Alberta Book Publishing Awards

About the awards

As the critical middle piece of the storytelling process, Alberta book publishers enrich and sustain the cultural and social landscape of our province. Releasing a range of quality titles each year, they bring Alberta’s Story to life and share it locally, nationally, and internationally.

Created to recognize and celebrate the best of the Alberta book publishing industry, the Alberta Book Publishing Awards have grown alongside the industry to capture the excellence and innovation of Alberta’s book publishers.

Each year, the winners of the Alberta Book Publishing awards are selected through a peer jury process in up to 16 award categories. This much-anticipated event draws industry, government, and media attention to the world-class excellence of Alberta’s publishing industry.

2026 Winners

Download the PDF Media Release

You can find copies of the winning titles through the following links:

Read Alberta eBooks and Prairie Indigenous eBook Collections

Douglas Barbour Award for Speculative Fiction

Freehand Books
The Longest Night
by Lauren Carter

Scholarly & Academic Book of the Year

Mystery and Thriller Book of the Year

Renegade Arts Entertainment
Blood and Fire
written and illustrated by Bill Slavin

Regional Book of the Year

Children’s & Young Adult Book of the Year

Trade Non-Fiction Book of the Year

Robert Kroetsch Award for Poetry

Frontenac House
There’s Magic Here Too: A Trans Woman’s Guide to Being Monstrous
by Skylar Kay

Graphic Novel of the Year

Renegade Arts Entertainment
The Last Band on Earth
written and illustrated by Elaine M. Will

Learning Book of the Year

Brush Education
Elements of Indigenous Style, 2nd Ed.
by Gregory Younging
edited by Warren Cariou, Deanna Reder, Lorena Sekwan Fontaine, and Jordan Abel

Trade Fiction Book of the Year

Book Cover Design of the Year

Book Illustration of the Year

Renegade Arts Entertainment
The Last Band on Earth
written and illustrated by Elaine M. Will

Book Design of the Year

NeWest Press
Cruising the Downtown: Celebrating Edmonton’s Queer History
by The Edmonton Queer History Project
edited by Kristopher Wells
designed by Natalie Olsen

Mel Hurtig Publisher of the Year

Freehand Books

Lifetime Achievement in Alberta Publishing Awards

Kathy Killoh

There are highly visible leaders, and there are those whose influence is quieter, consistent, and woven throughout systems and processes. Kathy Killoh’s career exemplifies the kind of impact that is deeply felt but rarely celebrated. Instrumental in establishing AU Press as Canada’s first open access scholarly press in 2007, Kathy’s steady and consistent presence has helped shape Canadian open access publishing, strengthened the scholarly community, and brought the work of countless academics to a global audience.

Kathy’s commitment to scholarly publishing and to AU Press has been steadfast, and she has stepped up regularly to provide leadership during times of change. Serving as Acting Director at AU Press on three separate occasions, she provided continuity, stability, and direction when it mattered most. Service has been a throughline throughout Kathy’s career. She has been consistently engaged with the Book Publishers Association of Alberta, Association of Canadian Publishers, the Association of Canadian University Presses, and the Association of University Presses.

Kathy prefers to operate behind the scenes, where her efforts are embedded in the publications themselves and in the structures and processes that make them open and accessible. True to her nature, she does not seek the spotlight, but Kathy’s accomplishments deserve to be celebrated.

Jean Poulin

Few individuals have had a greater impact on Alberta book-publishing than activist, graphic designer, francophone leader, pioneering publisher, and Duval House founder Jean Poulin.

From the early 1980s, Jean’s relentless creativity and energy made him a favourite design and production partner to many clients, including Alberta’s growing community of book publishers. When his clients began to bring design and layout in-house, he decided to launch his own publishing house in Edmonton. Duval House’s first title was a French-language translation of a trade union resource in the mid-1990s, and over the next decade and a half, more than 600 followed. Throughout his career, Jean exercised his amazing talent for bringing people and organizations together and motivating them to accomplish seeming impossibilities. His accomplishments include building the largest catalogue of French-language textbooks outside Quebec, developing English educational resources used by students in China, and creating Canada’s largest collection of Indigenous language and culture resources for schools.

After selling Les Éditions Duval in 2006, Jean returned eventually to his roots to form a small translation, design, and production firm called Sine Qua Non. He is now retired, living in Edmonton near family and a lifetime of friends.