View source for Alberta Literary Awards

{{Short description|Awards presented by the Writers' Guild of Alberta}}
The '''Alberta Literary Awards'''<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=WGA Alberta Literary Awards |url=https://writersguild.ca/programs-services/awards/ |website=WGA website |accessdate=23 January 2019}}</ref> (ALA), administered by the [[Writers Guild of Alberta]], have been awarded annually since 1982 to recognize outstanding writing by [[Alberta]] authors. The awards honour fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, and children's literature.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bradley Somer, Andrew Nikoforuk among Alberta Literary Award winners |url=https://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/books/bradley-somer-andrew-nikoforuk-among-alberta-literary-award-winners |website=[[Calgary Herald]] website |accessdate=22 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Six Edmonton writers win Alberta Literary Awards |url=https://edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/books/six-edmonton-writers-win-alberta-literary-awards |website=[[Edmonton Journal]] website |accessdate=22 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Winners of the 2015 Alberta Literary Awards announced |url=https://quillandquire.com/awards/2015/05/25/winners-of-the-2015-alberta-literary-awards-announced/ |website=[[Quill and Quire]] website |accessdate=22 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=2018 Alberta Literary Awards Winners |url=https://albertamagazines.com/latest-news/6791/ |website=[[Alberta Magazine Publishers Association]] website |accessdate=22 January 2019}}</ref> At the first public ALA Gala in 1994, the inaugural [[Golden Pen Lifetime Achievement Award]] was given to [[W. O. Mitchell]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Writer's Life: For 20 years the Writers Guild of Alberta has encouraged and enabled writers to pursue the Writers Life |url=https://albertaviews.ca/the-writers-life/ |website=[[Alberta Views]] website |accessdate=23 January 2019}}</ref>
==Alberta Literary Awards==
===R. Ross Annett Award for Children’s Literature===
The children’s literature category alternates yearly between picture and chapter books. The 2019 award is presented to an Alberta author of a children’s picture book published in 2017 or 2018.
===Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction===
Awarded for a novel or collection of short fiction by an Alberta author published in the previous year. Past recipients are [[W. P. Kinsella]], [[Sam Selvon]], [[Pauline Gedge]], [[Aritha van Herk]], Mary Walters Riskin, [[Helen Forrester]], Jacqueline Dumas, [[Thomas King (novelist)|Thomas King]], [[Greg Hollingshead]], [[Robert Hilles]], [[Roberta Rees]], [[Richard Wagamese]], Marion Douglas, [[Kristjana Gunnars]], Margie Taylor, Catherine Simmons Niven, [[Peter Oliva]], [[Fred Stenson (writer)|Fred Stenson]], [[Thomas Wharton (author)|Thomas Wharton]], Thomas Trofimuk, [[Tim Bowling]], [[Paul Anderson (Canadian writer)|Paul Anderson]], [[Marie Jakober]],  Nina Newington, [[Jaspreet Singh]], [[Michael Davie]], [[Todd Babiak]], [[Lynn Coady]], [[Richard Van Camp]], [[Ali Bryan]], [[Rudy Wiebe]], Bradley Somer, Gisèle Villeneuve, [[Deborah Willis (author)|Deborah Willis]], and [[Joshua Whitehead]].
===Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Nonfiction===
Awarded for a nonfiction book by an Alberta author published in the previous year.
===Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for Drama===
Awarded to a play written by an Alberta author published or produced in the previous year.
===Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry===
Awarded for a collection of poetry by an Alberta author published in the previous year.
===James H. Gray Award for Short Nonfiction===
Awarded to an outstanding literary short nonfiction piece by an Alberta author on any topic published in the previous year.
===Howard O’Hagan Award for Short Story===
Awarded to an outstanding single short story by an Alberta author published in the previous year. Past recipients are Lareina Abbott,  [[Cecelia Frey]], [[Merna Summers]], [[Diane Schoemperlen]], [[W. O. Mitchell]], [[J. Jill Robinson]], [[Greg Hollingshead]], Martin Sherman, [[Rosemary Nixon]], [[Fred Wah]], Sally Ito, [[Barbara Scott]], [[Caterina Edwards]], [[Gloria Sawai]], [[Sarah Murphy (writer)|Sarah Murphy]], [[Jacqueline Baker]], [[Thomas Wharton (author)|Thomas Wharton]], Laura J. Cutler, [[Leslie Greentree]], [[Roberta Rees]], Barb Howard, Ben Lof, [[Rudy Wiebe]], Amy Bright, Lee Kvern, Jasmina Odor, Katie Bickell, [[Richard Kelly Kemick]], [[Laurie MacFayden]] and [[Norma Dunning]].
===Jon Whyte Memorial Essay Award===
Named after the writer [[Jon Whyte]], this award has been presented to an outstanding unpublished essay by an Alberta author since 1992.<ref>{{Cite news|last=McGoogan|first=Ken|date=1993-06-12|title=Jon Whyte essay contest is back|pages=27|work=Calgary Herald|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60586027/jon-whyte-essay-contest-is-back/|access-date=2020-10-05}}</ref>
==Book Prizes==
===Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize===
The Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize was established by the City Council in 1995 and is administered by the Writers' Guild of Alberta. The prize was renamed in 2011 after the late [[Robert Kroetsch]], who was best known for his Governor General's Award-winning novel, The Studhorse Man.
