The City of Vancouver Book Award is a Canadian literary award, that has been presented annually by the city of Vancouver, British Columbia to one or more works of literature judged as the year's best fiction, non-fiction, poetry or drama work about the city.
Criteria and selection As with the City of Toronto Book Award, the award may go to one or more books. The award has a monetary value of $3,000. The prize is funded by interest earned from the city's publishing reserve, which was established in 1977 as a permanent legacy for writers and publishers. The fund received royalties generated from Vancouver's First Century: A Photo History of Vancouver, edited by city staff. The third edition of the book, renamed Vancouver: A City Album, or many years generated royalty payments for the fund.
Honorees +City of Vancouver Book Award winners and finalistsYearAuthorTitleResultRef.1989Saltwater City: An Illustrated History of the Chinese in VancouverWinner1990Disappearing Moon CafeWinnerBeing Brown: A Very Public LifeFinalistBuddy's: Meditations on DesireFinalistFinalist1991Vanishing VancouverWinnerLeonard Frank: An Enterprising LifeFinalistRobin Ward's VancouverFinalist1992Trees of Vancouver: A Guide to the Common and Unusual Trees of the CityWinnerNo Forwarding AddressFinalistHidden CitiesFinalistFlesh WoundFinalist and Graeme WynnVancouver and Its RegionsFinalist1993Vancouver: A Visual HistoryWinnerFinalist and John AtkinHeritage Walks Around VancouverFinalist1994Winner and Karl SpreitzVancouver: Visions of a CityFinalistRobin Ward's Heritage West CoastFinalistLine ScrewFinalist1995Earle Birney: A LifeWinner and Cynthia NugentMister Got to GoFinalist and Robert DavidsonEagle Transforming: The Art of Robert DavidsonFinalist1996WinnerMonday Night ManFinalistMaking Vancouver: Class, Status & Social Boundaries 1863-1913Finalist1997WinnerVancouver at the Dawn: A Turn-of-the-Century PortraitFinalist and Bob ScullionPostcards from the Past: Edwardian Images of Greater Vancouver and the Fraser ValleyFinalist1998Winner and Ian MacdonaldFinalistAnd a Body to Remember WithFinalist1999Keys to KingdomsWinner and the editors of Vancouver MagazineVancouver: Secrets of the CityFinalistWhite LungFinalist2000 and Donald LuxtonLions GateWinner and Collin VarnerGardens of VancouverFinalistPaper Shadows: A Chinatown ChildhoodFinalistFinalist2001Simple RecipesWinnerCity of Glass: Douglas Coupland's VancouverFinalistStanley ParkFinalist (ed.)Susan Point: Coast Salish ArtistFinalist2002WinnerBurrard Inlet: A HistoryFinalistFinalistMaking a Stone of the HeartFinalist2003, Ken Dietrich-Campbell, Patricia Canning and Elaine AllanHeroinesWinner (ed.)Stan Douglas: Every Building on 100 Block West HastingsWinner and Bob TurnerVancouver, City on the Edge: Living with a Dynamic Geological LandscapeFinalistIntimate DistancesFinalist2004L.D.: Mayor Louis Taylor and the Rise of VancouverWinnerFinalistFinalistSitting PracticeHonourable mentionHonourable mentionMissing Sarah: A Vancouver Woman Remembers Her Vanished SisterHonourable mention2005Dream City: Vancouver and the Global ImaginationWinnerAll That MattersFinalist and Dara Culhane (eds.)In Plain Sight: Reflections on Life in Downtown Eastside VancouverFinalistVariousFinalist2006Stanley Park's Secret: The Forgotten Families of Whoi Whoi, Kanaka Ranch, and Brockton PointWinnerWaterfront: The Illustrated Maritime History of Greater VancouverWinnerHistorical Atlas of Vancouver and the Lower Fraser ValleyFinalist, Ian M. Thom, and Adele WederB.C. BinningFinalist2007Vancouver