The Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence is administered by the

BC Book Prizes The BC Book & Yukon Prizes, established in 1985, celebrate the achievements of British Columbia and Yukon writers and publishers. The prizes, as well as the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence, are presented annually at the Lieutena ...

and recognizes a writer who has contributed significantly to the development of literary excellence in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, as well as having written a substantial body of literary work throughout his or her career.
Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence. The recipient receives a cash award of $5,000 and a commemorative certificate.

History

The Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence was first conceived in the spring of 2002. Led by the late

Carol Shields Carol Ann Shields, (née Warner; June 2, 1935 – July 16, 2003) was an American-born Canadian novelist and short story writer. She is best known for her 1993 novel ''The Stone Diaries'', which won the U.S. Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well as ...

, a group of respected BC writers met with the current Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, the Honourable

Iona Campagnolo Iona Victoria Campagnolo, (née Hardy, born October 18, 1932) is a Canadian politician who served as the 27th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia from 2001 to 2007; Campagnolo was the first woman to hold that office. Prior to becoming Lieut ...

to initiate a special provincial literary arts award. Inspired by Shields, this meeting resulted in the establishment of the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence.

Winners

*2004 -

P. K. Page Patricia Kathleen Page, (23 November 1916 – 14 January 2010) was a British-born Canadian poet,Peter ScowenP.K. Page dies at age 93 ''The Globe and Mail'', 14 January 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2010. though the citation as she was inducted as a ...

*2005 -

Robert Bringhurst Robert Bringhurst Appointments to the Order of Canada (2013). (born 16 October 1946) is a Canadian poet, typographer and author. He has translated substantial works from Haida and Navajo and from classical Greek and Arabic. He wrote ''The Eleme ...

*2006 -

Jack Hodgins Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

*2007 - Patrick Lane *2008 - Gary Geddes *2009 -

Terry Glavin Terry Glavin (born 1955) is a Canadian author and journalist. Career Born in the United Kingdom to Irish parents, he emigrated to Canada in 1957. Glavin has worked as a journalist and columnist for '' The Daily Columbian'' (reporter, columnist ...

*2010 -

Stan Persky Stan Persky (born 19 January 1941) is a Canadian writer, media commentator and philosophy instructor. Early life Persky was born in Chicago, Illinois. As a teenager, he made contact with and received encouragement from Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsb ...

*2011 -

George Bowering George Harry Bowering, (born December 1, 1935) is a prolific Canadian novelist, poet, historian, and biographer. He was the first Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate. He was born in Penticton, British Columbia, and raised in the nearby town o ...

*2012 -

Brian Brett Brian Brett (born 28 April 1950) is a Canadian poet, journalist, editor and novelist.Brian Brett< ...

*2013 -

Lorna Crozier Lorna Crozier, OC (born 24 May 1948) is a Canadian poet who holds the Head Chair in the Writing Department at the University of Victoria. She has authored fifteen books and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2011. She is credited as ...

and Sarah Ellis *2014 -

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 ...

*2015 -

Betty Keller Betty or Bettie is a name, a common diminutive for the names Bethany and Elizabeth. In Latin America, it is also a common diminutive for the given name Beatriz, the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Latin name Beatrix and the English name Beatr ...

*2016 -

Alan Twigg Alan Twigg, CM is a Canadian writer, publisher, and biographer. He published BC Bookworld for many years, a trade newspaper for the British Columbia book publishing industry, and ABCBookWorld, an online encyclopedia of British Columbia authors. H ...

*2017 -

Douglas Coupland Douglas Coupland (born 30 December 1961) is a Canadian novelist, designer, and visual artist. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller '' Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture'', popularized the terms ''Generation X'' and ''McJ ...

*2020 -

Julie Flett Julie Flett is a Cree- Métis author and illustrator, known for her work in children's literature centered around the life and cultures of Indigenous Canadians. Flett is best known for her illustrations in books such as ''Little You,'' and ''Wh ...

and

Joy Kogawa Joy Nozomi Kogawa (born June 6, 1935) is a Canadian poet and novelist of Japanese descent. Life Kogawa was born Joy Nozomi Nakayama on June 6, 1935, in Vancouver, British Columbia, to first-generation Japanese Canadians Lois Yao Nakayama a ...

*2021 - Joseph A. Dandurand

References

Sources

Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence
official website
BC Book Prizes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lieutenant Governor's Award For Literary Excellence BC and Yukon Book Prizes 2004 establishments in Canada Awards established in 2004 Literary awards honoring writers