The West Coast Book Prize Society is thrilled to announce the winners of the 42th annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. Prizes are awarded annually to recognize the achievements of BC and Yukon authors, illustrators, and publishers. Award winners are selected through a juried system, with five finalists in each prize category.
Here is the list of the 2026 BC and Yukon Book Prizes winners:
Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize – Maria Reva, Endling (Knopf Canada)
Statement from the jury:
“Endling questions the pointlessness of human endeavour in a broken, lopsided, fast-changing world, yet succeeds in making the case that art matters. The writing is beautiful and raw, and the characters flawed and intriguing, in part because their goals—like Reva’s own, perhaps?—seem a little bit gauzy: not fully formed or worthwhile or likely to succeed. Then, the outbreak of war makes all that puny striving seem even more pointless and more urgent. This is a risky, boundary-pushing novel that could have easily failed and toys generously with its own potential for failure, but pushes through, regardless, because what else can you do? You cannot save your grandfather; you can only live your life and do the things that make you feel like you matter. Reva seems to be asking the reader—and herself—what is the story that most needs telling? Then she shows us that the answer is fluid. Self-reflexive, funny, and razor-sharp, Endling is a bold and ultimately hopeful novel for our strange times.”
Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize – Julian Brave NoiseCat, We Survived the Night: An Indigenous Reckoning (Random House Canada)
Statement from the jury:
“In an extraordinarily intimate portrait of Indigenous life, Julian Brave NoiseCat offers us a magnificently braided tale combining not only memoir, but also heavy-hitting journalism, and mythology in We Survived the Night. Hilarious, heartbreaking while also hopeful, Noisecat layers personal history and family stories to offer us a gift that is not only a love letter to the land but also to the reader: a poignant and powerful social cartography of history, language and politics rife with tenderness and strength. As judges we were unanimous in our choice this year and were awed by the kaleidoscopic illumination this non-fiction book provides through its tribute to not only family, but to love and to the power and strength of Indigenous knowledges.”
Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize – Amber Dawn, Buzzkill Clamshell (Arsenal Pulp Press)
Statement from the jury:
“Amber Dawn’s Buzzkill Clamshell is generous, specific, grisly and deeply honest in its exploration of chronic pain, illness, aging, and queer desire. The poems’ myriad of pop culture and mythical references give the collection an expansive and kaleidoscopic vision that subverts and challenges the confessional mode. It’s like stepping into a Victorian mansion from an 80s music video with all its haunted armoires filled with sex toys and weapons and the soft-focus removed. Amber Dawn is a swift-fingered magician, a surgeon, a musician, and the “horny oracle” drawing back the fluid-crusted velvet curtain, showing the reader the gory truth in full technicolour and surround sound. Her language cracks like whips, rustles like taffeta, and seduces with its supple satin gloves. Entering any one of these poems is like biting into a ripe peach on the cusp of rot, savouring a devastating sweetness with its lingering finish of grief, the elegy that pulses inside every ode and epithalamion — in this case, a complicated and lifelong marriage to the body, a gooey crowning of the self. Buzzkill Clamshell is sexy, scary, powerful, gut-wrenching, necessary.”
Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize – Tamio Wakayama and Paul Wong, Enemy Alien (Figure 1 Publishing)
Statement from the jury:
“A great number of the books submitted for consideration for the Roderick Haig-Brown Prize this year are reflected in the shortlisted titles. The themes that emerge provide a greater understanding of the people of the region by telling often overlooked stories, especially the stories of individual Indigenous, Japanese Canadians, Afro Latine, and Chinese Canadians. Enemy Alien: Tamio Wakayama not only gives voice to a previously unheralded artist and activist, but surrounds his heretofore unpublished memoir Soul on Rice, with his remarkable and evocative artistic output: images captured with his camera. Born in New Westminster, Wakayama and his family were forcibly relocated to an internment camp during the Second World War. How this region shaped and inspired Wakayama can be felt throughout the book. The internment experience leads to his finding common cause with the Civil Rights movement in the American South, working as a photographer with SNCC, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Later when he returns to Canada, he brandishes his camera to document Indigenous and Doukhobor communities throughout the country, and as he returns to Vancouver, he continues to actively participate in the Nikkei community with tireless efforts in the Redress Movement, and the establishment of Vancouver’s Powell Street Festival. This book, edited by Paul Wong, and published by the Vancouver Art Gallery and Figure 1, honours the life and work of an artist and activist who adds to the understanding of this region.”
Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize – Léa Taranto, A Drop in the Ocean (Arsenal Pulp Press)
Statement from the jury:
“The voice in Léa Taranto’s A Drop in the Ocean grabbed us from page one and held us captivated as we hurtled through the pages. This intense, brutally honest story follows a teenage girl’s journey with mental illness during a stay in residential treatment. Mira’s story is gritty and dark, but not without hope, its authenticity bolstered by Taranto’s skillful portrayal of complex relationships. Eye-opening and empathy-building, A Drop in the Ocean is a stellar option for mature readers.”
Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize – Samantha Beynon (Author), Carla Joseph (Illustrator), Celebrating Potlatches (Strong Nations Publishing Inc.)
