The Alberta Book Awards, the Alberta Literary Awards, and the Alberta Readers' Choice Award were given out recently at a gala reception in Edmonton and we're happy to note that several of our publishers took home prizes.

The big winner of the evening was Michael Davie, who won both the George Bugnet Award for Fiction and the first ever Alberta Readers' Choice Award for his first novel, Fishing for Bacon (NeWest Press).

"Fishing for Bacon is raw, pungent, funny, and strangely poignant. Michael Davie is one of the most engaging authors to emerge in some time. And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a sudden craving for beef dip.” —Will Ferguson

NeWest recieved more accolades, winning Publisher of the Year, and having another one of their fresh fiction authors winning big with the Trade Fiction Book Award, Rosie Chard for the thrilling Seal Intestine Raincoat, which offers a cautionary tale for our times, with its bleak portrayal of socio-economic collapse resulting from an unsustainable way of life. It also unearths the powerful human instincts that convert helpless fear into the desire to adapt.

Other big winners of the evening include Catherine Owen and Anvil Press for Frenzy, which won the Stephen G Stephansson Award for Poetry; Linda Smith and Coteau Books for The Broken Thread, which won the R Ross Annett Award for Children's Literature; and Beth Graham, Charlie Tomlinson, Daniela Vlaskalic, and Playwrights Canada Press for The Drowning Girls, which won the Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for Drama.

Congratulations!