Alberta Book Publishing Awards
Established in 1994, these annual awards recognize and celebrate the best of the Alberta book publishing industry.
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About the awards
Each year, the Alberta Book Publishing Awards winners are selected through a peer jury process in up to 14 award categories. This much-anticipated event draws industry, government and media attention to the world-class excellence of Alberta’s publishing industry.
Submissions for the 2020 awards are currently closed. Jury Criteria and submission instructions are below:
Jury Criteria
The 2020 Alberta Book Publishing Awards was accepting submissions through February 28, 2020, in the following categories:
Book of the Year:
- Trade Fiction
- Trade Non-Fiction
- Children and Young Adult
- Learning
- Scholarly and Academic
- Robert Kroetsch Award for Poetry
- Speculative Fiction
Book Design
Industry Awards
- Mel Hurtig Publisher of the Year
- Emerging Publisher of the Year
- The Lois Hole Award for Editorial Excellence
- Special Achievement in Publishing
Shortlist 2020
Download the 2020 shortlist in PDF format
Trade Fiction
Renegade Arts Entertainment
1st Legion of Utopia
James Davidge
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NeWest Press
The Inquirer
Jaclyn Dawn
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University of Calgary Press
The Red Chesterfield
Wayne Arthurson
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Freehand Books
The Student
Cary Fagan
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Trade Non-Fiction
University of Calgary Press
Intertwined Histories: Plants in Their Social Contexts
Edited by James Ellis
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University of Alberta Press
Power Play: Professional Hockey and the Politics of Urban Development
Jay Scherer, David Mills & Linda Sloan McCulloch
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NeWest Press
South Away
Meaghan Marie Hackinen
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University of Alberta Press
What You Take With You
Therese Greenwood
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Robert Kroetsch Award for Poetry
University of Calgary Press
Air Salt: A Trauma Mémoire as a Result of the Fall
Ian Kinney
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University of Alberta Press
Apostrophes VIII: Nothing Is But You and I
E.D. Blodgett
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University of Calgary Press
Exhibit
Paul Zits
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Frontenac House Ltd.
Pressure Cooker Love Bomb
Sharanpal Ruprai
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Speculative Fiction
Freehand Books
Agnes, Murderess
Sarah Leavitt
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Tyche Books
Earth: Giants, Golems, & Gargoyles
Edited by Rhonda Parrish
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Hades Publications / EDGE
A God in Chains
Matthew Hughes
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NeWest Press
The Melting Queen
Bruce Cinnamon
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Scholarly & Academic
University of Calgary Press
Imperial Standard: Imperial Oil, Exxon, and the Canadian Oil Industry from 1880
Graham D. Taylor
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University of Alberta Press
John Rae, Arctic Explorer
John Rae, edited by William Barr
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University of Alberta Press
Power Play: Professional Hockey and the Politics of Urban Development
Jay Scherer, David Mills & Linda Sloan McCulloch
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Learning
Eschia Books
Little Women’s Lodge Kit
Darlene Auger
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Brush Education
Strategies for the MCCQE Part II: Mastering the Clinical Skills Exam in Canada
Dr. Christopher Naugler
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Brush Education
Stuck!: Learn to Love Your Screenplay Again
Josh Miller
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Children’s & Young Adult
Renegade Arts Entertainment
Duty, Honour & Izzat
Steven Purewal
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Athabasca University Press
The Law is (Not) for Kids: A Legal Rights Guide for Canadian Children and Teens
Ned Lecic & Marvin A. Zuker
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Durvile Publications & Uproute Books
Lillian & Kokomis: The Spirit of Dance
Lynda Partridge
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Book Design
University of Alberta Press
Knowings and Knots edited by Natalie Loveless
Designed by Alan Brownoff
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NeWest Press
The Melting Queen by Bruce Cinnamon
Designed by Michel Vrana
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Renegade Arts Entertainment
Pass Me By: Gone Fishin’ by Kyle Simmers & Ryan Danny Owen
Designed by Kyle Simmers
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Book Cover Design
NeWest Press
Arctic Smoke by Randy Nikkel Schroeder
Designed by Michel Vrana
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NeWest Press
Echolocation by Karen Hofmann
Designed by Natalie Olsen (Kisscut Design)
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University of Calgary Press
Protest and Democracy edited by Moisés Arce and Roberta Rice
Designed by Melina Cusano
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Book Illustration
Freehand Books
Agnes, Murderess by Sarah Leavitt
Illustrated by Sarah Leavitt
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Renegade Arts Entertainment
Alice at Naptime by Shea Proulx
Illustrated by Shea Proulx
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Eschia Books
Little Women’s Lodge Kit by Darlene Auger
Illustrated by Chloe “Bluebird” Mustooch
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Renegade Arts Entertainment
Pass Me By: Gone Fishin’ by Kyle Simmers & Ryan Danny Owen
Illustrated by Kyle Simmers
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Lois Hole Award for Editorial Excellence
Freehand Books
This Has Nothing to Do With You by Lauren Carter
Edited by Naomi K. Lewis
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Frontenac House Ltd.
Quartet 2019
Against Forgetting by Keith Garebian
Common Brown House Moths by Laura Zacharin
Baddie One Shoe by Natalie Meisner
Waterline Immersion by Conrad Scott
Edited by Micheline Maylor
Mel Hurtig Publisher of the Year
Emerging Publisher of The Year
To Be Announced at the 2020 Alberta Book Publishing Awards Gala
Special Achievement Award
To Be Announced at the 2020 Alberta Book Publishing Awards Gala
Lifetime Achievement in Publishing
To Be Announced at the 2020 Alberta Book Publishing Awards Gala
Past winners
Read winning and nominated titles in eBook format.
2019 Awards
2018 Awards
2017 Awards
2016 Awards
2015 Awards
2014 Awards
2013 Awards
2012 Awards
2011 Awards
2010 Awards
2009 Awards
2008 Awards
2007 Awards
2006 Awards
2005 Awards
2004 Awards