For the second time in its 18-year history, two publications have been chosen as co-winners of the City of Vancouver Book Award.

Jean Barman's Stanley Park's Secret (Harbour Publishing) and James Delgado's Waterfront (Stanton Atkins & Dosil) were both cited for excellence in their quality of research and craftsmanship of design.

Mayor Sam Sullivan presented the award to Barman and Mark Stanton (Delgado's publisher) during a Vancouver City Council meeting on Tuesday afternoon. Barman and Delgado will split the $2,000 prize.

An independent jury was impressed by Barman's thorough research and convincingly delivered analysis in Stanley Park's Secret, which uncovers a suppressed history of the First Nations and Kanakan occupation of Stanley Park. The jury found Waterfront to be an elegantly illustrated book which provides a comprehensive history of local maritime history, geography, industry and culture.

Barman is an historian in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of B.C. and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Delgado is the Executive Director of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology, and for 15 years was the Director of the Vancouver Maritime Museum.

The City of Vancouver Book Award is presented annually to authors of books in any genre that demonstrate excellence and enhance our understanding of Vancouver's rich history and culture. The independent jury who chose the winners and the four shortlisted titles included bookseller Rod Clarke; University of B.C. English professor Glenn Deer; and Laurie Roggeman, former president of the Friends of the Vancouver Public Library.

The other finalists for this year's award were: Derek Hayes for Historical Atlas of Vancouver and the Lower Fraser Valley (Douglas & McIntyre) and Abraham J. Rogatnick, Ian M. Thom, and Adele Weder for B.C. Binning (Douglas & McIntyre).

-- City of Vancouver