Local author wins Dafoe book prize
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/10/2025 (342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Winnipeg author and historian Gerald Friesen has won the 2025 J.W. Dafoe Book Prize for his biography The Honourable John Norquay: Indigenous Premier, Canadian Statesman.
Published by University of Manitoba Press in April 2024, Friesen’s book chronicles the life of Manitoba’s first Indigenous premier, who served from 1878-87, and the impact he had on the province at a pivotal time of growth.
Norquay left many documents from his 19 years in office, but little had been known about the rest of his life, which saw him die suddenly in 1889 at age 48. Friesen spent 10 years pulling together the 600-plus page book.
The Honourable John Norquay
The J.W. Dafoe Book Prize is named after former Manitoba Free Press and Winnipeg Free Press editor John Wesley Dafoe, and is awarded to the best book on Canada, Canadians and/or Canada’s place in the world published in the previous calendar year. The award is worth $12,000 and will be presented to Friesen at an event later this fall.
Ben Sigurdson
Literary editor, drinks writer
Ben Sigurdson is the Free Press‘s literary editor and drinks writer. He graduated with a master of arts degree in English from the University of Manitoba in 2005, the same year he began writing Uncorked, the weekly Free Press drinks column. He joined the Free Press full time in 2013 as a copy editor before being appointed literary editor in 2014. Read more about Ben.
In addition to providing opinions and analysis on wine and drinks, Ben oversees a team of freelance book reviewers and produces content for the arts and life section, all of which is reviewed by the Free Press’s editing team before being posted online or published in print. It’s part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Ben Sigurdson
Literary editor, drinks writer
Ben Sigurdson is the Free Press‘s literary editor and drinks writer. He graduated with a master of arts degree in English from the University of Manitoba in 2005, the same year he began writing Uncorked, the weekly Free Press drinks column. He joined the Free Press full time in 2013 as a copy editor before being appointed literary editor in 2014. Read more about Ben.
In addition to providing opinions and analysis on wine and drinks, Ben oversees a team of freelance book reviewers and produces content for the arts and life section, all of which is reviewed by the Free Press’s editing team before being posted online or published in print. It’s part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
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