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BC BOOK PRIZES 2003: Tugs & Heartstrings
A coffee table book about tugboats was selected by B.C. booksellers as their favourite title to sell in 2002 and the cancer-stricken novelist Carol Shields of Victoria delivered an unforgettable acceptance speech-even though she was at home in bed-at the 19th annual B.C. Book Prizes awards dinner in Vancouver, April 26, at the Bayshore Inn.
With well-considered stagecraft, Shields' daughter Anne Giardini accepted the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize for her mother's final novel, Unless (Random House), holding aloft a cell phone. "Well, I have a phone call to make,"; she said. "So you'll have to bear with me for a moment.";
And it was only a moment.
Shields was waiting, like one of those 'ask a friend' experts on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. As the phone rang, Giardini confided, "She and Dad spent the day in bed together."; There was a slight pause. "He said parts of it were wonderful.";
Then Giardini cooed into the telephone, with sing-song tenderness, making sure everyone in the room could hear. "You won."; The audience of almost 400 people burst into applause, on cue, as Giardini held aloft the phone. It amounted to 30 seconds of kindness and reaching out to a family coping remarkably well with mortality.
"Anything you want to tell them?"; Giardini asked, teasingly. Having spent much of her writing career in Winnipeg, Carol Shields conveyed a compliment back to the audience. "Mom is thrilled to be living in British Columbia,"; said Giardini, "but don't tell anybody in Manitoba."; Some audience members were moved to tears when Giardini switched to a whispering voice to conclude the call.
"Goodnight. Love you. Bye.";
After hanging up, Giardini commended emcee Bill Richardson, poetry nominee Patrick Friesen and Vancouver Writers Festival organizer Alma Lee-all of whom were present-for being such close friends during her mother's illness. It was one of the finest acceptance speeches in the 19-year history of the event, rivaling sculptor Bill Reid's quivering-with-Parkinson's spiel about saving Haida Gwaii in 1985, First Nation kidlit author Shirley Sterling's tear-jerking tribute to her mother in Penticton in 1993 and Rita Moir's inspired male-bashing harangue in 2000.
Unless is also in contention for the 2003 Orange Prize, the world's most lucrative award for fiction, and was previously nominated for the Governor General's Award, the Booker Prize and the Giller Prize.
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CBC cameraman and stills photographer Robb Douglas took home the Bill Duthie Booksellers Choice Award with writers Peter Robson and Betty Keller, along with the publisher of the coffee table book, Howard White, for their collaborative work, Skookum Tugs (Harbour Publishing), an appreciation of the coastal tugboat industry. "I'm totally shocked,"; said Douglas, who admitted to being obsessive about the project. "I know I was a total pain in the ass."; The Booksellers' Choice award is shared by the winning book's publisher. "This is a terrific honour because of the other books nominated for this award,"; said White. "We only had to look at the amazing quality of Rob's photos to know we wanted to do a book.";
Harbour Publishing also claimed the Roderick Haig-Brown Prize for best book about the province with Tong: The Story of Tong Louie, Vancouver's Quiet Titan by former public relations man Ernest Perrault. Well-edited and entirely complimentary, this tribute to the less-than-forthcoming London Drugs owner also provides an intelligent overview of racial issues and social progress pertaining to Chinese Canadians in the Lower Mainland. Perrault was enthusiastic about the collaborative work that enabled his manuscript to become a fully-fledged work of history, as much as it's a biography.
-
bill bissett was in Toronto for an opening of his latest art exhibit, unable to receive his Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize for peter among th towring boxes (Talonbooks). His publisher Karl Siegler of Powell River succinctly accepted the $2,000 prize. "Speaking for bill, I can only think of one word to say, and that is raging."; bissett is well-known for uttering either the words 'raging' or 'brilliant' to express his deep satisfaction with life and its myriad of wonders.
-
The surprise-and surprised-winners of the evening were the wife-and-husband team of writer Sandra Shields (no relation to Carol Shields) and photographer David Campion who took home the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize for Where Fire Speaks (Arsenal Pulp), an appreciation of the Himba tribe in Namibia. Having spent two months with the cattle-raising Himbas, they thanked editor Stephen Osborn for his essential support and encouragement. "Wow!"; said Campion. "I'm really kind of honoured. There's really some heavy books out there.";
-
Clearly a gifted writer in private, James Heneghan won an unprecedented third Sheila Egoff Children's Prize (for text) for his novel Flood (Groundwood). He joylessly thanked editor Norma Charles and his wife. Adult fiction writer Audrey Thomas is the only other author to have scored a literary hat trick at the Book Prizes.
