A Complex Coast), and Kirsten Pendreigh (author of Maybe a Whale) share their thoughts and reflections on nature, and writing about nature.

To view the video click here: https://vimeo.com/949659584?share=copy

"Sterritt's story is living proof of how courageous Indigenous women are. Listen to her voice and hear the sound of the land, hear the sound of our women weeping but also raging—refusing to be neglected or ignored any longer."—Tanya Talaga, author of Seven Fallen Feathers and All Our Relations

For more information about Angela Sterritt's Unbroken visit: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/unbroken/

This week on Writing the Coast, Henry Tsang talks about his book White Riot: The 1907 Anti-Asian Riots in Vancouver (published by Arsenal Pulp Press). White Riot combines Henry's 360 Riot Walk with essays providing context and insight not only into the 1907 anti-Asian riots, but also allow readers to see the legacy of the riots and the ongoing anti-Asian racism. In Henry's conversation with host Megan Cole, he discusses the future of Chinatown, Paueru G*i, and the Downtown Eastside, the history of naming places, and why we don't talk about BC's anti-Asian riots. To listen to this episode visit: https://soundcloud.com/bcyukonbookprizes/season-6-episode-4-henry-tsang-talks-about-the-legacy-of-anti-asian-riots/s-idXDbHf7ZSM?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing&si=5bfab7f0af7f4ab1b67d97e91bf0141f

With gorgeous imagery, visual artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas brings to life the tumultuous history of first contact between Europeans and Indigenous peoples and the early colonization by the Europeans of the northern West Coast.

For more information about JAJ: A Haida Manga visit the link in our bio.

“Becoming a Matriarch is a vivid, lyrical exploration of womanhood, loss, grief, and eventually, self-love, braided together with radiance and wisdom. Knott brilliantly uses memory as a tool for self-exploration and growth. The land, dreams and body are in constant communication: ‘My body knows the mountains and rivers and berry bushes that it comes from.’ Throughout the book you can’t help but ask yourself, what does it mean to come from strong women and still allow yourself space to be loved? Becoming a Matriarch teaches us that joy can exist inside the cracks of the most tumultuous times in our lives and love can still bloom if we let it.” —Chelene Knight, author of Dear Current Occupant and Junie

For more information about Becoming a Matriarch by Helen Knott visit: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/becoming-a-matriarch/

We're so excited about Thursday's event featuring Sam George and Michael Nicholl Yahgulanaas! This will be an amazing opportunity to learn more about their work and books, and to buy a copy of their finalist titles and have them signed. For more information visit the link in our bio.

It's time to highlight the 2024 Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes. The Jim Deva Prize awarded to the author and/or illustrators of an original work of published writing (poetry, fiction or nonfiction for adults or children, including graphic novels or picture books) that challenges or provokes the ideas and forces that shape what writing, art, and/or society can become. The 2024 finalists are:

📖Becoming A Matriarch by Helen Knott. (Published by Knopf Canada)
📖JAJ: A Haida Manga by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas. (Published by & McIntyre)
📖Unbroken: My Fight for Survival, Hope, and Justice for Indigenous Women and Girls by Angela Sterritt. (Published by Greystone Books)
📖 Landbridge by Y-Dang Troeung. (Published by Alchemy by Knopf Canada)
📖Tell Me Pleasant Things about Immortality by Lindsay Wong. (Published by Penguin Random House Canada)
For more information about these finalists visit our website here: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/winners-finalists/ #2024

This week on Writing the Coast, Brandon Reid talks about his debut novel Beautiful Beautiful (published by Nightwood Editions). Brandon's novel introduces us to Derik, Raven, George, and the opinionated and humorous narrator Redbird Anon as they travel by boat to Derik's grandfather's funeral. In Brandon's interview with host Megan Cole he talks about the family story that inspired the book, and how Redbird Anon came to be. To listen to this episode visit:
https://soundcloud.com/bcyukonbookprizes/season-6-episode-3-brandon-reid-talks-about-family-stories-and-fiction/s-x8m2OLJ6mkf?si=047c56e3f2ab433e93e17208fd57f26b&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Riots are just the tip of the iceberg of racist policies that have manufactured a climate of racial capitalism and white supremacy on these unceded Coast Salish lands also known as Vancouver. White Riot invites us to practise solidarity with one another by resisting precarity and respecting everyone's right to eat and to remain alive, in community and with dignity. -Rita Wong, author and co-editor of Downstream: Reimagining Water

For more information about White Riot visit our website here: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/white-riot/

“This book is a necessary tale told by the perfect voice at the right time. It also uses graphic imagery in a way I've not seen before, and it feels ground-breaking.” –Douglas Coupland

To learn more about JAJ visit the link in our bio.

“An intimate portrait of the fibreshed of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. McCabe’s book provides much valuable information on breeds, wools, and fibres, but it is also a testament to the beauty and integrity of rural life. Anyone who works with fibre should have this book.”—Charllotte Kwon, founder of Maiwa

For more information about Fleece and Fibre visit: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/fleece-and-fibre/

Her debut memoir Skid Dogs (published by Douglas & McIntyre) has been described as Stand By Me for girls. On this episode of Writing the Coast Emelia Symington Fedy talks about consent, r**e culture, and the emotional toll of writing her first book. To listen to this episode click here: https://soundcloud.com/bcyukonbookprizes/season-6-episode-2-emelia-symington-fedy-on-consent-and-writing-memoir/s-HSJlu1qPDUC?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing&si=4f5bc866ec29478c9b4930281f173f22

