The Book Publishers Association of Alberta has announced the shortlist for the 2021 Alberta Book Publishing Awards. The juries selected the shortlisted titles in 13 categories from 109 submitted titles. The winners will be announced in a virtual presentation on the organization’s YouTube channel on Sept. 17.

The finalists are:

Book of the Year Award – Trade Fiction

• Stonehouse Publishing for Humane by Anna Marie Sewell
• NeWest Press for Goth Girls of Banff by John O’Neill
• Freehand Books for Watershed by Doreen Vanderstoop

Book of the Year Award – Trade Non-fiction

• University of Alberta Press for An Autobiography of the Autobiography of Reading by Dionne Brand
• NeWest Press for Taken by the Muse: On the Path to Becoming a Filmmaker by Anne Wheeler
• Eschia Books for Mother Earth Plants for Health & Beauty by Carrie Armstrong

Robert Kroetsch Award for Poetry

• NeWest Press for Lullabies in the Real World by Meredith Quartermain
• University of Calgary Press for The Manhattan Project by Ken Hunt
• Frontenac House Ltd. for Nautilus and Bone by Lisa Richter
• NeWest Press for The Response of Weeds by Bertrand Bickersteth

Book of the Year Award – Children and YA

• Renegade Arts Entertainment for ABC Monstrosity by Shea Proulx
• Renegade Arts Entertainment for A Slug Story by Mandi & Hana Kujawa
• Tyche Books for Hollow by Rhonda Parrish
• Red Barn Books for Howdy, I’m John Ware by Ayesha Clough and Hugh Rookwood

Book of the Year Award – Speculative Fiction

• Laksa Media Groups Inc. for Flights of Marigold by Susan Forest
• Renegade Arts Entertainment for Gothic Tales of Haunted Futures edited by S.M. Beiko
• NeWest Press for In Veritas by C.J. Lavigne

Graphic Novel of the Year Award

• Renegade Arts Entertainment for A Slug Story by Mandi and Hana Kujawa
• Renegade Arts Entertainment for Awkward Pause by Ryan Harby
• Renegade Arts Entertainment for Gothic Tales of Haunted Futures edited by S.M. Beiko

Book of the Year Award – Scholarly and Academic

• Athabasca University Press for The Art of Communication in a Polarized World by Kyle Conway
• University of Alberta Press for Our Whole Gwich’in Way of Life Has Changed / Gwich’in K’yuu Gwiidandài’ Tthak Ejuk Gòonlih: Stories from the People of the Land by Leslie McCartney and Gwich’in Tribal Council

Book of the Year Award – Learning

• Athabasca University Press for 25 Years of Ed Tech by Martin Weller
• Brush Education for The Educational Assistant’s Guide to Supporting Inclusion in a Diverse Society by Carol Massing, Bonnie Anderson, and Carol Anderson
• Brush Education for Gross Morphology of Common Diseases by Dr. Zu-hua Gao
• Brush Education for Rapid Response Guide to Opioid Emergencies by Greg Clarkes

Regional Book of the Year Award

• Frontenac House Ltd. for Borderlands by Mark Vitaris
• Red Barn Books for Howdy, I’m John Ware by Ayesha Clough and Hugh Rookwood
• NeWest Press for The Response of Weeds by Bertrand Bickersteth

Book Cover Design

• Freehand Books and designer Natalie Olsen of Kisscut Design for The End of Me by John Gould
• NeWest Press and designer David Gee for Horseplay: My Time Undercover on the Granville Strip by Norm Boucher
• Athabasca University Press and designer Natalie Olsen of Kisscut Design for The Virtues of Disillusionment by Steven Heighton

Book Illustration

• Renegade Arts Entertainment for ABC Monstrosity, written and illustrated by Shea Proulx
• Frontenac House Ltd. for A Brush With Depth, written and illustrated by Rick Sealock
• Frontenac House Ltd. for Plausible Wrong Answers by Tyler Perry, illustrated by Anna Navarro

Book Design

• University of Alberta Press and designer Alan Brownoff for All the Feels / Tous les sens: Affect and
  Writing in Canada / Affect et écriture au Canada, edited by Marie Carrière, Ursula Mathis-Moser, and Kit Dobson
• Freehand Books and designer Natalie Olsen of Kisscut Design for If Sylvie Had Nine Lives by Leona Theis
• University of Calgary Press and designer Melina Cusano for The Manhattan Project by Ken Hunt
• NeWest Press and designer Natalie Olsen of Kisscut Design for The Response of Weeds by Bertrand Bickersteth

The winners of the Lois Hole Award for Editorial Excellence and the Special Achievement in Publishing Awards will be announced along with the other winners on Sept. 17.

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Correction, July 7: This story has been updated from the original to correct the date that the Lois Hole Award for Editorial Excellence and the Special Achievement in Publishing Award winners will be announced.