The West Coast Book Prize Society announced the names of the winners of the 28th annual BC Book Prizes on May 12:

Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize:

Esi Edugyan, Half-Blood Blues (Thomas Allen Publishers)

Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize

Chuck Davis, The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver (Harbour Publishing)

Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize

Charlotte Gill, Eating Dirt (Greystone Books in partnership with the David Suzuki Foundation)

Dorothy Lvesay Poetry Prize

John Pass, crawlspace (Harbour Publishing)

Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize

Sara O’Leary (author) and Julie Morstad (illustrations), When I Was Small (Simply Read Books)

Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize

Moira Young, Blood Red Road (Doubleday Canada)

Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award

Chuck Davis and Harbour Publishing, The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver

Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence

Brian Brett is the recipient of this award, established in 2003 by the Honourable Iona Campagnolo, which recognizes British Columbia writers who have contributed to the development of literary excellence in the province.

A total of $19,000 is awarded to winners with each prize providing $2,000 with the exception of the Lieutenant Governor’s prize which awards $5,000.

This year’s gala, hosted by Charles Demers and attended by the Honourable Lieutenant Governor Steven L. Point, OBC, took place at The Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema at SFU Woodward’s, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts in Vancouver May 12.

For more information visit www.bcbookprizes.ca.