Graduates of University of Saskatchewan (USask) programs are among the finalists for this year’s Saskatchewan Book Awards. (Photo: Ron Garnett/www.AirScapes.ca)

USask alumni earn book award nominations

More than a dozen USask graduates have been shortlisted for the 2026 Saskatchewan Book Awards, which will be celebrated during a gala and awards ceremony on May 1 in Regina

More than a dozen University of Saskatchewan (USask) alumni are finalists for this year’s Saskatchewan Book Awards.

Saskatchewan Superwomen: Challengers and Champions by Vera Pezer (BA’62, MA’64, PhD’77) is shortlisted in the Non-Fiction Book Award category. (Photo: supplied)

Founded in 1993, the Saskatchewan Book Awards is the only provincially focused book awards program in Saskatchewan. Award winners are selected through a rigorous adjudication process involving 39 jurors from across Canada.

The 2026 shortlist was announced on March 6, 2026, in Saskatoon and Regina. In total, 45 books were shortlisted from 88 books entered across 13 award categories.

“The Book Awards are not just about prizes,” said executive director and USask graduate Donna Woloshyn (BA’71, BEd’80), in a news release. “We are about providing a space for Saskatchewan authors—and especially new and emerging voices—along with their publishers, to be honoured and promoted.”

Prizes for each award are $2,000 except for the Book of the Year award, which comes with a $3,000 prize. The 33rd Saskatchewan Book Awards Gala and Ceremony will be held in Regina on Friday, May 1, 2026.

The full shortlist is available online. Congratulations to the USask alumni finalists in the following categories:

Seventhblade by Tonia Laird (MFA’20) is shortlisted in the First Book Award category. (Photo: supplied)

Book of the Year Award

  • How I Bend Into More (Palimpsest Press) by Tea Gerbeza (MFA’21)
  • Touching Grass (HarperCollins Press Ltd.) by Kristy Jackson (BA’02)
  • The Art of War (Playwrights Canada Ltd) by Yvette Nolan (MPP’24)

Children’s Literature Award

  • Mortified (HarperCollins Press Ltd.) by Kristy Jackson (BA’02)
  • Touching Grass (HarperCollins Press Ltd.) by Kristy Jackson (BA’02)
  • Butterfly on the Wind (Roaring Brook Press) by Adam Pottle (PhD’16)

Fiction Award

  • Theories of Everything (Shadowpaw Press) by Dwayne Brenna (BA’77, MA’83, PhD)
Walking Upstream by Lloyd Ratzlaff (MEd’79) is shortlisted in the Poetry Book Award category. (Photo: supplied)

First Book Award

  • Awakening Through Grief (Awaken Your Soul’s Journey Press) by Angela Clement (BEd’89)
  • How I Bend Into More (Palimpsest Press) by Tea Gerbeza (MFA’21)
  • Seventhblade (ECW Press) by Tonia Laird (MFA’20)

Indigenous Peoples Publishing Award

  • Something For the Dark (University of Regina Press) by Randy Lundy (BA’94, MA’00)

 Indigenous Peoples Writing Award

  • Touching Grass (HarperCollins Press Ltd.) by Kristy Jackson (BA’02)
  • Putting Down Roots (University of Manitoba Press) by Cheryl Troupe (BA’01, MA’10, PhD’19)

Non-Fiction Book Award

First Light, Last Light by Glen Sorestad (BEd’63, MEd’76) is shortlisted in the Poetry Book Award category. (Photo: supplied)

Poetry Book Award

  • How I Bend Into More (Palimpsest Press) by Tea Gerbeza (MFA’21)
  • Green (Radiant Press) by Zachari Logan (BFA’05, MFA’09)
  • Walking Upstream (Thistledown Press) by Lloyd Ratzlaff (MEd’79)
  • First Light, Last Light (Shadowpaw Press) by Glen Sorestad (BEd’63, MEd’76)

City of Saskatoon Book Award

  • The Art of War (Playwrights Canada Ltd.) by Yvette Nolan (MPP’24)
  • Standing Up To Big Nickel (McGill-Queen’s University Press) by Elizabeth Quinlan (BSc’89, ARTS’93, PhD’04)

Scholarly Writing Award

  • Habiba Djahnine (Edinburgh University Press) by Sheila Petty (BA’82)
  • Standing Up To Big Nickel (McGill-Queen’s University Press) by Elizabeth Quinlan (BSc’89, ARTS’93, PhD’04)
  • Putting Down Roots (University of Manitoba Press) by Cheryl Troupe (BA’01, MA’10, PhD’19)