The finalists for the 20th anniversary of the Saskatchewan Book Awards were announced Feb. 14 in Regina and Saskatoon.

According to program director Carol Todd, this year’s nominees showcase “the richness of the Saskatchewan literary community.” The shortlists represent books from a wide range of genres and diverse cultural heritages.

The award will be presented April 27 at a ceremony held at the Conexus Arts Centre in Regina. A Festival of Readings by former winners will be held at Regina’s MacKenzie Art Gallery before the gala.

Aboriginal Peoples’ Writing Award

• Leah Marie Dorion; Norman Fleury, trans., The Diamond Willow Walking Stick: A Traditional Métis Story about Generosity (Gabriel Dumont Institute)
• STR8UP and Gangs: The Untold Stories (Heart My Heart Books)
• Blair Stonechild, Buffy Sainte-Marie: It’s My Way (Fifth House)

Book of the Year

• Bridget Keating, Red Ceiling (Hagios Press)
• Dave Margoshes, A Book of Great Worth (Coteau Books)
• Harriet Richards, The Pious Robber (Thistledown Press)
• Candace Savage, A Geography of Blood: Unearthing Memory from a Prairie Landscape (Greystone Books)
• Melanie Schnell, While the Sun Is Above Us (Freehand Press)
• Donald Ward, The Weeping Chair (Thistledown)

Fiction Award

• Dave Margoshes, A Book of Great Worth (Coteau)
• Harriet Richards, The Pious Robber (Thistledown)
• Melanie Schnell, While the Sun Is Above Us (Freehand)
• Seán Virgo, Dibidalen (Thistledown)
• Donald Ward, The Weeping Chair (Thistledown)

First Book Award

• Sandy Bonny, The Sometimes Lake (Thistledown)
• Bridget Keating, Red Ceiling (Hagios)
• Allison Kydd, Emily Via the Greyhound Bus (Thistledown)
• Melanie Schnell, While the Sun Is Above Us (Freehand)
• Mitch Spray, The History of Naming Cows (Hagios)
• Cassie Stocks, Dance, Gladys, Dance (NeWest Press)

Non-Fiction Award

• Lynn Gidluck, Visionaries, Crusaders, and Firebrands: The Idealistic Canadians Who Built the NDP (James Lorimer & Company)
• Muriel A. Jarvis and Mary E. Vandergoot, Thin Pink Lines: My Life as a Nurse & Beyond (Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing)
• Alexandra Popoff, The Wives: The Women Behind Russia’s Literary Giants (Pegasus Books)
• Candace Savage, A Geography of Blood: Unearthing Memory from a Prairie Landscape (Greystone)
• Brenda Schmidt, Flight Calls: An Apprentice on the Art of Listening (Kalamalka Press)
• Garrett Wilson, In the Temple of the Rain God: The Life and Times of Irish Charlie Wilson (CPRC Press/University of Regina)

Poetry Award

• Leah Horlick, Riot Lung (Thistledown)
• Barbara Langhorst, Restless White Fields (NeWest)
• Jeanette Lynes, Archive of the Undressed (Wolsak & Wynn)
• Brenda Schmidt, Grid (Hagios)

Prix du livre Français

• Françoise Sigur-Cloutier and Mireille Lavoie ed., Théâtre fransaskois 5 (Les Ã‰ditions de la nouvelle plume)
• Madeleine Blais-Dahlem, La Maculée (Les Ã‰ditions de la nouvelle plume)
• Martine Noël-Maw, Les fantômes de Spiritwood (Les Éditions de la nouvelle plume)

Regina Book Award

• Bridget Keating, Red Ceiling (Hagios)
• Melanie Schnell, While the Sun Is Above Us (Freehand)
• Coby Stephenson, Violet Quesnel (Thistledown)
• Carlos David Londoño Sulkin, People of Substance: An Ethnography of Morality in the Colombian Amazon (University of Toronto Press)
• Garrett Wilson, In the Temple of the Rain God: The Life and Times of Irish Charlie Wilson (CPRC/University of Regina)

Saskatoon Book Award

• Jeanette Lynes, Archive of the Undressed (Wolsak & Wynn)
• Dave Margoshes, A Book of Great Worth (Coteau)
• Barbara Sapergia, Blood and Salt: A Novel (Coteau)
• Candace Savage, A Geography of Blood: Unearthing Memory from a Prairie Landscape (Greystone)
• Donald Ward, The Weeping Chair (Thistledown)

Scholarly Book Award

• Jen Butney, ed., Ruth Cuthand: Back Talk (Works 1983-2009) (Mendel Art Gallery/Tribe Inc.)
• Felix Hoehn, Reconciling Sovereignties: Aboriginal Nations and Canada (Native Law Centre)
• David P. McGrane, ed., New Directions in Saskatchewan Public Policy (CPRC/University of Regina)

Young Adult Literature Award

• Beverly Brenna, The White Bicycle (Red Deer Press)
• Beth Goobie, Born Ugly (Red Deer)
• Alice Kuipers, 40 Things I Want to Tell You (HarperCollins Canada)
• Arthur Slade, The Island of Doom (HarperCollins Canada)

Aboriginal Peoples’ Publishing Award

• Lisa Bird-Wilson, An Institute of Our Own: A History of the Gabriel Dumont Institute (Gabriel Dumont Institute)
• Jen Butney, ed., Ruth Cuthand: Back Talk (Works 1983-2009) (Mendel Art Gallery/Tribe Inc.)
• Leah Marie Dorion; Norman Fleury, trans., The Diamond Willow Walking Stick: A Traditional Métis Story about Generosity (Gabriel Dumont Institute)
• Jacqueline Guest, Outcasts of River Falls (Coteau)

Publishing Award

• Jen Butney, ed., Ruth Cuthand: Back Talk (Works 1983-2009) (Mendel Art Gallery/Tribe Inc.)
• Leah Marie Dorion; Norman Fleury, trans., The Diamond Willow Walking Stick: A Traditional Métis Story about Generosity (Gabriel Dumont Institute)
• Dave Margoshes, A Book of Great Worth (Coteau)
• Hansen-Ross Pottery: Pioneering Fine Craft on the Canadian Prairies (Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery)
• Garrett Wilson, In the Temple of the Rain God: The Life and Times of Irish Charlie Wilson (CPRC Press)
• Sarah Kathryn York, The Anatomy of Edouard Beaupré (Coteau)

Publishing in Education

• Leah Marie Dorion; Norman Fleury, trans., The Diamond Willow Walking Stick: A Traditional Métis Story about Generosity (Gabriel Dumont Institute)
• Penny Draper, Day of the Cyclone (Coteau)
• Thomas Isaac, Aboriginal Law: Commentary and Analysis (Purich Publishing)
• Doris Jean MacKinnon, The Identities of Marie Rose Delorme Smith: Portrait of a Métis Woman 1861-1960 (CPRC/University of Regina)
• David P. McGrane, ed., New Directions in Saskatchewan Public Policy (CPRC Press/University of Regina)
• Marion Mutala, Wendy Siemens, illus., Baba’s Babushka: A Magical Ukrainian Easter (Your Nickel’s Worth)