Publications

Awards and Recognition

AU Press strives for excellence in scholarship, editorial work, design, and marketing. We champion our authors’ work and are proud to be recipients of awards and other literary and design recognition.

Recognition

2024 AAUP Book, Jacket, and Journal Show: Trade Typographic

Indigiqueerness

Joshua Whitehead, in dialogue with Angie Abdou

Interior and cover design by Natalie Olsen, KissCut Design

Interior artwork by Brnesh Berhe

Evolving from a conversation between Joshua Whitehead and Angie Abdou, Indigiqueerness is part dialogue, part collage, and part memoir. Beginning with memories of his childhood poetry and prose and travelling through the library of his life, Whitehead contemplates the role of theory, Indigenous language, queerness, and fantastical worlds in all his artistic pursuits. This volume is imbued with Whitehead’s energy and celebrates Indigenous writers and creators who defy expectations and transcend genres.

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Award

Winner, 2023 Scholarly and Academic Book of the Year, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

Memory and Landscape

edited by Kenneth L. Pratt and Scott A. Heyes

“A rich and beautiful book that tackles issues of great importance for many Northern communities: land and dispossession, tradition and change, memory and loss. With an impressive array of eminent scholars who seek to foreground Indigenous voices, this volume addresses the interplay of colonial pressure and Indigenous peoples’ resilience through topics ranging from berry picking and house forms to ecological knowledge and place naming.” —Peter Schweitzer, Professor of Anthropology, University of Vienna

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Award

Winner, 2023 Book Design, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

Memory and Landscape

edited by Kenneth L. Pratt and Scott A. Heyes

Interior design by Natalie Olsen, KissCut Design

Cover design by Marvin Harder

Memory and Landscape: Indigenous Responses to a Changing North explores the ways in which Indigenous peoples in the Arctic have adapted to challenging circumstances, including past cultural and environmental changes. In this beautifully illustrated volume, contributors document how Indigenous communities in Alaska, northern Canada, Greenland, and Siberia are seeking ways to maintain and strengthen their cultural identity while also embracing forces of disruption.

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Shortlist

2023 Trade Fiction Book of the Year, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

Grieving for Pigeons

Zubair Ahmad, translated by Anne Murphy

“The great strength of Grieving for Pigeons is its closeness to Zubair Ahmad’s original Punjabi. […] These stories transport the reader through a Lahore haunted by several periods of its recent history.” —Pasha Khan, McGill University

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Shortlist

2023 Book Cover Design, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

Little Wet-Paint Girl

Ouanessa Younsi, translated by Rebecca L. Thompson

Cover design by Natalie Olsen, Kisscut Design

Born to a French-Canadian mother and Algerian father, Ouanessa Younsi is a bold and unique voice in modern Francophone poetry. In this intensely personal recitation on identity and ethnicity, Younsi takes the reader on a surreal odyssey through a liminal world of belonging and unbelonging, absence and presence, mind and body. Her visionary work, first published in French and translated here by Rebecca Thompson, is unsettling, riveting and guaranteed to leave readers contemplating the existential mysteries of “self.”

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Shortlist

2023 Book Cover Design, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

Grieving for Pigeons

Zubair Ahmad, translated by Anne Murphy

Cover design by Natalie Olsen, KissCut Design

In this poignant and meditative collection of short stories, Zubair Ahmad captures the lives and experiences of the people of the Punjab, a region divided between India and Pakistan. In an intimate narrative style, Ahmad writes a world that hovers between memory and imagination, home and abroad. 

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Award

Winner, 2023 Society for Socialist Studies’ Errol Sharpe Book Prize

“Truth Behind Bars”

Paul Kellogg

From the jury: “An indispensable non-revential return to debates about the Russian Revolution and its aftermath. Kellogg’s argument ranges even farther, however, as a reflection on a political ethic grounded in this non-revential approach to history: one that acknowledges the profound impact of means on ends, the need to reckon with revolutionary politics without any alibis.”

