A trio of writers from the Vancouver Island area were victorious this weekend at the sa国际传媒 and Yukon Book Prizes gala in Vancouver.
Luschiim Arvid Charlie, who is based in the Cowichan Valley, and Nanaimo’s Nancy J. Turner, were awarded the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize, which recognizes the author(s) of the book that contributes most to the enjoyment and understanding of British Columbia and Yukon.The pair won for Luschiim’s Plants: Traditional Indigenous Foods, Materials and Medicine, a collection of botanical information which categorizes over 140 plants and their traditional uses by Coast Salish peoples.
Galiano Island-based writer Audrey Thomas was honoured with the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence, for her contributions to the literary community and industry in British Columbia. Thomas, who was made an Officer of the Order of sa国际传媒 in 2008, has won multiple Writers’ Trust of sa国际传媒 awards during her career, and was twice shortlisted for Governor-General’s Awards for fiction.
The awards were given out Sept.24 during a gala at the University Golf Club in Vancouver hosted by Jillian Christmas. The winners of each award receive a cash prize of $3,000, in addition to a certificate.
Winners were selected through a juried system, with five finalists in each prize category.