-
Relatives of the late Christie Harris turned out in full force for the first presentation of the Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Prize. Presenter Ron Jobe of UBC's Language & Literacy Dept. gave the performance of his dreams, ignoring instructions to limit his remarks to five minutes, endeavoring to whip his audience into a Canucks-styled, white-napkin-twirling frenzy.
Jobe's protracted exuberance led to a confusing finale. The winning illustrator was Karen Reczuch of Acton, Ontario, for a book published in Ontario, Salmon Creek (Groundwood). Salmon Creek writer Annette LeBox gleefully accepted the illustration prize.
-
Other presenters were CBC host Mark Forsythe, Vancouver Sun book pages editor Rebecca Wigod, Vancouver Writers Festival coordinator Alma Lee, BCBW publisher Alan Twigg, writer Aislinn Hunter and the new president of the B.C. Booksellers' Association, Robert Wiersema, a book reviewer who works for Munro's Books of Victoria.
-
Wearing high heels, a kilt, a blouse, pearls and a tam-o'-shanter, half-cross-dressed Bill Richardson of CBC radio started the formal proceedings with a toast to the reader. Dressed like a split personality, Richardson nimbly skirted the borderline between media guy and literary guy.
Intimately involved in the writing game, he was one of the most comfortable, versatile emcees in Book Prizes history, delivering erudite commentary about the book industry while dropping self-referential quips about his attire.
"I thought I should move into modeling for romance covers,"; he said, going for "a kind of hybrid look, half Braveheart, half Mary Tyler Moore.";
-
THE JUDGES: Hélène Cyr, Sheryl MacKay, Harold Rhenisch (Evans Prize); James Delgado, Terry Glavin, Alex Rose (Haig-Brown Prize); Janice Douglas, Sandy Duncan, Eva Wilson (Egoff Prize), Sue-Ann Alderson, Judith Saltman, Deborah Zagwyn (Harris Prize), Roy Miki, Susan Musgrave, Patricia Young (Livesay Prize) and Alma Lee, William New and George McWhirter (Wilson Prize).
[SUMMER 2003 BCBW]
With well-considered stagecraft, Shields' daughter Anne Giardini accepted the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize for her mother's final novel, Unless (Random House), holding aloft a cell phone. "Well, I have a phone call to make,"; she said. "So you'll have to bear with me for a moment.";
And it was only a moment.
Shields was waiting, like one of those 'ask a friend' experts on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. As the phone rang, Giardini confided, "She and Dad spent the day in bed together."; There was a slight pause. "He said parts of it were wonderful.";
Then Giardini cooed into the telephone, with sing-song tenderness, making sure everyone in the room could hear. "You won."; The audience of almost 400 people burst into applause, on cue, as Giardini held aloft the phone. It amounted to 30 seconds of kindness and reaching out to a family coping remarkably well with mortality.
"Anything you want to tell them?"; Giardini asked, teasingly. Having spent much of her writing career in Winnipeg, Carol Shields conveyed a compliment back to the audience. "Mom is thrilled to be living in British Columbia,"; said Giardini, "but don't tell anybody in Manitoba."; Some audience members were moved to tears when Giardini switched to a whispering voice to conclude the call.
"Goodnight. Love you. Bye.";
After hanging up, Giardini commended emcee Bill Richardson, poetry nominee Patrick Friesen and Vancouver Writers Festival organizer Alma Lee-all of whom were present-for being such close friends during her mother's illness. It was one of the finest acceptance speeches in the 19-year history of the event, rivaling sculptor Bill Reid's quivering-with-Parkinson's spiel about saving Haida Gwaii in 1985, First Nation kidlit author Shirley Sterling's tear-jerking tribute to her mother in Penticton in 1993 and Rita Moir's inspired male-bashing harangue in 2000.
Unless is also in contention for the 2003 Orange Prize, the world's most lucrative award for fiction, and was previously nominated for the Governor General's Award, the Booker Prize and the Giller Prize.
