Sooke writer Darrel J. McLeod is among the finalists for this year’s Governor General’s Literary Awards.
McLeod made the cut in the non-fiction category for “Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age” (Douglas & McIntyre).
The book is an account of overcoming personal and societal obstacles living in the tiny village of Smith, Alta. surrounded by McLeod’s Cree family’s history.
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Other non-fiction finalists for the 2018 Governor Generals Literary Awards include Terese Marie Mailhot of Seabird Island, B.C., for “Heart Berries: A Memoir” (Doubleday Canada), “Dead Reckoning: How I Came to Meet the Man Who Murdered My Father” (Arsenal Pulp Press) by Carys Cragg of Port Coquitlam, B.C., “Homes: A Refugee Story” (Freehand Books) by Abu Bakr al Rabeeah with Winnie Yeung of Edmonton, and “The Wife’s Tale: A Personal History” (Knopf Canada) by Aida Edemariam of Oxford, England.
Other awards categories include fiction and poetry.
A total of 70 Canadian books in seven categories are up for this year’s awards, which are administered by the Canada Council for Arts and honour titles in both English and French.
Peer assessment committees chose the finalists from close to 1,400 titles submitted for consideration.
The awards hand out a total annual prize value of $450,000.
Each winner receives $25,000, while the publisher of each winning book receives $3,000 to support promotional activities. Non-winning finalists each receive $1,000.
editor@sookenewsmirror.com
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