Three Douglas & McIntyre authors nominated for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes

The BC and Yukon Book Prizes, established in 1985, celebrate the achievements of British Columbia and Yukon writers, illustrators and publishers. Their mission is to recognize and promote the achievements of the book community in BC and Yukon through the BC and Yukon Book Prizes and related programs.

Douglas & McIntyre would like to congratulate the following authors, who are BC Book Prize finalists:

• Darrel J. McLeod, whose novel, A Season in Chezgh’un is a finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, awarded to the author of the best original work of literary fiction.
• Emelia Symington Fedy, whose memoir, Skid Dogs, is a finalist for the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize, awarded to the author of the best original work of literary non-fiction.
• Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, whose graphic novel, JAJ: A Haida Manga is a finalist for two prizes:
• The Jim Deva Prize for Writing That Provokes, awarded to the author whose book best challenges or provokes the ideas and forces that shape what writing, art, and/or society can become
• The Bill Duthie’s Booksellers’ Choice Award, presented to the originating publisher and the author of the book that is the most successful in terms of public appeal, initiative, design, production and content. The prize is shared by the publisher and the author.

A Season in Chezgh’un, by Darrel J. McLeod, is a subversive debut novel, infused with the contradictory triumph and pain of finding conventional success in a world that feels alien. It follows the protagonist, James to Northern BC, where he takes solace in the richness of the Dakelh culture—the indomitable spirit of the people, and the splendour of nature—all the while fighting to keep his dark side from destroying his life.

Darrel J. McLeod is Cree from Treaty8 Territory in Northern Alberta. Before deciding to pursue writing, he worked as an educator, chief negotiator of land claims for the federal government and executive director of education and international affairs with the Assembly of First Nations. He is the author of two highly-decorated memoirs: Mamaskatch (2018; winner of the Governor General's Literary Award for Nonfiction, shortlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize, longlisted for Canada Reads) and Peyakow (2021; shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Writer’s Trust Prize for Nonfiction, the George Ryga Award for Social Awareness in Literature, the Jim Deva Prize for Writing That Provokes and the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize ).

Skid Dogs by Emelia Symington Fedy, is a raw and riveting coming-of-age story about the wild love of teenage friendships and the casual oppression of 90s rape culture. It recounts Symington-Fedy’s time growing up with her girl gang on the railroad tracks of a small town in British Columbia. Unsupervised and wild, the girls explored the power and shortcomings of “best” friendships and their growing sexuality.

Emelia Symington Fedy grew up in Armstrong, BC. She has worked as an essayist, storyteller and documentary producer for CBC Radio and is the co-artistic director of The Chop Theatre. She is the creator of the popular blog and radio show that became an audiobook, Trying to Be Good: The Healing Powers of Lying, Cheating, Stealing, and Drugs (Author's Republic, 2017).

JAJ: A Haida Manga by visual artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, brings to life the tumultuous history of first contact between Europeans and Indigenous peoples and the early colonization by the Europeans of the northern West Coast. The story follows several historical figures, including Johan Adrian Jacobsen (JAJ), who comes to the Haida village of Masset to collect specimens for a German museum, through a time span that includes first contact, the devastation of the smallpox epidemic, and the mass resettlement of disenfranchised peoples, both Indigenous and European.

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is a visual artist, storyteller and public speaker. Raised on Haida Gwaii, he melds cultural hybridity and his political experiences as an Indigenous person with contemporary graphic literature to produce a unique genre called Haida Manga. His books include Flight of the Hummingbird (Greystone, 2008), A Tale of Two Shamans (Theytus, 2001), Red (Douglas & McIntyre, 2009) and Carpe Fin (Douglas & McIntyre, 2019).