Seven titles compete for BCHF prize

March 30th, 2015

The British Columbia Historical Federation is pleased to announce the shortlists for the Annual Historical Writing Competition.

Among the nominees is the newly retired host of CBC’s Almanac Mark Forsythe and two independently published books from the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of B.C. and VandeBerk Books.

The BC Lieutenant-Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing will be awarded together with $2,500 to the author whose book makes the most significant contribution to the historical literature of British Columbia. The 2nd place winner will receive $1,500 and 3rd place, $500.

A book will also be awarded the Community History Award. Certificates of Honourable Mention may be awarded to other books as recommended by the judges.

Finalists

Blood and Sweat Over the Railway Tracks: Chinese Labourers Constructing the Canadian Pacific Railway (1880-1885) by Lily Siewsan Chow (UBC & Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC)
Echoes of British Columbia: Voices From the Frontier by Robert Budd (Harbour Publishing)
From the West Coast to the Western Front: British Columbians and the Great War by Mark Forsythe and Greg Dickson (Harbour Publishing)
The History of Leechtown, Part I: The VIEE and the Discovery of Gold on the Sook and Leech Rivers, editor Bart van den Berk (VandeBerk-Books)
Live at the Commodore: The Story of Vancouver’s Historic Commodore Ballroom by Aaron Chapman (Arsenal Pulp Press)
Surveying Southern British Columbia: A Photojournal of Frank Swannell, 1901-07 by Jay Sherwood (Caitlin Press)
Written as I Remember It: Teachings (??ms ta?aw) from the Life of a Sliammon Elder by Elsie Paul (UBC Press)

The winners will be announced at the British Columbia Historical Federation Conference Book Awards Reception on Saturday, May 23, 2014 at the Billy Barker Casino Hotel in Quesnel, BC.Tickets are available for purchase online at http://bchistory.ca/conferences/2015/register.htmlLearn more about the British Columbia Historical Federation at their website: www.bchistory.ca