Home
BC Book Prizes 2006
There were 302 entries for this year's B.C. Book Prizes, capably hosted by Bill Richardson. For only the second time in 22 years, neither Douglas & McIntyre nor Harbour Publishing had a winning title.
In the six categories for which books published outside of the province were eligible, the only homemade winner was Stan Persky for The Short Version: An ABC Book (New Star). Accepting the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize on behalf of Persky, who was in Berlin, his usually talkative publisher Rolf Maurer told an audience of nearly 400 people at the Marriott Pinnacle Hotel in Vancouver, "Gosh. I'm non-plussed.";
The best-crafted Book Prize acceptance speeches came from John Vaillant and James Delgado. Delgado, co-recipient of the BC Booksellers' Choice Award in Honour of Bill Duthie, for Waterfront: The Illustrated Maritime Story of Greater Vancouver (Stanton, Atkins & Dosil), recently announced his plans to resign as the Director of the Vancouver Maritime Museum, a position he has held since 1991. "In many ways Waterfront is the Maritime Museum I [had] hoped to build in this community,"; he said, regretfully.
Vaillant picked up his third major prize of the year for The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness and Greed (Knopf), winner of the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize. "To be associated in any way with Roderick Haig-Brown is a great honour,"; said Vaillant, "To have it recognized and received locally is the greatest honour I could receive."; The smoothly-run affair included more than its usual share of surprised winners.
"This is quite a shocking honour,"; said Tanya Lloyd Kyi, winner of the Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize for The Blue Jean Book: The Story Behind the Seams (Annick Press). Her history of blue jeans for young readers was a project suggested to her by Colleen MacMillan of Annick Press.
"I'm quite humbled,"; said Barbara Nickel, accepting the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize for Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach (Penguin). Nickel acknowledged the influence of the UBC Creative Writing program and fellow writer Rhea Tregabov. "Wow,"; said Charlotte Gill, accepting the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize for Ladykiller, a short story collection that doubled as her thesis at the UBC Creative Writing program. "It's amazing how nervous one can be when they haven't prepared anything.";
The shortest speech [non-speech] came from Meredith Quartermain, winner of the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize for Vancouver Walking (NeWest Press). "I have nothing, even jotted down, to say,"; she said.
Some of the best lines of the evening came from new Book Prizes president Michael Hayward who noted publishing "is a relatively slow way to make a fortune."; Jack Hodgins ended the night on a high note, accepting the third Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence with a typically self-effacing view of his writing career, including a tribute to his wife of 45 years, Diane, "who, when I told her what I wanted to do with my life, she married me anyway.";
[Jack Hodgins' speech is posted at www.abcbookworld.com under Hodgins].
[BCBW 2006]
In the six categories for which books published outside of the province were eligible, the only homemade winner was Stan Persky for The Short Version: An ABC Book (New Star). Accepting the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize on behalf of Persky, who was in Berlin, his usually talkative publisher Rolf Maurer told an audience of nearly 400 people at the Marriott Pinnacle Hotel in Vancouver, "Gosh. I'm non-plussed.";
The best-crafted Book Prize acceptance speeches came from John Vaillant and James Delgado. Delgado, co-recipient of the BC Booksellers' Choice Award in Honour of Bill Duthie, for Waterfront: The Illustrated Maritime Story of Greater Vancouver (Stanton, Atkins & Dosil), recently announced his plans to resign as the Director of the Vancouver Maritime Museum, a position he has held since 1991. "In many ways Waterfront is the Maritime Museum I [had] hoped to build in this community,"; he said, regretfully.
Vaillant picked up his third major prize of the year for The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness and Greed (Knopf), winner of the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize. "To be associated in any way with Roderick Haig-Brown is a great honour,"; said Vaillant, "To have it recognized and received locally is the greatest honour I could receive."; The smoothly-run affair included more than its usual share of surprised winners.
"This is quite a shocking honour,"; said Tanya Lloyd Kyi, winner of the Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize for The Blue Jean Book: The Story Behind the Seams (Annick Press). Her history of blue jeans for young readers was a project suggested to her by Colleen MacMillan of Annick Press.
"I'm quite humbled,"; said Barbara Nickel, accepting the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize for Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach (Penguin). Nickel acknowledged the influence of the UBC Creative Writing program and fellow writer Rhea Tregabov. "Wow,"; said Charlotte Gill, accepting the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize for Ladykiller, a short story collection that doubled as her thesis at the UBC Creative Writing program. "It's amazing how nervous one can be when they haven't prepared anything.";
The shortest speech [non-speech] came from Meredith Quartermain, winner of the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize for Vancouver Walking (NeWest Press). "I have nothing, even jotted down, to say,"; she said.
Some of the best lines of the evening came from new Book Prizes president Michael Hayward who noted publishing "is a relatively slow way to make a fortune."; Jack Hodgins ended the night on a high note, accepting the third Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence with a typically self-effacing view of his writing career, including a tribute to his wife of 45 years, Diane, "who, when I told her what I wanted to do with my life, she married me anyway.";
[Jack Hodgins' speech is posted at www.abcbookworld.com under Hodgins].
[BCBW 2006]
Submitted on June 6, 2006 in By David.
