These prestigious awards celebrate publications from the previous year that contributed significantly to the historical literature of British Columbia.
The British Columbia Historical Federation is excited to announce the winners for the annual Lieutenant Governor’s Historical Writing Awards. Due to cancellation of the 2020 Book Awards Gala scheduled for the BCHF Conference in Surrey this June, we are announcing the winners early. Keep an eye on our website and social media channels for interviews with winners.
Congratulations to all the winners whose works keep British Columbia’s rich history vibrant and relevant.
The Lieutenant-Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing 2019
The Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing and $2,500 is awarded to Michael Layland, In Nature’s Realm: Early Naturalists Explore Vancouver Island, Touchwood Editions.
A celebration of the richly diverse flora and fauna of Vancouver Island as explored through the records of explorers, settlers, and visitors, and with due respect to the wealth of Indigenous traditional knowledge of the island’s ecosystems. In Nature’s Realm gathers initial reports, recorded histories, and personal accounts left by Vancouver Island’s early naturalists who studied the region’s flora and fauna.
2nd prize
$1,500, Wendy Wickwire, At the Bridge: James Teit and an Anthropology of Belonging, UBC Press.
3rd prize
$500, Jenny Clayton, The Lieutenant Governors of BC, Harbour Publishing.
Community History Award
Local and community history often provides the most sought-after information by historians researching a particular area.
$500, Kyle Kusch, Our Coloured Past: The Arrow Lakes in the Age of Colour Photography, Arrow Lakes Historical Society.
Honourable mentions (alphabetical)
Jennifer L. Butler, Boom & Bust: The Resilient Women of Historic Telegraph Cove, Touchwood Editions.
Carolyn Parks Mintz with Andy Chelsea and Phyllis Chelsea, Resolve: The Story of the Chelsea Family and a First Nation Community’s Will to Heal, Caitlin Press
Diane Pinch, Passion and Persistence: Fifty Years of the Sierra Club in British Columbia, 1969–2019, Harbour Publishing
