The West Coast Book Prize Society has revealed the shortlists for its seven B.C. Book Prizes. The cash prizes, which collectively amount to $19,000, aim to recognize excellent literary achievement by B.C. authors and publishers.

The finalists are as follows:

Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize
•    Caroline Adderson, Ellen in Pieces (Patrick Crean Editions/HarperCollins Canada)
•    Aislinn Hunter, The World Before Us (Doubleday Canada)
•    Kathy Page, Paradise and Elsewhere (Biblioasis)
•    Brian Payton, The Wind Is Not a River (HarperCollins Canada)
•    Michael Springate, The Beautiful West and the Beloved of God (Guernica Editions)

Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize
•    Richard Beamish and Gordon McFarlane, eds.; The Sea Among Us: The Amazing Strait of Georgia (Harbour Publishing)
•    Margaret Horsfield and Ian Kennedy, Tofino and Clayoquot Sound: A History (Harbour)
•    Christine Lowther, Born Out of This (Caitlin Press)
•    Ian McAllister, Great Bear Wild: Dispatches from a Northern Rainforest (Greystone Books)
•    Jay Sherwood, Surveying Southern British Columbia: A Photojournal of Frank Swannell, 1901–07 (Caitlin)

Hubert Evans Non-fiction Prize
•    Julie Angus, Olive Odyssey: Searching for the Secrets of the Fruit That Seduced the World (Greystone)
•    Kevin Chong, Northern Dancer: The Legendary Horse That Inspired a Nation (Viking)
•    Barry Gough, The Elusive Mr. Pond: The Soldier, Fur Trader and Explorer Who Opened the Northwest (Douglas & McIntyre)
•    Eve Joseph, In the Slender Margin: The Intimate Strangeness of Dying (HarperCollins Canada)
•    Nancy J. Turner, Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge: Ethnobotany and Ecological Wisdom of Indigenous Peoples of Northwestern North America (McGill-Queen’s University Press)

Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize
•    Rob Budde, Dreamland Theatre (Caitlin)
•    Jen Currin, School (Coach House Books)
•    Kayla Czaga, For Your Safety Please Hold On (Nightwood Editions)
•    Patrick Lane, Washita (Harbour)
•    Cecily Nicholson, From the Poplars (Talonbooks)

Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize (illustrated)
•    Caroline Adderson; Qin Leng, illus.; Norman, Speak! (Groundwood Books)
•    Roy Miki and Slavia Miki; Julie Flett, illus.; Dolphin SOS (Tradewind Books)
•    Ashley Spires, The Most Magnificent Thing (Kids Can Press)
•    Heather Tekavec; Pierre Pratt, illus.; Stop, Thief! (Kids Can)
•    Chieri Uegaki; Qin Leng, illus.; Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin (Kids Can)

Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize (non-illustrated)
•    Becky Citra, Finding Grace (Second Story Press)
•    Maggie de Vries, Rabbit Ears (HarperCollins Canada)
•    Eileen Kernaghan, Sophie, in Shadow (Thistledown Press)
•    Gabrielle Prendergast, Capricious (Orca Book Publishers)
•    Elizabeth Stewart, Blue Gold (Annick Press)

Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award (design & production)
•    Lisa Ahier, The Sobo Cookbook: Recipes from the Tofino Restaurant at the End of the Canadian Road (Appetite by Random House)
•    Richard Beamish and Gordon McFarlane, eds., The Sea Among Us: The Amazing Strait of Georgia (Harbour)
•    Aaron Chapman, Live at the Commodore: The Story of Vancouver’s Historic Commodore Ballroom (Arsenal Pulp Press)
•    Alicia Priest, A Rock Fell on the Moon: Dad and the Great Yukon Silver Ore Heist (Harbour)
•    Roy Henry Vickers and Robert Budd; Roy Henry Vickers, illus.; Cloudwalker (Harbour)

The awards will be presented at the Lieutenant Governor’s B.C. Book Prizes Gala in Vancouver on April 25. The winner of an eighth award, the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence, will be announced later this month and will also be honoured at the gala.