Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival has announced the shortlists for the annual Banff Mountain Book Competition.

Nine Canadian authors are shortlisted for the various prizes.

Seven awards honour the best of international mountain literature: environmental literature, adventure travel, mountain image, guidebooks, mountain article, climbing literature, and mountain literature (this year combining nonfiction, fiction, and poetry). The grand prize is chosen from among the category winners.

This year’s judges are authors David Chambre, Lauren DeLaunay Miller, and Rob Lovell.

Category winners will be announced mid-October, with the grand prize winner, chosen from the category winners, announced on Nov. 5 at the festival.

The Canadian nominees are:

Adventure Travel

• Vanished Beyond the Map: The Mystery of Lost Explorer Hubert Darrell by Adam Shoalts (Allen Lane Canada/Penguin Random House Canada)

Environmental Literature 

• Black Bear: A Story of Siblinghood and Survival by Trina Moyles (Knopf Canada/Penguin Random House Canada)
• Understory: An Ecologist’s Memoir of Loss and Hope by Kevin Van Tighem (Rocky Mountain Books) Review
• When the Forest Breathes: Renewal and Resilience in the Natural World by Suzanne Simard (Allen Lane Canada/PRHC)

Mountain Image

• Spirit of the Great Bear by Jack Plant (Figure 1 Publishing)

Mountain Literature

• Among the Pale Spires: The Life and Verse of Antonia Pozzi by David Smart (Rocky Mountain Books)
• How to Survive a Bear Attack by Claire Cameron (Knopf Canada/PRHC)
• Lone Wolf: Walking the Line Between Civilization and Wildness by Adam Weymouth (Knopf Canada/Penguin Random House Canada)
• Rufous and Calliope by Sarah Louise Butler (Douglas & McIntyre) Review

This article contains affiliate links. Quill & Quire has partnered with Booksellers.ca, a network of more than 180 independent bookstores across Canada, so we may earn a small commission when you purchase through links on our site — at no additional cost to you. More about Booksellers.ca.