The Victoria Book Prize Society is pleased to announce the shortlists for the 2024 City of Victoria Butler Book Prize and City of Victoria Children’s Book Prize, showcasing exceptional works across fiction, non-fiction, poetry and children’s literature. Over 50 submissions published between April 2023 and March 2024 were reviewed by juries from the local literary arts community.
The $5,000 City of Victoria Butler Book Prize, now in its 21st year, honours a writer from the Capital Regional District for the best book published in fiction, non-fiction, or poetry. This year's finalists are:
• Ali Blythe for Stedfast (Poetry), Goose Lane Editions
• Tim Lilburn for Numinous Seditions: Interiority and Climate Change (Non-fiction), University of Alberta Press
• Kathryn Mockler for Anecdotes, (Fiction), Book*Hug Press
• Arleen Paré for Absence of Wings (Poetry), Caitlin Press
• shō yamagushiku for shima (Poetry), Penguin Random House
The $5,000 City of Victoria Children’s Book Prize, now in its 17th year, celebrates an author from the Capital Regional District for the best book published in the genre of children’s and youth literature. The 2024 finalists are:
• Raina Delisle for Breaking News: Why Media Matters, Orca Book Publishers
• Leslie Gentile for Shamus the Urban Rez Dog, P.I., Cormorant Books
• Polly Horvath for Pine Island Visitors, Penguin Books
• Julie Lawson for Out of the Dark, Nimbus Books
• Crystal Smith for Maybe a Whale (Illustration), Groundwood Books
The winners will be announced during a gala event on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. at the Union Club of British Columbia. Hosted by CBC Victoria’s Kathryn Marlow, the event promises an evening of literary celebration. Tickets are available on Eventbrite.
Founded in 2004, the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize is a partnership between the City of Victoria and Brian Butler of Butler Brothers Supplies. The Children’s Book Prize was established in 2008 to recognize excellence in youth literature. Additional sponsors include the Union Club of British Columbia, Friesens Corporation, Munro’s Books, Russell Books, CBC Radio and the Greater Victoria Public Library.
The Victoria Book Prize Society establishes policy and criteria for the prizes, administers the competition and appoints the juries.
For more information, go to victoriabookprizes.ca or victoria.ca/bookprizes.
Media Contacts:
Lynne Van Luven
President, Victoria Book Prize Society
778.677.1093 | victoriabookprizes@shaw.ca
Colleen Mycroft
Manager of Intergovernmental and Media Relations
250.896.5325 | cmycroft@victoria.ca