The Book Publishers Association of Alberta (BPAA) announced the winners of the 2023 Alberta Book Publishing Awards at an awards gala held in conjunction with Alberta Book Publishing Conference in Edmonton on September 21.

The shortlists had been announced in June.

Darcy Tamayose’s Ezra’s Ghosts, published by NeWest Press, won two awards, including trade fiction book of the year, as did Athabasca University Press’s Memory and Landscape: Indigenous Responses to a Changing North, edited by Kenneth L. Pratt and Scott A. Heyes. To Those Who Killed Me by J.T. Siemens, published by NeWest Press, was the inaugural winner of the Mystery & Thriller Book of the Year Award. The design awards went to Natalie Olsen of Kisscut Design, whose work dominated the design shortlists.

In addition to the book prizes, the former publisher of Edmonton’s NeWest Press, George Melnyk, was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement in Publishing Award for his long-standing contributions to Alberta’s literary and publishing community.

The Special Achievement in Publishing Award was presented to to Anna Boyar, Heather Lohnes, and Karyn Wisselink for their contributions to the creation of the Read Alberta website.

The full list of award winners is provided below.

Trade Fiction Book of the Year

• Ezra’s Ghosts by Darcy Tamayose (NeWest Press)

Trade Non-Fiction Book of the Year

• Modern Fables by Mikka Jacobsen (Freehand Books)

Robert Kroetsch Award for Poetry

• Transcribing Moonlight by Skylar Kay (Frontenac House)

Graphic Novel of the Year

• King Warrior by Jay Bulckaert, Erika Nyyssonen, and Lucas Green, ill. (Renegade Arts Entertainment)

Children’s & Young Adult Book of the Year

• Howdy, I’m Flores LaDue by Ayesha Clough, and Hugh Rookwood with Keegan Starlight, ill. (Red Barn Books)

Mystery & Thriller Book of the Year

• To Those Who Killed Me by J.T. Siemens (NeWest Press)

Douglas Barbour Award for Speculative Fiction

• Ezra’s Ghosts by Darcy Tamayose (NeWest Press)

Regional Book of the Year

• A Stunning Backdrop: Alberta in the Movies, 1917–1960 by Mary Graham (University of Calgary Press)

Scholarly & Academic Book of the Year

• Memory and Landscape: Indigenous Responses to a Changing North by Kenneth L. Pratt and Scott A. Heyes, eds. (Athabasca University Press)

Learning Book of the Year

• Canadian Performance Documents and Debates: A Sourcebook by Anthony J. Vickery, Glen F. Nichols, and Allana C. Lindgren, eds. (University of Alberta Press)

Book Illustration

• Alberta Comics: Home by Alexander Finbow, Shea Proulx, and Emily Pomeroy, eds; various artists (Renegade Arts Entertainment)

Book Cover Design

• Who Has Seen the Wind (75th Anniversary Edition) by W.O. Mitchell; design by Natalie Olsen, Kisscut Design (Freehand Books)

Book Design

• Memory and Landscape: Indigenous Responses to a Changing North by Kenneth L. Pratt and Scott A. Heyes, eds.; cover design by Marvin Harder, interior design by Natalie Olsen, Kisscut Design (Athabasca University Press)

Mel Hurtig Publisher of the Year

• NeWest Press

• There Are Wolves Here Too by Niall Howell and edited by Claire Kelly (NeWest Press)

Lifetime Achievement in Publishing Award

• George Melnyk

• Anna Boyar, Heather Lohnes, and Karyn Wisselink