Todd Wong, with Terry Glavin, and Terry's wife Yvette – BC Book Prizes.

I was at the BC Book Prizes last night and my friend Terry Glavin received the Lt. Gov. Award for Literary Achievement.

It was a fun evening, and I sat with the Editors Association of Canada, the table organized by my friend Ann-Marie Metten.

Lt. Gov. Stephen Point always makes a great speech, not only about his personal contradictory job of being a First Nations Catholic representing the Queen, head of the Anglican Church, for which he had spent a large part of his life in defiance to for pushing First Nations rights, but also about the ability of BC authors, publishers and citizens for overcoming challenges for racial, historical and cultural differences.  I first met his honour, last year, when the BC Community Achievement Awards were presented at his Victoria home of Government House.  He really likes the concept of “Gung Haggis Fat Choy” and he shared with me that he does have some Scottish ancestry from a forefather named Jamieson.  Commander. King Wan is one of the six rotating honour guards that accompany the Lt. Gov. when he attends events in the Vancouver area.  Cdr. Wan is the first Asian-Canadian high ranking officer at HMCS Discovery in Stanley Park.  We know each other from the many events of Pacific Unit 280 for the Chinese Canadian veterans.

Our friend Daphne Marlatt won the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. 

I met Steven Hume, author of Simon Fraser: the Search for Modern British Columbia.  We had a great time talking about Simon Fraser history – especially how Fraser was actually born in the United States just outside Vermont, in disputed New Hampshire territory, and how Fraser himself, had never ever set foot in Scotland.  The kilt I am wearing is the modern hunting Fraser tartan, which Steven thought looked amazing similar to a Hume tartan.  I recounted the story of how the origins of “Gung Haggis Fat Choy” go back to my days as a tour guide at Simon Fraser University telling stories of Simon Fraser University in the mid-1990's.  Standing with is is Howard White, publisher of Harbour Publishing.

Hume's “Simon Fraser' is the one book that I purchased at the end of the evening, published by Harbour Publishing.

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (aka “Haida Manga Guy”) was nominated for the BC Bookseller's Choice Award, for his book Flight of the Hummingbird: A Parable for the Environment.  Sheryl Mackay presented the first award of the event for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, then recorded the rest of the evening for her CBC Radio early morning radio show North By Northwest, and had everything edited for the delight of listeners less than 10 hours later… WOW!  Hopefully she was still perky and beatific!

Here are my pictures on Flickr.

BC Book Prizes 2009

MEDIA RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  April 26, 2009 
Vancouver

BC Book Prizes Winners Announced

Vancouver,
BC –
The West Coast Book Prize Society is pleased to announce the
winners of the 25th Annual BC Book
Prizes. They are as follows:

Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize Supported by Friesens and
Webcom

Lee Henderson,
The Man Game (Penguin
Group Canada )

Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize Supported by
the BC Teachers’ Federation

Daphne Marlatt,
The Given (McClelland
& Stewart)

Hubert Evans Non-fiction
Prize Supported by Abebooks

Gabor Maté,
In the
Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction (Knopf
Canada )

Roderick Haig-Brown Regional
Prize Supported by Editor s’
Association of Canada ,
BC Branch

Stephen Hume,
Simon Fraser: In Search of Modern
British Columbia
(Harbour Publishing)

Sheila A. Egoff
Children’s Literature Prize Supported by
the BC Library Association

Polly Horvath,
My One Hundred Adventures (Groundwood
Books)

Christie Harris Illustrated
Children’s Literature Prize Supported by
Kate Walker and Company

Katarina Jovanovic
(author), Philippe Béha
(illustrator), The King has Goat Ears
(Tradewind Books)

BC Booksellers’ Choice
Award In Honour of Bill Duthie

Supported by BC Booksellers' Association and Duthie
Books

Stephen
Bown and
Douglas & McIntyre, Madness, Betrayal and the
Lash: The Epic Voyage of Captain George Vancouver

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR’S AWARD FOR LITERARY
EXCELLENCE

Terry Glavin
is the recipient of this award,
established in 2003 by the
Honourable Iona Campagnolo, which recognizes
British Columbia writers who have
contributed to the development of
literary excellence in the province.

A total of $19,000 is awarded to winners with each
prize providing $2,000 with the
exception of the Lieutenant
Governor’s prize which awards $5,000.

This year’s gala, emceed by
Alan Twigg and attended by the
Honourable Lieutenant Governor Steven L. Point, took place at
the Marriott Pinnacle Hotel in
Vancouver . The BC Book Prizes were
established in 1985 to celebrate the
achievements of British Columbia
writers and publishers. The prizes are administered and awarded by members of a
non-profit society who represent all facets of the
publishing and writing community. The West Coast Book Prize Society
congratulates all of the winners!

For fur the r details,
visit www.bcbookprizes.ca.