Saskatchewan Book Awards nominees include lots of authors with U of R connections

By Costa Maragos Posted: February 10, 2017 12:00 p.m.

Photo: Carmen Robertson, professor of art history, has received a nomination in the Indigenous Peoples' Writing category for her book about artist Norval Morrisseau. Photo by Rae Graham - U of R Photography

The Saskatchewan Book Awards shortlist includes a long list of nominations with ties to the University of Regina.

University of Regina Press has received 17 nominations.

Leading the way with three nominations each are:

• 100 Days of Cree by Neil McLeod and Arok Wolvengrey, professor of indigenous languages at First Nations University of Canada
• Towards a Prairie Atonement by Trevor Herriot

Receiving two nominations each are:

• Firewater: How Alcohol is Killing My People (And Yours) by Harold R. Johnson; a best seller and finalist in the Governor General’s Literary Awards in the non-fiction category last year
• Inside the Mental: Silence, Stigma, Psychiatry, and LSD by Kay Parley
• Holy War: Cowboys, Indians, and 9/11’s by Mark Anderson, history professor at U of R’s Luther College

  Mark Anderson, history professor at U of R's Luther College, receives two nominations for Holy War: Cowboys, Indians, and 9/11's. Photo by Rae Graham - U of R Photography

Other U of R Press books nominated include:

• The Knowledge Seeker: Embracing Indigenous Spirituality by Blair Stonechild, professor of Indigenous Studies at First Nations University of Canada
• Reading from Behind: A Cultural Analysis of the Anus by Jonathan A. Allan
• The Long Walk by Jan Zwicky
• Beginning Cree by Solomon Ratt, associate professor of indigenous languages at First Nations University of Canada, with illustrations by Holly Martin
• Measures of Astonishment: Poets on Poetry presented by the League of Canadian Poets

“We are honoured by this recognition,” says Bruce Walsh, director of U of R Press, "It speaks highly of our authors, who we are so proud to publish."

The U of R connection to these book award nominations doesn’t end there. Other nominees include:

• Carmen Robertson, professor of art history, has received a nomination for Mythologizing Norval Morrisseau: Art and the Colonial Narrative in the Canadian Media 
• Judith Silverthorne, an instructor at the Centre for Continuing Education, has been nominated in the Young Adult literature category for her book Convictions
• Phillip Hansen, professor emeritus in philosophy and classics, has been nominated for the Jennifer Welsh Scholarly Writing Award for Reconsidering C.B. Macpherson: From Possessive Individualism to Democratic Theory and Beyond. 
• Emily Eaton, associate professor in the department of geography and environmental studies, and Valerie Zink (photographs) have been nominated in the City of Regina Book Award for Fault Lines: Life and Landscape in Saskatchewan’s Oil Economy

"I am honoured to be recognized for my contribution to the understudied, yet powerful, oil and gas industry in Saskatchewan,” says Eaton. “Writing this book allowed me to enter the lives and livelihoods of rural oil-producing communities. With these insights, I hope to open conversations about the impacts of the oil and gas economy and about the future of the industry in our province.”

Some of the U of R alumni nominated include:

• Wilfred Burton is author of the bilingual (English and Michif) children’s picture book – Road Allowance Kitten, nominated for an indigenous writing award
• Nominated for the first book award are Angie Counios (bachelor of fine arts and bachelor of education) and David Gane (bachelor and master of fine arts and a sessional lecturer at the U of R) for Along Comes a Wolfe.

The winners will be announced at the 24th awards ceremony, April 29, 2017, at the Conexus Arts Centre. The host is James Daschuk, associate professor in the faculty of kinesiology and health studies and the author of the critically-acclaimed Clearing The Plains published by U of R Press.

For a full list of the nominations please visit here.