===City of Calgary W. O. Mitchell Book Prize===
Given out as part of the [[Calgary Awards]], the City of Calgary W. O. Mitchell Book Prize is awarded in honour of acclaimed Calgary writer [[W. O. Mitchell]] and recognizes literary achievement by Calgary authors. The prize was established in 1996 and is coordinated through a partnership between The City of Calgary and the Writers' Guild of Alberta. Past recipients include: Lisa Chistensen, [[Elspeth Cameron]], Richard Harrison, [[Barbara Scott]], JoAnn McCaig, [[Andrew Nikiforuk]], Paula da Costa, W. Mark Giles, Jan Lars Jensen, Christopher Wiseman, [[Rona Altrows]], Diane Guichon, Gordon Pengilly, Clem Martini and Olivier Martini, [[Suzette Mayr]], [[Marcello Di Cintio]], Tyler Trafford, [[Chris Turner (writer)|Chris Turner]], Eugene Stickland, Joan Crate, and Taylor Lambert.
==Golden Pen Award==
The [[Golden Pen Lifetime Achievement Award]] is presented to acknowledge the lifetime achievements of outstanding Alberta writers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Betty Jane Hegerat named recipient of the Golden Pen Award |url=https://www.churchofthecross.ca/news/betty-jane-hegerat-named-recipient-of-the-golden-pen-award |website=Church of the Cross News |accessdate=22 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Candas Jane Dorsey receives Golden Pen Award |url=https://bmcnews.org/story/candas-jane-dorsey-receives-golden-pen-award |website=Boyle Macauley News website |accessdate=22 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Honouring People and Places in Our City: Myrna Kostash |url=https://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/documents/KostashPkg.pdf |website=[[City of Edmonton]] website |accessdate=22 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Collections: Myrna Kostash |url=https://www.uregina.ca/library/services/archives/collections/writing-theatre/kostash.html |website=[[University of Regina]] Library website |accessdate=22 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=A hat trick for Aritha van Herk |url=https://www.ucalgary.ca/news/utoday/may31-2011/excellence |website=[[University of Calgary]] news website |accessdate=22 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413002356/https://ucalgary.ca/news/utoday/may31-2011/excellence |archive-date=13 April 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=W.O. Mitchell 1914-1998) |url=http://albertachampions.org/Champions/w-o-mitchell-1914-1998/ |website=Alberta Champions Society in Recognition of Community Enrichment website |accessdate=22 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Writer Robert Kroetsch dies in car accident in Alberta at 83 |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/writer-robert-kroetsch-dies-in-car-accident-in-alberta-at-83/article584114/ |website=[[The Globe and Mail]] website |accessdate=22 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Canadian writer Robert Kroetsch killed in car accident |url=https://nationalpost.com/afterword/canadian-writer-robert-kroetsch-killed-in-car-accident |website=[[National Post]] website |accessdate=22 January 2019}}</ref> The 2019 recipient was [[Bob Stallworthy]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Bob Stallworthy is awarded the Golden Pen Award |url=https://www.frontenachouse.com/bob-stallworthy-is-awarded-the-golden-pen-award/ |website=[[Frontenac House]] website |accessdate=30 May 2019}}</ref> [[Vivian Hansen]] received this award in 2020 while [[Chris Wiseman (academic)|Chris Wiseman]] was chosen in 2022. Past recipients are [[W. O. Mitchell]], [[Grant MacEwan]], [[Rudy Wiebe]], [[Myrna Kostash]], [[Robert Kroetsch]], [[Merna Summers]], [[Aritha van Herk]], [[Fred Stenson (writer)]], [[George Melnyk]], [[Alice Major]], [[Betty Jane Hegerat]], [[Greg Hollingshead]], [[Candas Jane Dorsey]] and [[Cecelia Frey]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Volmers |first1=Eric |title=Calgary poet Vivian Hansen wins Golden Pen Award for Lifetime Achievement |url=https://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/books/calgary-poet-vivian-hansen-wins-golden-pen-award-for-lifetime-achievement |access-date=22 June 2022 |work=Calgary Herald |date=5 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Kartz |first1=Ellen |title=The Writers' Guild of Alberta Announces the 2022 Golden Pen Award Recipient |url=https://writersguild.ca/the-writers-guild-of-alberta-announces-the-2022-golden-pen-award-recipient/ |website=The Writer's Guild of Alberta |access-date=22 June 2022 |date=10 June 2022}}</ref>
==The Kemosa Scholarship for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Mothers Who Write==
Since 2018, the Writers Guild of Alberta has awarded three annual scholarships to support First Nations, Métis and Inuit Mothers in their writing careers. <ref name=":0" />
The Kemosa Scholarship winners for 2025 <ref name=":0" /> were: First Place : Lareina Abbott, Second Place: Alycia Two Bears, Third Place: Samantha Gibbon
==Past awards==
*Alberta Screenwriters Initiative
*Amber Bowerman Memorial Travel Writing Award
*Henry Kreisel Award for Best First Book
*Sharon Drummond Chapbook Prize
*Youth/Emerging Writing Contest
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*{{Official website|https://writersguild.ca}} of the [[Writers Guild of Alberta]]
[[Category:Canadian children's literary awards]]
[[Category:Canadian dramatist and playwright awards]]
[[Category:Canadian fiction awards]]
[[Category:Canadian non-fiction literary awards]]
[[Category:Canadian poetry awards]]