The Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young Readers is a Canadian literary award that goes to the best work of historical fiction written for youth each year. The award is named after Geoffrey Bilson, a writer of historical fiction for youth and a history professor at the
University of Saskatchewan
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
who died suddenly in 1987.
The Geoffrey Bilson Award is selected by a jury chosen by the
Canadian Children's Book Centre
Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) is a national non-profit organization that dedicates its resources to promoting quality Canadian children's literature to parents, librarians, teachers, and youth across Canada. Founded in 1976, the CCBC has l ...
. Award winners must be Canadian authors, and the winning novel must have been published in the previous calendar year. Each year's winner receives a $1000 ( C$) prize.
The award is one of several presented by the Canadian Children's Book Centre each year; others include the
Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award
The Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award is an annual Canadian literary award, presented to the year's best illustrated picture book for children. Sponsored by A. Charles Baillie and administered by the Canadian Children's Book Centre, the award carr ...
TD Canadian Children's Literature Award
The TD Canadian Children's Literature Award is an annual Canadian literary award, presented to the year's best work of children's literature. Sponsored by TD Bank Financial Group and the Canadian Children's Book Centre, the award carries a monetar ...
Carol Matas
Carol Matas is a Canadian writer.
Carol Matas has had more than forty-five books for young people published over several decades, including science fiction, fantasy, historical and contemporary. Her novels often reflect a Jewish perspective, and ...
Kit Pearson
Kathleen Margaret "Kit" Pearson (born April 30, 1947) is a Canadian writer and winner of numerous literature awards. Pearson is perhaps best known for her linked novels '' The Sky Is Falling'' (1989), ''Looking at the Moon'' (1991), and ''The Li ...
Celia Barker Lottridge
Celia Barker Lottridge (born 1936) is a Canadian children's writer.
Lottridge was born in Iowa City, Iowa. She received a BA in modern European history from Stanford University, a MLS from Columbia University and a BEd from the University of Tor ...
, ''Ticket to Curlew''
*1994 -
Kit Pearson
Kathleen Margaret "Kit" Pearson (born April 30, 1947) is a Canadian writer and winner of numerous literature awards. Pearson is perhaps best known for her linked novels '' The Sky Is Falling'' (1989), ''Looking at the Moon'' (1991), and ''The Li ...
, ''The Lights Go On Again''
*1995 -
Joan Clark
Joan Clark BA, D.Litt. (hon.) (née MacDonald) (born 12 October 1934) is a Canadian fiction author.
Born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Clark spent her youth in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. She attended Acadia University for its drama progr ...
, ''The Dream Carvers''
*1996 - Marianne Brandis, ''Rebellion: A Novel of Upper Canada''
*1997 - Janet McNaughton, ''To Dance at the Palais Royale''
*1998 -
Irene N. Watts
Irene Naemi Watts (née Kirstein, May 24, 1931 – November 21, 2023) was a German-born Canadian writer and educator.
Early life and education
Irene Naemi Kirstein was born in Berlin on May 24, 1931, and lived there for seven years. She moved ...
, ''Good-Bye Marianne''
*1999 -
Iain Lawrence
Iain Lawrence (born 1955) is a bestselling Canadian author for children and young adults. In 2007 he won a Governor General’s Literary Award in Children’s Literature for ''Gemini Summer''.
Biography
Lawrence was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontar ...
, ''The Wreckers''
*2000 - deferred to following year
*2001 - Sharon E. McKay, ''
Charlie Wilcox
''Charlie Wilcox'' is a children's novel by Sharon E. McKay about a boy from Newfoundland in World War I. First published in 2000, the novel won the Geoffrey Bilson Award and the Violet Downey Award. It is followed by a sequel, ''Charlie Wilcox's ...
Joan Clark
Joan Clark BA, D.Litt. (hon.) (née MacDonald) (born 12 October 1934) is a Canadian fiction author.
Born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Clark spent her youth in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. She attended Acadia University for its drama progr ...
, ''The Word for Home''
*2004 - Brian Doyle, ''Boy O'Boy''
*2005 - Michel Noël, ''Good for Nothing''
*2006 -
Pamela Porter
Pamela Paige Porter (born July 14, 1956) is a Canadian novelist and poet. She was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and has also lived in Texas, Louisiana, Washington, and Montana. She emigrated to Canada with her husband Rob Porter, from the four ...
, ''
The Crazy Man
''The Crazy Man'' is a 2005 Canadian children's novel written by Pamela Porter. This realistic family novel told in free verse has received many awards and was selected for the Governor General's Literary Award. The story is about a girl named Em ...
Christopher Paul Curtis
Christopher Paul Curtis (born May 10, 1953)Judy Levin, Allison Stark Draper, ''Christopher Paul Curtis'' (The Rosen Publishing Group, 2005), , p. 84. Excerptsat Google Books. Retrieved 2015-07-25. is an American children's book author. His f ...
, ''
Elijah of Buxton
''Elijah of Buxton'' is a children's novel written by Christopher Paul Curtis and published in 2007. The book won critical praise and was a Newbery Honor book and the winner of the Coretta Scott King Award. It also was a children's book bestselle ...
''
*2009 -
John Ibbitson
John Ibbitson (born 1955) is a Canadian journalist. Since 1999, he has been a political writer and columnist for ''The Globe and Mail''.
Career
Ibbitson graduated from the University of Toronto in 1979 with a B.A. in English. After university, ...
Valerie Sherrard
Valerie Anne Sherrard (née Russell: born May 16, 1957) is a Canadian author of books for children and young adults including the novels ''The Glory Wind'', ''Kate'', ''Speechless'' and the Shelby Belgarden mystery series.
Early life
Sherrard w ...
, ''The Glory Wind''
*2012 -
Kate Cayley
Kate Cayley is a Canadian writer and theatre director. She was the artistic director of Stranger TheatreMarsha Forchuk Skrypuch, ''Dance of the Banished''
*2016 - Karen Bass, ''Uncertain Soldier''
*2017 - Kevin Sands, ''The Mark of the Plague''
*2018 - Kevin Sands, ''The Assassin’s Curse''
*2019 -
Christopher Paul Curtis
Christopher Paul Curtis (born May 10, 1953)Judy Levin, Allison Stark Draper, ''Christopher Paul Curtis'' (The Rosen Publishing Group, 2005), , p. 84. Excerptsat Google Books. Retrieved 2015-07-25. is an American children's book author. His f ...
, ''The Journey of Little Charlie''
*2020 - Tina Athaide, ''Orange for the Sunsets''