At the Victoria Book Prize Society awards gala this evening, two Greater
Victoria authors were recognized for their literary achievement.

Stephen Reid, author of A Crowbar in the Buddhist Garden (Thistledown Press),
won the tenth annual City of Victoria Butler Book Prize; and Polly Horvath,
author of One Year in Coal Harbour (Groundwood Books), won the sixth annual Bolen Books Children's Book Prize. Colin Holt of Bolen Books
presented Horvath with a cheque for $5,000. Mayor Dean Fortin and Brian
Butler of Butler Brothers Supplies Ltd. presented the $5000 prize to Al
Forrie of Thistledown Press, Reid's publisher.

In his collection of essays, A Crowbar in the Buddhist Garden, Reid has
created an affecting book about growing old in prison. He grapples with
issues such as the painful separation of family and friends and the nature
of addiction. Jurors for the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize writer George
Fetherling, academic/editor Laurie Ricou, and librarian Michelle Whitehead
had this to say of the winning book: "Framed by a sharply observed,
imaginatively speculative, and risky exploration of beachcombing, Stephen
Reid's A Crowbar in the Buddhist Garden is a prison ethnography taut with
wit and humanity.";

Stephen Reid began writing in 1984 while serving a 21-year prison
sentence for his role as a member of the "Stopwatch Gang." He has written
a novel, Jackrabbit Parole, as well as articles and essays in a variety of
journals, magazines and newspapers. He has taught creative writing,
worked as a youth counselor, and served on boards for the John Howard
Society, Prison Arts Foundation, PEN Canada, Spirit of the People and the
Journal of Prisoners on Prisons. Reid is married to writer Susan Musgrave.

The other finalists were C.P. Boyko for Psychology and Other Stories
(Biblioasis), Christina Johnson-Dean for The Life and Art of Ina D.D.
Uhthoff, (Mother Tongue) Lorna Crozier for The Book of Marvels: A
Compendium of Everyday Things (Greystone) and Bill Gaston for The
World. (Hamish Hamilton).

In Horvath's One Year in Coal Harbour, Primrose Squarp is back! The wise
and curious heroine of the Newbery Honor Book Everything on a Waffle is
facing another adventure-filled year in Coal Harbour. Primrose's parents
are safe at home, having once been lost at sea. But now other people and
places that Primrose loves are in precarious circumstances. Through a
year of turmoil, Primrose is undaunted as she tries to save what matters to
her.

Jurors for the Bolen Books Children's Book Prize Leslie Hudson, librarian,
Freda Nobbs, bookseller and writer Beryl Young had this to say about the
winning entry, "Woven throughout are glimpses of just what it means to be
alive, of how to discern what you truly value and cherish, how to find
beauty, even when it's wrapped in anger and pain. Brimming with wit, imagination, and insight, One Year in Coal Harbour is at once contemporary and timeless.";

Polly Horvath is one of the most highly acclaimed authors writing today.
Her books include The Canning Season (winner of the National Book
Award and the CLA Young Adult Book Award), Everything on a Waffle (a
Newbery Honor Book, an ALA Notable Book and winner of the Mr. Christie's Book Award and the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize),
The Trolls (a National Book Award finalist), My One Hundred Adventures
(a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, a Booklist Editors'
Choice, a Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Book of the Year and winner of a NAPPA Gold Award and the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize),
and Northward to the Moon (an Oprah's Book Club Kids' Reading List
selection and winner of a Parents' Choice Gold Award). Her next book,
Lord and Lady Bunny: Detectives Extraordinaire! will be published in
February 2014.

The other finalists were Sarah N. Harvey for Three Little Words and Kit
Pearson for And Nothing But the Truth.
The 10-year anniversary gala, held at the Union Club was emceed by Jo-
Ann Roberts of CBC's "All Points West."; Janet Marie Rogers, Poet Laureate for the City of Victoria, opened the evening with a reading from her recent work. Founders of the Victoria Book Prize Society Bess Jillings, Robert Kennedy, Richard Olafson, Dennis Reid, Stephen Scobie, and Jim Munro were on hand to celebrate 10 years of celebrating local writers as
were many previous winners.

Founded in 2004, the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize is a partnership
between the City of Victoria and Brian Butler of Butler Brothers Supplies.
The Bolen Books Children's Book Prize was founded in 2008 and is funded by Bolen Books. This year's sponsors include the Union Club, Greater Victoria Public Library, the Magnolia Hotel and Spa, CBC Radio, Island Blue Print, and Thrifty Foods.

The Victoria Book Prize Society establishes the policy and criteria for the prizes, appoints the juries, and administers the competitions. For more information visit www.victoriabookprizes.ca.