-
CBC cameraman and stills photographer Robb Douglas took home the Bill Duthie Booksellers Choice Award with writers Peter Robson and Betty Keller, along with the publisher of the coffee table book, Howard White, for their collaborative work, Skookum Tugs (Harbour Publishing), an appreciation of the coastal tugboat industry. "I'm totally shocked,"; said Douglas, who admitted to being obsessive about the project. "I know I was a total pain in the ass."; The Booksellers' Choice award is shared by the winning book's publisher. "This is a terrific honour because of the other books nominated for this award,"; said White. "We only had to look at the amazing quality of Rob's photos to know we wanted to do a book.";
Harbour Publishing also claimed the Roderick Haig-Brown Prize for best book about the province with Tong: The Story of Tong Louie, Vancouver's Quiet Titan by former public relations man Ernest Perrault. Well-edited and entirely complimentary, this tribute to the less-than-forthcoming London Drugs owner also provides an intelligent overview of racial issues and social progress pertaining to Chinese Canadians in the Lower Mainland. Perrault was enthusiastic about the collaborative work that enabled his manuscript to become a fully-fledged work of history, as much as it's a biography.
-
bill bissett was in Toronto for an opening of his latest art exhibit, unable to receive his Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize for peter among th towring boxes (Talonbooks). His publisher Karl Siegler of Powell River succinctly accepted the $2,000 prize. "Speaking for bill, I can only think of one word to say, and that is raging."; bissett is well-known for uttering either the words 'raging' or 'brilliant' to express his deep satisfaction with life and its myriad of wonders.
-
The surprise-and surprised-winners of the evening were the wife-and-husband team of writer Sandra Shields (no relation to Carol Shields) and photographer David Campion who took home the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize for Where Fire Speaks (Arsenal Pulp), an appreciation of the Himba tribe in Namibia. Having spent two months with the cattle-raising Himbas, they thanked editor Stephen Osborn for his essential support and encouragement. "Wow!"; said Campion. "I'm really kind of honoured. There's really some heavy books out there.";
-
Clearly a gifted writer in private, James Heneghan won an unprecedented third Sheila Egoff Children's Prize (for text) for his novel Flood (Groundwood). He joylessly thanked editor Norma Charles and his wife. Adult fiction writer Audrey Thomas is the only other author to have scored a literary hat trick at the Book Prizes.
-
Relatives of the late Christie Harris turned out in full force for the first presentation of the Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Prize. Presenter Ron Jobe of UBC's Language & Literacy Dept. gave the performance of his dreams, ignoring instructions to limit his remarks to five minutes, endeavoring to whip his audience into a Canucks-styled, white-napkin-twirling frenzy.
Jobe's protracted exuberance led to a confusing finale. The winning illustrator was Karen Reczuch of Acton, Ontario, for a book published in Ontario, Salmon Creek (Groundwood). Salmon Creek writer Annette LeBox gleefully accepted the illustration prize.
-
Other presenters were CBC host Mark Forsythe, Vancouver Sun book pages editor Rebecca Wigod, Vancouver Writers Festival coordinator Alma Lee, BCBW publisher Alan Twigg, writer Aislinn Hunter and the new president of the B.C. Booksellers' Association, Robert Wiersema, a book reviewer who works for Munro's Books of Victoria.
-
Wearing high heels, a kilt, a blouse, pearls and a tam-o'-shanter, half-cross-dressed Bill Richardson of CBC radio started the formal proceedings with a toast to the reader. Dressed like a split personality, Richardson nimbly skirted the borderline between media guy and literary guy.
Intimately involved in the writing game, he was one of the most comfortable, versatile emcees in Book Prizes history, delivering erudite commentary about the book industry while dropping self-referential quips about his attire.
"I thought I should move into modeling for romance covers,"; he said, going for "a kind of hybrid look, half Braveheart, half Mary Tyler Moore.";
-
THE JUDGES: Hélène Cyr, Sheryl MacKay, Harold Rhenisch (Evans Prize); James Delgado, Terry Glavin, Alex Rose (Haig-Brown Prize); Janice Douglas, Sandy Duncan, Eva Wilson (Egoff Prize), Sue-Ann Alderson, Judith Saltman, Deborah Zagwyn (Harris Prize), Roy Miki, Susan Musgrave, Patricia Young (Livesay Prize) and Alma Lee, William New and George McWhirter (Wilson Prize).
[SUMMER 2003 BCBW]
Submitted on June 2, 2003 in By David.
