A couple of B.C.'s best authors are coming to Prince George this week.
In the leadup to the BC Book Prize extravaganza each year, authors from the list of nominees are dispatched to different regions of the province to present their works, talk about reading and writing, and stimulate literacy causes.
Two finalists have been selected to visit Prince George and the northern region. They are:
Kayla Czaga, author of For Your Safety Please Hold On (Nightwood Editions), shortlisted for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize
Gabrielle Prendergast, author of Capricious (Orca Book Publishers), shortlisted for the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize.
The two will be in the spotlight for major public events in Kitimat (hometown for Czaga) and Smithers, and will also visit students at elementary and high schools in Kitimat, Terrace, Smithers, Quesnel, Fort St. James, Vanderhoof and Prince George.
There are seven awards under the BC Book Prize banner. This year, a Prince George writer is in the running for one of them. UNBC professor Rob Budde is a finalist with his book Dreamland Theatre for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize.
Another writer with local connections, Maggie de Vries, is on the shortlist for the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize for her book Rabbit Ears. In 2012, de Vries was UNBC's first writer-in-residence, spending several months in Prince George and other regional university campuses mentoring local writers, as well as writing her own projects.
The 31st annual Lieutenant Governor's BC Book Prizes Gala will be held at the Pinnacle Vancouver Harbourfront Hotel on April 25 with British Columbia's Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable Judith Guichon, in attendance to bestow all seven awards.