RememberedWinner and Michael TurnerFred Herzog: Vancouver PhotographsFinalistCan You Hear the Nightbird Call?FinalistFinalist2008 and Gillian JeromeHope in Shadows: Stories and Photographs of Vancouver's Downtown EastsideWinnerFalseworkFinalistAt Home With History: The Untold Secrets of Greater Vancouver's Heritage HomesFinalistFinalist2009WinnerIn the Realm of the Hungry GhostsFinalistNightmarkerFinalist2010 and Scott SteedmanVisions of British ColumbiaWinnerFinalistCommon Ground in a Liquid CityFinalistFinalist2011WinnerWhoever Gives Us Bread: The Story of Italians in British ColumbiaFinalistAfter Canaan: Essays on Race, Writing, and RegionFinalistVancouver KidsFinalist2012YVRWinner and Elee Kraljii Gardiner (eds.)V6A: Writing from Vancouver's Downtown EastsideFinalistAt the World's Edge: Curt Lang's VancouverFinalistUndesirables: White Canada and the Komagata MaruFinalistFinalist2013How Poetry Saved My Life: A Hustler's MemoirWinnerFinalistInk on PaperFinalist and Robin WardExploring Vancouver: The Architectural GuideFinalistInventing Stanley Park: An Environmental HistoryFinalist2014Arthur Erickson: An Architect's LifeWinnerWhat Makes Olga Run?FinalistHow Does a Single Blade of Grass Thank the Sun?FinalistAnatomy of a Girl Gang: A NovelFinalistArtificial CherryFinalist2015WinnerLive at the Commodore: The Story of Vancouver's Historic Commodore BallroomFinalistHastings-Sunrise: PoemsFinalist and Cynthia NugentMister Got To Go, Where Are You?Finalist2016, Karen Duffek, and Tania WillardLawrence Paul Yuxweluptun: Unceded TerritoriesWinner and Renée Sarojini Saklikar (eds.)FinalistThat Lonely Section of Hell: The Botched Investigation of a Serial Killer Who Almost Got AwayFinalist2017Bad EndingsWinner, Ian M. Thom, Susan Point, Kathryn Bunn-Marcuse, Thomas Cannell, Myrtle McKay, and William McLennanSusan Point: Spindle WhorlFinalistPandas on the EastsideFinalistInvisible DeadFinalist2018Dear Current OccupantWinnerFighting for Space: How a Group of Drug Users Transformed One City's Struggle with AddictionFinalistSitting Shiva on Minto Avenue, by TootsFinalistSustenance: Writers from BC and Beyond on the Subject of FoodFinalist2019 and Susan PointPeople among the People: The public art of Susan PointWinnerFinalistMurder by Milkshake: An Astonishing True Story of Adultery, Arsenic, and a Charismatic KillerFinalistNo Fixed AddressFinalistPort of BeingFinalist2020Chinatown Through a Wide Lens: The Hidden Photographs of Yucho ChowWinneron/meFinalistVancouver for BeginnersFinalist2021Five Little IndiansWinnerFinalist and Anna BronSalma the Syrian ChefFinalistHo Sun Hing Printers Honourable mention2022, Bill McLennan, and Jordan WilsonWhere the Power Is: Indigenous Perspectives on Northwest Coast ArtWinnerErase and RewindFinalistNo ShelterFinalistChiru Sakura: Falling Cherry BlossomsFinalistDebbie Cheung & Christopher Lee, Occupying ChinatownFinalist2023JunieWinnerCactus GardensFinalist, Nathan FairbairnPAWS: Mindy Makes Some SpaceFinalistThe Foghorn EchoesFinalistHolden After and Before: Love Letter for a Son Lost to OverdoseFinalist, Deanna Bowen, Wayde Compton, Daina Augaitis, Siobhan McCracken NixonJan Wade: Soul PowerFinalist2024White Riot: The 1907 Anti-Asian Riots in VancouverWinnerBaby Drag QueenFinalistSuperfan: How Pop Culture Broke My HeartFinalist, Michael SimpsonIt Stops Here: Standing Up for Our Lands, Our Waters, and Our PeopleFinalist, Jeff O'Brien, editors, plus numerous authorsWhat Are Our Supports?Finalist
Notes
References
External links City of Vancouver Book Award