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Award

Winner, 2023 Independent Publisher Awards: Best Regional Non-Fiction

Under the Nakba Tree

Mowafa Said Househ

“More than simply a Muslim Canadian or Palestinian diasporic memoir, Househ’s biography is a quintessentially Canadian story that breathes life into the grand narrative of the nation. His moving prose provides a lucid guide through the turbulence of the last twenty years—from the 9/11 terror attacks to tumult in Palestine—harmonizing aspects of modern history often viewed as isolated and separate. The result is a masterful retelling of a modern history lost between the cracks.” —Khaled A. Beydoun, author of American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear

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Award

2022 Regional Book of the Year, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

Bucking Conservatism

edited by Leon Crane Bear, Larry Hannant, and Karissa Robyn Patton

“Through a discussion of significant moments and important movements, such as Indigenous rights, gay rights, New Leftism, and the counterculture, Bucking Conservatism offers a thoughtful and nuanced reassessment of Alberta’s history and convincingly demonstrates that progressive politics helped shape the province in important ways. This book is a must-read for those interested in understanding the complex history of politics in Alberta.”

—Roberta Lexier, co-editor of Party of Conscience: The CCF, The NDP, and Social Democracy in Canada

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Award

2022 Scholarly and Academic Book of the Year, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

Regime of Obstruction

edited by William K. Carroll

“A remarkable volume that puts on display an impressive amount of empirical research—robust, rigorous, and multifaceted. The Corporate Mapping Project has clearly produced the kind of hard data on ownership structures and operations of capitalist class fractions that make it possible to see how power is actually wielded in the economy—and this is a rarity. Regime of Obstruction is a most important contribution to research and activism in the field of fossil fuels and climate change.”

—Andreas Malm, author of Fossil Capital

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Shortlist

2022 Book Cover Design, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

Plastic Legacies

edited by Trisia Farrelly, Sy Taffel, and Ian Shaw

Plastic Legacies brings together scholars from the fields of marine biology, psychology, anthropology, environmental studies, Indigenous studies, and media studies to investigate and address the urgent socio-ecological challenges brought about by plastics. Contributors consider the unpredictable nature of plastics and weigh actionable solutions and mitigation processes against the ever-changing situation. Moving beyond policy changes, this volume offers a critique of neoliberal approaches to tackling the plastics crisis and explores how politics and communicative action are key to implementing social, cultural, and economic change. 

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Shortlist

2022 Trade Non-Fiction Book of the Year, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

Bucking Conservatism

edited by Leon Crane Bear, Larry Hannant, and Karissa Robyn Patton

Bucking Conservatism is a welcome chinook of revisionist social and political history that will resonate with scholars, students, and readers. Beautifully written, bristling with verve, insight and political nuance, this anthology deserves a wide audience of readers.”

—Valerie Korinek, author of Prairie Fairies: A History of Queer Communities and People in Western Canada, 1930–1985

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Shortlist

2022 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Education/Academic

25 Years of Ed Tech

Martin Weller

“There is no one better informed than Martin Weller to help guide readers through the complex landscape of ed tech. In 25 Years of Ed Tech, he provides steady intellectual guidance, based on personal experience. Weller is always focused on the learner, clearly detailing opportunities but also raising the alarm for undesirable implications of technology adoption in educational settings.”

—George Siemens, author of Knowing Knowledge

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Shortlist

2021 INDIES Finalist, Political and Social Sciences (Adult Nonfiction)

Regime of Obstruction

edited by William K. Carroll

Anchored in sociological and political theory, this comprehensive volume provides hard data and empirical research that traces the power and influence of the fossil fuel industry through economics, politics, media, and higher education. Contributors demonstrate how corporations secure popular consent, and coopt, disorganize, or marginalize dissenting perspectives to position the fossil fuel industry as a national public good.

