Strong showing for Edmonton writers at Alberta Literary Awards

Several Edmontonians were among the honorees at the Alberta Literary Awards, presented by the Writers Guild of Alberta on June 5. Conor Kerr, whose Beaver Hills Forever won the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry, and reuben quinn, whose ᑭᐢᑭᓱᒥᑐᐠ kiskisomitok: ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ to remind each and one another won the Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Nonfiction, were part of a significant contingent of Indigenous writers among the finalists and winners.

Tim Bowling's Graveyard Shift at the Lemonade Stand won the Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction. Bowling was called "an Edmonton treasure" when he received an award from the Edmonton Artists Trust Fund in 2021. Beth Graham's Mermaid Legs, which made its world premiere at SkirtsAfire in 2024, won the Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for Drama. Leslie Greentree's unpublished essay called "Furniture Broken by Boys" won the Jon Whyte Memorial Essay Award. The ceremony also recognized Jennifer Bowering Delisle's Stock, which won the Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize earlier this year.

Edmonton writer and editor Caterina Edwards received the guild's Golden Pen Award in recognition of a lifetime of contributions to literary life. Edwards has written six books, including the literary noir novel The Sicilian Wife and a memoir called Finding Rosa: A Mother with Alzheimer's, A Daughter in Search of the Past. "Lauded by Italian as well as Canadian audiences and academics, Edwards' reach extends far beyond the borders of our province, making her one of our most exceptional literary ambassadors," the WGA's board of directors wrote.