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The Saskatchewan Book Awards (SBA) is pleased to partner with the Cathedral Village Arts Festival in May 2020.
In recognition of Covid-19, SBA’s contribution will be online. The SBA is proud to introduce two authors onto the Saskatchewan literary scene: Raye Hendrickson and Beatrice Wallace.
The author readings will happen through the Cathedral Village Arts Festival Facebook feed on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 at 8:00 pm.
In an announcement earlier today Board Chair, Donna Woloshyn noted “Once again, I am pleased that the Saskatchewan Book Awards will be partnering with the Cathedral Village Arts Festival virtually in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
SBA Executive Director Kam Teo added. “We are excited to be introducing two rising authors onto the Saskatchewan literary scene: Raye Hendrickson and Beatrice Wallace. Raye will be reading from Five Red Sentries and Beatrice will be reading from Wolf Woman: A Search for Identity.”
For More Information Contact: Kam Teo, Executive Director
306-569-1585
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2021_SBA_Ceremony_Brochure.pdf 2021 SBA Ceremony Brochure
2021_SBA_Ceremony_Programme.pdf 2021 SBA Ceremony Programme
The Winners for the 2021 Saskatchewan Book Awards will be announced on-line in a virtual show set for Thursday, June 24, 2021, at 7:00 pm. The program will be broadcast through the Saskatchewan Book Awards website https://www.bookawards.sk.ca/ and Facebook page.
We will have greetings from His Honour, Lieutenant Governor, Russ Mirasty. The Saskatchewan LG is a patron of the SBA. Special guests also include The Honourable Laura Ross, Minister of Culture, Recreation and Sport, as well as Regina Mayor, Sandra Masters, and Saskatoon Mayor, Charlie Clark!
Bevann Fox has been shortlisted for six awards (four in the author and two in the publishing categories), more than any other author this year, for her book, Genocidal Love: A Life After Residential School. Dianne Warren (a former Governor General Award winner) is shortlisted for three awards for The Diamond House.
“We are celebrating 28 years of excellence in writing and publishing in Saskatchewan,” says SBA Executive Director Kam Teo. “Once again, we are very proud of this year’s nominees which reflect the diversity of our authors and publishers.”
Editors and News Directors: The shortlist is below.
For more information, please visit bookawards.sk.ca or contact:
Kam Teo
Executive Director
(306) 569-1585
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REGINA, SK. March 27, 2020 – Saskatchewan Book Awards Ceremony scheduled for April 25, 2020 postponed.
The Saskatchewan Book Awards (SBA) is postponing the 2020 SBA Awards Ceremony until further notice. In an announcement earlier today Board Chair, Donna Woloshyn noted “At this time the safety of the Saskatchewan community is paramount.” She added that SBA Executive Director Kam Teo will provide updates to stakeholders including the literary and publishing community as well as the Saskatchewan community at-large as soon as the Board has determined appropriate next steps. Regular updates will be posted on the SBA website and social media.
Anyone who has already purchased tickets for the event is encouraged to reach out to the SBA for more information about their options including a refund, use at a later date, or charitable donation to the organization.
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For More Information Contact: Kam Teo, Executive Director
306-569-1585
Saskatchewan Book Awards recognizes, celebrates and rewards the excellence of Saskatchewan writers and publishers, building greater awareness of Saskatchewan books through 14 awards, granted at an annual Awards Ceremony. SBA is the only provincially-focused book awards program in Saskatchewan and a principal ambassador for Saskatchewan’s literary community. Its solid reputation for celebrating artistic excellence in style is recognized nationally.
SBA was founded in 1993 and celebrated its 25th Awards Ceremony in 2018. The shortlist is announced every February, followed by a series of readings to promote the authors and publishers on the shortlist. The awards are given out at the end of April at an annual Awards Ceremony.
Saskatchewan Book Awards Shortlist Announcement
The shortlist for the 27th Saskatchewan Book Awards (SBA) was announced today in Regina and Saskatoon at their respective city libraries.
Paul Seesaquasis has been shortlisted for four awards for his exquisitely written and beautifully photographed book, Blanket Toss Under the Midnight Sun. Newcomer Jason Heit is shortlisted for three awards for Kaidenberg’s Best Sons. Also shortlisted are previous winners Alexandra Popoff, Ed Willett, Candace Savage, and Harold Johnson.
“We are very excited about the 2020 Saskatchewan Book Awards shortlist,” says Executive Director, Kam Teo. “The shortlist represents Saskatchewan books that are remarkable for their diverse voices, compelling narrative, and exquisite writing.”
SBA was created in 1993 and is the only provincially-focused book awards program in Saskatchewan. It is an ambassador for the province’s literary community, with a nationally recognized reputation for celebrating writing excellence. The 13 award categories offered this year are diverse, representative of Saskatchewan’s literary production, and responsive to emerging areas of interest. Award winners are finalized through a selective jury process.
