Kristy Jackson Named Double Winner at 33rd Annual Saskatchewan Book Awards
REGINA, SK — May 1, 2026 — Saskatoon author Kristy Jackson was the evening’s top honouree at the 33rd annual Saskatchewan Book Awards, earning two major awards at a gala held Friday, May 1st at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Regina.
Jackson’s Touching Grass (HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.) received the Book of the Year Award, sponsored by Regina Public Library. Her second title, Mortified, also published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., won the Children’s Literature Award, sponsored by the G. Murray and Edna Forbes Foundation.
CTV Regina journalist and Master of Ceremonies Sabeen Ahmad welcomed 190 guests representing authors, publishers, sponsors and supporters to Saskatchewan’s pre‑eminent book awards celebration. Thirteen awards were presented, including ten writing and three publishing awards, with 45 finalists selected from 174 entries representing 88 titles across 13 categories. The evening also included a tribute honouring Claire Kramer, founder of the Glengarry Book Prize.
Awards were evenly distributed between Regina‑ and Saskatoon‑based authors. Regina winners included Carol Rose GoldenEagle, who received the Indigenous Peoples Writing Award for Joe; Iryn Tushabe, winner of the First Book Award for Everything Is Fine Here (House of Anansi Press); Melanie Schnell, who received the City of Regina Book Award for The Chorus Beneath Our Feet (Radiant Press); Tea Gerbeza, winner of the SK Arts Poetry Award Honouring Anne Szumigalski for How I Bend Into More (Palimpsest Press); and Ken Wilson, awarded the Non‑Fiction Book Award Honouring Brenda MacDonald Riches for Walking the Bypass (University of Regina Press).
Other Saskatoon winners included Jeannette Lynes for her novel, The Paper Birds (Fiction Book Award), Elizabeth Quinlan for her book, Standing Up For Big Nickel (City of Saskatoon Book Award), and Cheryl Troupe for Putting Down Roots (Jennifer Welsh Scholarly Writing Award).
Three publishing awards were also presented, recognizing excellence among Saskatchewan publishers. Gabriel Dumont Institute Press received the Indigenous Peoples Publishing Award for Maddy’s Sash by Marion Gonneville. University of Regina Press was honoured with the SaskBooks Publishing in Education Award for The A Word: A Global History of the Abortion Struggle by Elizabeth Casillas and Higinia Gray, while Thistledown Press received the Creative Saskatchewan Publishing Award for Tunnel Island by Bill Gaston.
Founded in 1993, the Saskatchewan Book Awards is the province’s only provincially focused writing and publishing awards program, celebrating excellence through an independent pan-Canadian jury process.
Editors and News Directors: The SBA Winner’s List:
Saskatchewan Book Awards 2026 Award Recipients
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