The Book Publishers Association of Alberta (BPAA) announced the winners of the 2022 Alberta Book Publishing Awards at a live gala at Hotel Arts in Calgary on September 16.

Among the winners were The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour by Dawn Dumont for trade fiction book of the year and Impact: Women Writing After Concussion, edited by E. D. Morin and Jane Cawthorne, for trade non-fiction book of the year. The newly renamed Douglas Barbour Award for Speculative Fiction was awarded to Water: Selkies, Sirens, and Sea Monsters edited by Rhonda Parrish, and there was an unusual tie for book design (Coconut by Nisha Patel and On Foot to Canterbury: A Son’s Pilgrimage by Ken Haigh).

Edmonton-based Laberinto Press was named the emerging publisher of the year and the award for lifetime achievement was given to Carol Holmes, the former executive director of the Writers Guild of Alberta, for her long-standing contributions to Alberta’s literary and publishing community.

• Introduction to Early Childhood Education and Care: An Intercultural Perspective by Carole Massing and Mary Lynne Matheson (Brush Education)

• Impact: Women Writing After Concussion edited by E. D. Morin and Jane Cawthorne (University of Alberta Press)

• Water: Selkies, Sirens, and Sea Monsters edited by Rhonda Parrish (Tyche Books )

• The Bad Wife by Micheline Maylor (University of Alberta Press)

• Pass Me By: Electric Vice by Kat Simmers & Ryan Danny Owen; Kat Simmers, ill. (Renegade Arts Entertainment)

• Regime of Obstruction: How Corporate Power Blocks Energy Democracy edited by William K. Carroll (Athabasca University Press)

• Bucking Conservatism edited by Leon Crane Bear, Larry Hannant, and Karissa Robyn Patton (Athabasca University Press)

• The Party Is Here by Georgina Beaty; design by Natalie Olsen/Kisscut Design (Freehand Books)

• The River Troll: A Story About Love by Rich Théroux (Durvile & UpRoute Books)

• Coconut by Nisha Patel; designed by Natalie Olsen/Kisscut Design (NeWest Press)
• On Foot to Canterbury: A Son’s Pilgrimage by Ken Haigh; designed by Alan Brownoff (University of Alberta Press)

• Carol Holmes