“When the mountains of your territory are your ancestors, you paint the landscapes as Jess Housty does in this evocative, powerful collection of poetry: in the language of ceremony as taut as the inner surface of a mussel shell when the meat is stripped away. Housty’s hyperlocality is precise medicine, an expansive, generous meditation on the mutual care of mountains, the forgiving veins of rivers, all the liminal territories and beings soaked in the verdant magic of the Pacific Northwest coast.” –Eden Robinson

To read more about Crushed Wild Mint visit: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/crushed-wild-mint/

"I am glad that Sam George has lent his voice to the many voices of survivors now surfacing from residential ‘schools’. I love the way Sam describes his traditional life before he was forced to go to the school and then later goes back to his culture to overcome the trauma he endured. Sam did time in jail for a crime he committed, but the real crime is that our Indigenous way of life was interfered with, and that created the dysfunction in our communities. This book shows that we had it right all along – Indigenous culture is our saviour." - Bev Sellars, author of They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School

For more information about The Fire Still Burns visit: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/the-fire-still-burns/

Don't forget to join us at Munro's Books in Victoria, BC on June 5th for an evening with three of the 2024 BC and Yukon Book Prizes finalists. Darrel McLeod, David Norwell and Chelsea Wakelyn will be reading from their shortlisted books. Be sure to stop by, buy a book, and have it signed. For more information visit: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/event/bc-yukon-book-prizes-finalists-reading/

Let's celebrate the finalists of the 2024 Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award. The Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award is resented to the originating publisher and the author(s) of the book that is the most successful in terms of public appeal, initiative, design, production and content. The prize is shared by the publisher(s) and the author(s). The winner is determined by BC/Yukon booksellers. The 2024 finalists are:

📖The Fire Still Burns: Life In and After Residential School by Sam George, with Jill Yonit Goldberg, Liam Belson, Dylan MacPhee, and Tanis Wilson. (Published by Purich Books, UBC Press)
📖Crushed Wild Mint by Jess Housty. (Published Nightwood Editions)
📖Fleece & Fibre: Textile Producers of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands by Francine McCabe. (Published by Heritage House Publishing )
📖JAJ: A Haida Manga by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas. (Published by Douglas & McIntyre)
📖White Riot: The 1907 Anti-Asian Riots in Vancouver by Henry Tsang. (Published by Arsenal Pulp Press)

For more information about these finalists visit: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/winners-finalists/ #2024

Writing the Coast is back! We have a whole batch of fresh new episodes ready to come your way, and we're starting things off with an interview with E.G. Alaraj. E.G.'s book When Stars Arise (published by Orca Book Publishers) is the perfect book to add to a little one's bedtime routine, and in her conversation with host Megan Cole she talks about how her own kids inspired her debut book. To listen to this episode visit: https://soundcloud.com/bcyukonbookprizes/season-6-episode-1-eg-alaraj-on-the-magic-and-challenges-of-board-books/s-StISUjBgVAY?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing&si=8e4b405cffca442798e90751067f2bc2

If you haven't registered for tomorrow's Incite event, there's still time! Henry Tsang, Samantha Nock, and Brandon Reid will be discussing their shortlisted books with the BC and Yukon Book Prizes director of programming and communications Megan Cole. We hope to see you there!
https://writersfest.bc.ca/event/bcybp-2024

There’s another great event coming up in June that you won’t want to miss! and Sam George will be speaking about this shortlisted books. Sam’s co-author will also be there. And the amazing Michelle Cyca is hosting. It’s a free event but registration is required. Register via the link in our bio.
Posted • Join Massy Arts, and 2024 BC & Yukon Book Finalists Sam George, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, and Jill Yonit Goldberg Thursday, June 20th at 6pm for a showcase and discussion with host Michelle Cyca.

Venue & Accessibility

The event will be hosted at the Massy Arts Gallery, at 23 East Pender Street in Chinatown, Vancouver. We are located in the former MING WO building.

Registration is free or by donation and required for entry. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/2024-showcase-bc-yukon-book-finalists-tickets-905314509067

The gallery is wheelchair accessible and a gender-neutral washroom is on-site.

There will be an ASL interpreter for this event.

Please refrain from wearing scents or heavy perfumes.

For more on accessibility including parking, seating, venue measurements and floor plan, and how to request ASL interpretation please visit: massyarts.com/accessibility

Covid Protocols: Masks keep our community safe and are mandatory (N95 masks are recommended as they offer the best protection). We ask if you are showing symptoms, that you stay home.

Thank you kindly.

We’re excited to be working with and again this year to celebrate 2024 BC and Yukon Book Prizes finalists at Incite! This is going to be a great event and we hope to see you there.

Posted • We’re closing out this season of Incite with one of our favourite events: an evening of celebrating the finalists of the ! Joining us on-stage are three lauded local authors, each nominated in a different category of this year’s awards:

📖 Henry Tsang, nominated for the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award for White Riot: The 1907 Anti-Asian Riots in Vancouver
📖 Samantha Nock, nominated for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize for A Family of Dreamers
📖 Brandon Reid, nominated for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize for Beautiful Beautiful

The authors will discuss their shortlisted titles, and the importance of place in each of their works, with Megan Cole , the Prize’s Director of Programming and Communications.

🗓️ Wednesday, May 29 at 7pm
📍 VPL’s central branch, or watch online!
💛 Presented with and the BC and Yukon Book Prizes
📚 Books for sale from
🎟️ Link in bio to RSVP for free

It’s the last day of our northern tour! What a week! This morning we’re at D.P. Todd Secondary in Prince George. is speaking to a full library about writing and her book Skid Dogs.

This morning Wanda John-Kehewin is reading Hopeless in Hope at Twain Sullivan Elementary School in Houston.