21°c Partly cloudy
10°c Sunny
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Book award winners
Colleen Nelson won the Book for Young People Award, older category, for Tori by Design. (TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store
Manitoba Book Awards winners (from left) Esme Claire Keith, Colleen Nelson, Jennifer Still, J.R. Leveille, Larry Verstraete, Bernard Leveille, Allan Levine, Sue Sorensen and Allison Preston. (TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store
First-time Winnipeg novelist Esmé Claire Keith was the surprise winner of the biggest prize at the Manitoba Book Awards gala on Saturday night.
Keith, a 48-year-old English teacher at St. John's-Ravenscourt School, took home the $5,000 McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award for her debut novel, Not Being on a Boat.
She beat out Wayne Tefs, George Amabile and Allan Levine, all authors with many titles under their belts.
"I was very surprised to win," the soft-spoken writer said after the ceremony, attended by more than 200 people at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain.
Keith's novel is a dark satire about a wealthy man with an attitude of entitlement who takes a Caribbean cruise that goes horribly wrong.
"He's not a nice guy," she said about her protagonist. "He's got lots of horrible traits... He wants to buy happiness."
Here's the full list of winners from the 24th annual awards gala, presented by the Manitoba Writers' Guild with the Association of Manitoba Book Publishers:
Aqua Books Lansdowne Prize for Poetry: Poème Pierre Prière, by J. R. Léveillé (Les Éditions du Blé)
Best Illustrated Book of the Year: David's Trip to Paraguay: The Land of Amazing Colours, by Miriam Rudolph (CMU Press)
Manuela Dias Book Design of the Year: Poème Pierre Prière by J. R. Léveillé, designed by Bernard Léveillé (Les Éditions du Blé)
Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book: A Large Harmonium by Sue Sorensen (Coteau Books)
Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award: Ravenscraig by Sandi Krawchenko Altner (Heartland Associates)
Michael Van Rooy Award for Genre Fiction: The Thirteen by Susie Moloney (Random House Canada)
Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction: The Girl in the Wall by Alison Preston (Signature Editions)
Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-Fiction: King: William Lyon MacKenzie King: A Life Guided by the Hand of Destiny by Allan Levine (Douglas and McIntyre)
John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer: Jennifer Still
Mary Scorer Award for Best Book by a Manitoba Publisher: Butterfly Winter by W.P. Kinsella (Enfield and Wizenty/Great Plains Publications)
McNally Robinson Book for Young People Award, younger category: S is for Scientists: A Discovery Alphabet by Larry Verstraete (Sleeping Bear Press)
McNally Robinson Book for Young People Award, older category: Tori by Design by Colleen Nelson (Great Plains Teen Fiction)
McNally Robinson Book of the Year: Not Being on a Boat by Esmé Claire Keith (Freehand Books/Broadview Press)
-- Alison Mayes
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 29, 2012 A5
More Local
- Back to Top
- Return to Local
Poll
Most Popular Local
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- Apple trick on Ellen falls short for city woman
- The end of the credit card?
- Couple faces new charges of sexual assault
- Gentle, humble native leader who made history lies in state
- A new mom's booze-fuelled hell
- Mourners line up to pay respects to Elijah Harper
- Police identify slaying victims
- WAG's 100 Masters exhibit drawing more than art aficionados
- Rainfall warning issued for southern Manitoba
- Charleswood deaths being investigated as domestic incident
- Man charged, victims identified in double homicide
- '2 minutes after I read the winning numbers, I retired': Winnipeg lotto winner
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- Sex charges for ex-club boss
- Police identify slaying victims
- Aboriginal leader Elijah Harper dies
- 'Responsible Winnipeg' ads appear on sign run by mayor-owned Goldeyes' baseball park
- Woman killed in head-on crash in southwestern Manitoba
- Headingley grass fire destroys dealership's cars
- Hundreds pitch in to dig out houses damaged, destroyed by Ochre Beach ice floe
- A child-custody catastrophe
- Charleswood deaths being investigated as domestic incident
- Man charged, victims identified in double homicide
- Co-worker 'sick' today? Maybe it's the $17M flu
- '2 minutes after I read the winning numbers, I retired': Winnipeg lotto winner
- Parents, community relieved and elated as missing boy found safe
- No threat from bag found at Winnipeg Square
- Man missing since 2009 found safe
- Earls on Main going, but new one coming
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- U of M to chop $5M out of $642-M budget
- Power restored to Linden Woods after goose collides with lines
- U of M researchers awarded $9.5M in grants, U of W $2.2M
- Gentle, humble native leader who made history lies in state
- Accomplished Paralympian wins seat in B.C. legislature
- Elijah Harper: The humble man who said no
- WAG's 100 Masters exhibit drawing more than art aficionados
- Goose gets cooked in Linden Woods
- Carving out a niche in traditional art
- Province introduces changes to rules governing landlords, renters
- Crushing blow for amateur sport
- Aboriginal leader Elijah Harper dies
- Fishing for fashion
- Woman killed in head-on crash in southwestern Manitoba
- Sex charges for ex-club boss
- Newly minted MD a beacon for kids in youth program
- North End proud
- Power restored to Linden Woods after goose collides with lines
- Bethania CEO put on leave during investigation
- Hundreds pitch in to dig out houses damaged, destroyed by Ochre Beach ice floe
- Mental-health patients get own ER
- A child-custody catastrophe
- Black market in moose thrives
- An uncommon phenomenon
- Steen invests $1M in family entertainment centre
- Earls on Main going, but new one coming
- Province introduces changes to rules governing landlords, renters
- Crushing blow for amateur sport
- Boost same-sex curricula: union
Ads by Google
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.
Have Your Say
New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.