Award winners will be announced at the 27th Saskatchewan Book Awards Ceremony on Saturday, April 25th, 2020, at the Conexus Arts Centre in Regina. The ceremony will be hosted by Kris Alvarez, a Regina theatre artist, comedian, director, and popular MC. Tickets for the Awards Ceremony will be on sale after the shortlist announcement and can be purchased online through PayPal or by cheque. Get them at the early bird price of $60/ticket until the end of March. On April 1, tickets will be $75 each so act fast to get your tickets. Student tickets are also available for $35. Contact the Saskatchewan Book Awards at 306-569-1585 or by email at
Editors and News Directors: The shortlist is attached.
For more information, please visit bookawards.sk.ca or contact:
Kam Teo
Executive Director
(306) 569-1585
Awards for Writers
Regina Public Library Book of the Year Award
Strangers in the House: A Prairie Story of Bigotry and Belonging by Candace Savage (Greystone Books)
Voice: On Writing With Deafness by Adam Pottle (University of Regina Press)
Blanket Toss Under Midnight Sun by Paul Seesequasis (Knopf Canada)
Peace and Good Order: The Case for Indigenous Society in Canada by Harold R. Johnson (McClelland & Stewart)
Birds of Saskatchewan by Alan R. Smith, C. Stuart Houston, and J. Frank Roy, (eds.) (Nature Saskatchewan)
G. Murray & Edna Forbes Foundation Children’s Literature Award
Critters: UnderDark by Allan Dotson (Your Nickel's Worth Publishing)
The Underdog Duckling by Sally Meadows (Your Nickel's Worth Publishing)
When We Had Sled Dogs: A Story from the Trapline by Ida Tremblay and Miriam Koerner (Your Nickel's Worth Publishing)
The Haunting of Room 909: Junior Paranormal Investigators by Michael James (Hollow Hills, LLC)
The Absence of Sparrows by Kurt Kirchmeier (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
City of Saskatoon and Saskatoon Public Library Saskatoon Award
Kaidenberg’s Best Sons by Jason Heit (Coteau Books)
Voice: On Writing With Deafness by Adam Pottle (University of Regina Press)
At the Wolf’s Door by Chaz Osburn (Hellgate Press)
Blanket Toss Under the Midnight Sun by Paul Seesequasis (Penguin Random House Canada)
Strangers in the House: A Prairie Story of Bigotry and Belonging by Candace Savage (Greystone Books)
University of Saskatchewan, President’s Office, Non-Fiction Book Award
Blanket Toss Under the Midnight Sun by Paul Seesaquasis (Knopf Canada)
Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century by Alexandra Popoff (Yale University Press)
Peace and Good Order: The Case for Indigenous Justice in Canada by Harold R. Johnson (McLelland & Stewart)
Strangers in the House: A Prairie Story of Bigotry and Belonging by Candace Savage (Greystone Books)
Birds of Saskatchewan by Alan R. Smith, C. Stuart Houston, and J. Frank Roy (Nature Saskatchewan)
Poetry Award
Phases by Belinda Betker (Coteau Books)
This Hole Called January by Paula Jane Remlinger (Thistledown Press)
The Dry Valley by Bernadette Wagner (Radiant Press)
University of Regina Faculty of Arts/University of Saskatchewan College of Arts & Science Jennifer Welsh Scholarly Writing Award
Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century by Alexandra Popoff (Yale University Press)
Back to Blakeney: Revitalizing the Democratic State by David McGrane, John Whyte, Roy Romanow, Russell Isinger, (eds.) (University of Regina Press)
Imagining Child Welfare in the Spirit of Reconciliation by Dorothy Badry, H. Monty Montgomery, Daniel Kikulwe, Marlynn Bennett, and Don Fuchs, eds. (University of Regina Press)
Rasmussen & Co. Indigenous Peoples’ Writing Award
Bone Black by Carol Rose GoldenEagle (Nightwood Editions)
Peace and Good Order: The Case for Indigenous Justice in Canada by Harold R. Johnson (McClelland & Stewart)
Blanket Toss Under Midnight Sun by Paul Seesaquasis (Knopf Canada)
Wolf Woman: A Search for Identity by Beatrice (Wolfe) Wallace (Defend Dignity)
Surviving Domestic Violence: My Journey of Self-Care and Healing by Kendra Weenie (Self-Published)
Muslims for Peace and Justice Fiction Award
Bone Black by Carol Rose GoldenEagle (Nightwood Editions)
At the WoIf’s Door by Chaz Osburn (Hellgate Press)
Kaidenberg’s Best Sons by Jason Heit (Coteau Books)
Master of the World (Worldshapers: Book Two) by Edward Willett (DAW)
Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport First Book Award
Five Red Sentries by Raye Hendrickson (Thistledown Press}
Kaidenberg’s Best Sons by Jason Heit (Coteau Books)
Naked Dreams by Edgar Roland King (self-published)
Up From Garlic Flats by Victor Cicansky (Radiant Press)
The Absence of Sparrows by Kurt Kirchmeier (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
City of Regina Book Award
Critters: Underdark by Allan Dotson (Your Nickel's Worth Publishing)
Wide Open: A Searing Memoir of Sexual Assault and Recovery – by D.M. Ditson (Coteau Books) Five Red Sentries by Raye Hendrickson (Thistledown Press) A Walk in Wascana by Stephanie Vance (Your Nickel's Worth Publishing)
Publishing Awards
SaskBooks Publishing in Education Award
Frenemy Nations by Mary Soderstrom (University of Regina Press)
Performing Turtle Island: Indigenous Theatre on the World Stage by Jesse Rae Archibald-Barber, Kathleen Irwin, and Moira J. Day (eds) (University of Regina Press)