Statement from the jury:
“Celebrating Potlatches is an honest look at the repression and reinstatement of a vital First Nations’ tradition. Based on the historic notebooks of Ts’msyen Chief William Beynon, the book provides a clear depiction of the potlatch tradition and its suppression in history. Carla Joseph’s fresh and painterly illustrations provide lots of graphic information about indigenous art, clothing and culture. The warm text by Samantha Beynon is straightforward and would be easily comprehended by a young reader. With its theme of family and tradition, Celebrating Potlatches would be a great addition to any classroom and reflects an important part of British Columbia’s history.”
Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes – L.E. Fox, This Book Is a Knife: Radical Working-Class Strategies in the Age of Climate Change (Arsenal Pulp Press)
Statement from the jury:
“L.E. Fox’s sophomore book, This Book Is A Knife: Radical Working Class Strategies in the Age of Climate Change, is a sharp collection of essays with one central premise: the deconstruction of capitalism is absolutely necessary to save the planet and ourselves. Urgent and distinctive, Fox does not play nice as they provoke readers to question the current state of our world by deftly weaving together political theory, identity, personal memoir, storytelling, and insightful, well-researched science journalism. Their work is often tinged with humour and grounded in a wry hope that gathers readers into class consciousness and solidarity. It urges us to grapple with the idea that “to ensure there is a world in the future, we’re going to have to end the world we live in today.” This Book Is A Knifeis a call to action, a revolution of claws, bones, and teeth that refuses to give up nor give in to despair.”
Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award – Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa, Kerrie Charnley, Tsumi’tsiye Violet Elliott, Tuwuxwul’t-hw Tyrone Elliott, Andrea Fritz, Chepximiya Siyam Chief Dr. Janice George, Skwetsimeltxw Willard (Buddy) Joseph, Danielle Morsette, Michael Pavel, sałamitća Susan Pavel, Xweliqwiya Rena Point Bolton, Quwasen Debra Sparrow, Eliot White-Hill Kwulasultun, Jared Qwustenuxun Williams, Senaqwila Wyss, and Alison Ariss, The Teachings of Mutton: A Coast Salish Woolly Dog (Harbour Publishing)
In addition to the eight awards for the annual prize categories, two awards were given to writers for their body of work and contributions to the literary community:
Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence – Tom Wayman
The recipient of the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence will be recognized as having written a substantial body of literary work throughout their career and contributed significantly to the literary community/industry of the Province of British Columbia.
Tom Wayman’s prolific literary career includes writing more than twenty poetry collections, three collections of critical and cultural essays, three books of short fiction and a novel, as well as editing six poetry anthologies. He received British Columbia’s 2022 George Woodcock Award for Lifetime Achievement in the literary arts. In 2015, he was named a Vancouver Literary Landmark, with a plaque on the city’s Commercial Drive commemorating his championing of people writing for themselves about their daily employment. He won the Western Canada Jewish Book Awards prize for fiction in 2016 (for the short story collection, The Shadows We Mistake for Love) and for poetry in 2023 (for Watching a Man Break a Dog’s Back: Poems for a Dark Time). His memoir, The Road to Appledore (or How I Went Back to The Land Without Ever Having Lived There in the First Place), was published in 2024. Wayman lives in Winlaw, BC.
Statement from the jury:
“For six decades Tom Wayman has been contributing on and off the page to British Columbia’s literary community. He has published more than twenty poetry collections, three books of short fiction, a novel, a memoir, collections of essays, and edited a number of poetry anthologies. Throughout his prolific career he also taught for many years in the B.C. community college system, co-founded the Vancouver Industrial Writers’ Union, and co-founded two alternative B.C. post-secondary creative writing schools. Over the years he has been deeply committed to reflecting the experience of working people.
What stood out to the jury was how his literary work and community contribution intertwined with one another to make a broader impact. His love and contribution to the lives of working people expanded the range of experience in Canadian literature. His contribution is not only packed within an impressive bibliography, but far beyond that. That broader legacy is reflected in the literary communities, organizations, and conversations he helped create and sustain.
We gladly congratulate Tom Wayman on this recognition and thank him for his contributions to our literary community.”
Borealis Prize: The Commissioner of Yukon Award for Literary Contribution – Dan Dowhal
The recipient of the Borealis Prize is recognized as having spent significant time living and working among the writing community in Yukon. They have made substantial contributions to the Yukon writing and publishing community through writing, publishing, community organizing, Indigenous writing and storytelling, and other ways.
Dan Dowhal is the author of four novels, Skyfisher, Flam Grub, Bury Your Horses, and Sled Doug published by Parka Press. Born and raised in Toronto’s Queen West district, Dan holds a Journalism degree from now-called Toronto Metropolitan University. Dan currently lives in Dawson City, Yukon, where he also works as a newspaper editor and librarian. He first came to the Klondike as Writer-in-Residence at Berton House in 2011. Away from the keyboard, he is the alpha male of a pack of sled dogs.
Statement from the jury:
“Dan Dowhal first came to the Yukon as the Writer-In-Residence at Berton House, and stayed to make Dawson City his home.
Fifteen years later, his impact on Dawson City’s literary culture is profound. Beyond his own four novels, as editor of the Klondike Sun, publisher of Parka Press, and perennial contributor of editorials, features, essays, and stories to Dawson’s papers and magazines, Dan’s involvement in the organization and presentation of literary events, his record of supporting and empowering other writers, and deep involvement in the community have made him essential to Dawson’s writers, and to the arts scene of the Yukon as a whole.
While the jurors have no doubt that every one of this year’s nominees are deserving of the prize, we are delighted to unanimously select Dan Dowhal as the Borealis prize winner for 2026.”