Katherena Vermette, winner of McNally Robinson Book of the Year
WINNIPEG, MB-The writing community gathered at the historic Fort Garry Hotel in downtown Winnipeg on April 22, to celebrate writing and honor excellence among its writers and artists.
This year Indigenous authors and illustrators won many of the awards. Among them was Katerena Vermette who was the big winner of the night. She won the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award and the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction and the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award for her novel The Break.
David Alexander Robertson won the top prize for his graphic novel Will I See, illustrated by GMB Chomichuk, cover design by Relish New Brand Experience.
Robertson also won the McNally Robinson Book for Young People for his book When We Were Alone, illustrated by Julie Flett.
Maureen Matthews won the Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-Fiction for Naamiwan's Drum: The Story of a Contested Repatriation of Anishinaabe Artefacts.
Chelsea Vowel won for her book Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis and Inuit Issues in Canada, cover design by Relish New Brand Experience.
The Aboriginal Writer of the Year Award named after Beatrice Mosionier was a tie win by Trevor Greyeyes and David Alexander Robertson.