When We Had Sled Dogs: A Story from the Trapline by Ida Tremblay and Miriam Körner (Your Nickel's Worth Publishing)
Imagining Child Welfare in the Spirit of Reconciliation: Voices from the Prairies edited by Dorothy Badry, H. Monty Montgomery, Daniel Kikulwe, Marlyn Bennett and Don Fuchs (eds.) (University of Regina Press)
Lac Pelletier: My Métis Home, by Cecile Blanke (née LaRoque) (Gabriel Dumont Institute Press)
Creative Saskatchewan Publishing Award
In My Own Moccasins: A Memoir of Resilience by Helen Knott (University of Regina Press)
Phases by Belinda Betker (Coteau Books)
Black Writers Matter by Whitney French (ed.) (University of Regina Press)
Angry Queer Somali Boy: A Complicated Memoir by Mohamed Abdulkarim Ali (University of Regina Press)
When We Had Sled Dogs, A Story from the Trapline by Ida Tremblay and Miriam Körner (Your Nickel's Worth Publishing)
Saskatoon Public Library Indigenous Peoples’ Publishing Award
The Voyageurs: Forefathers of the Metis Nation by Zoey Roy (Gabriel Dumont Institute Press)
Performing Turtle Island: Indigenous Theatre on the World Stage edited by Jesse Archibald-Barber, Kathleen Irwin, and Moira J. Day (eds.) (University of Regina Press)
In My Own Moccasins: A Memoir of Resilience by Helen Knott (University of Regina Press)
No Surrender: The Land Remains Indigenous by Sheldon Krasowski (University of Regina Press)
Adam’s Tree by Gloria Mehlmann (Radiant Press)
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The Saskatchewan Book Awards will be announcing its "Shortlist" for the 2020 Saskatchewan Book Awards on Friday, February 14, at Noon. The announcement will take place simultaneously at the Regina Public Library and the Saskatoon Public Library. It will be the beginning of a year-long celebration of Saskatchewan literary and publishing excellence. Stay tuned!
Furthermore, the 2020 Saskatchewan Book Awards will take place on Saturday, April 25, 2020. Once again, it will take place in Regina at the Conexus Arts Centre. Come celebrate literary excellence with some of Saskatchewan's (and Canada's) best writers and publishers. Stay tuned for when tickets go on sale. Don't miss out!
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I have been a librarian since 2005 – and I have been a bibliophile for far longer than I care to admit -- so for me having an evening celebrating the literary and publishing talent of Saskatchewan is the equivalent of the buzz one hears at several author readings combined into one. A room of twenty people talking about a specific author before and after an author reading is about having several conversations – either talking about previous works in anticipation of the reading (as well as catching up with friends and neighbours) to after the reading as soon as the Q & A session is over.
The writing and publishing of a book is a painstaking and often lonely process that combines creativity with that of a business model in order to provide a final product for Saskatchewan readers. The relationship an individual has with a book is also a solitary exercise. The reader is actually engaging in an act of receiving and interpreting the story as told by the author. Therefore, an author reading serves to bring together readers in a community setting. It is also a rare moment when an author directly engages with her reading public and vice versa. The author reads a part of her work, explains her creative process, and answers questions about character and plot lines. Not only does the community benefit from having a relationship in person with an author they admire the author also engages her reading public in a way that goes beyond the solitary process of writing. Interpretations by readers may stimulate new ideas for future work as well as point out observations about a character in the work the author herself has not considered. Relationships between authors and readers are developed.
Over the years I have hosted author readings by Saskatchewan writers as varied as Arthur Slade whose Young Adult books are of Saskatchewan Book and Governor General Award winning-calibre; to Gail Bowen whose mysteries have a national and an international following; to poet Louise Halfe, whose vivid prose entrances; to James Daschuk, whose work is part of the national conversation about Indigenous rights. Books can entertain, inform, or even provoke the reader. Ulimately, the best authors engage their readers.
I am looking forward to being in the company of Saskatchewan’s talented writers, publishers, and most importantly, eager readers at the 2020 Saskatchewan Book Awards on Saturday, April 25, 2020, at the Conexus Arts Centre, in Regina. I hope that many Saskatchewan readers will join me in a celebration of Saskatchewan literary excellence.
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To Saskatchewan Book Awards many Friends our office will be closed from Tueday, December 24, 2019 to Thursday, January 2, 2020. The office will reopen on Friday, January 23, 2020.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year from the SBA Board, Executive Director, and volunteers!