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Shortlist

2022 Wallace K. Ferguson Book Prize

“Truth Behind Bars”

Paul Kellogg

Paul Kellogg uses the story of Vorkuta as a frame with which to re-assess the Russian Revolution. In particular, he turns to the contributions of Iulii Martov, a contemporary of Lenin, and his analysis of the central role played in the revolution by a temporary class of peasants-in-uniform. Kellogg explores the persistence and creativity of workers’ resistance in even the darkest hours of authoritarian repression and offers new perspectives on the failure of democratic governance after the Russian Revolution.

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Recognition

Benetech-Global Certified Accessible™ Publisher

AU Press achieves Global Certified Accessible designation through eBOUND Canada’s Accessible Certification Program. Benetech’s GCA certification has an ambitious goal – to help publishers build born accessible content to ensure that everyone has equal access to materials critical for all readers and learners. 

For a list of Global Certified Accessible publishers, click here

Recognition

25 Years of Ed Tech: The Serialized Audio Version

25 Years of Ed Tech

Martin Weller

OPEN REUSE / REMIX / ADAPTATION AWARD

An adaptation of Martin Weller’s 25 Years of Ed Tech book into a community audiobook, published in podcast form. Each chapter of the book has been read by a different member of the open education community and was released on a weekly schedule between November 2020 and May 2021. This project is an outstanding example of the power of OER reuse by remixing the physical book into an audiobook and increasing the accessibility by providing the text in an alternate format. 

To learn more about this award, click here

Shortlist

2021 Learning Book of the Year, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

25 Years of Ed Tech

Martin Weller

In this lively and approachable volume based on his popular blog series, Martin Weller demonstrates a rich history of innovation and effective implementation of ed tech across higher education. From Bulletin Board Systems to blockchain, Weller follows the trajectory of education by focusing each chapter on a technology, theory, or concept that has influenced each year since 1994. Calling for both caution and enthusiasm, Weller advocates for a critical and research-based approach to new technologies, particularly in light of disinformation, the impact of social media on politics, and data surveillance trends. A concise and necessary retrospective, this book will be valuable to educators, ed tech practitioners, and higher education administrators, as well as students.

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Shortlist

2021 Book Cover Design, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

The Virtues of Disillusionment

Steven Heighton

Most people go through life chasing illusions of success, fame, wealth, happiness, and few things are more painful than the reality-revealing loss of an illusion. But if illusions are negative, why is the opposite, being disillusioned, also negative? In this essay based on his inaugural writer-in-residence lecture at Athabasca University, internationally acclaimed writer Steven Heighton mathematically evaluates the paradox of disillusionment and the negative aspects of hope. Drawing on writers such as Herman Melville, Leonard Cohen, Kate Chopin, and Thich Nhat Hanh, Heighton considers the influence of illusions on creativity, art, and society. This meditation on language and philosophy reveals the virtues of being disillusioned and, perhaps, the path to freedom.

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Shortlist

2021 Scholarly and Academic Book of the Year, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

The Art of Communication in a Polarized World

Kyle Conway

Author Kyle Conway from the University of Ottawa confronts the communication challenges of our modern world by navigating the space between opposing perspectives. Drawing on the theory of cultural translation and its dimensions of power, meaning, and invention, The Art of Communication in a Polarized World serves to deepen our understanding of what it means to communicate and opens the door to new approaches to politics and ethics.

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Shortlist

Archibald Lampman Award

From Turtle Island to Gaza

David Groulx

The jury writes that “Groulx’s collection articulates the ‘long execution’ shared by the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island and Palestinians in Gaza. These to-the-bone, potent poems sing the pain of ‘the settlers / live there now / painting pictures / writing stories / our lives are / silent’; the persistent, violent irony that ‘[w]e have become aliens / strangers / outsiders / foreigners / unknown / in our own land / other.’ There is, also, a reminder for tender resiliency: ‘When we speak of freedom / we must also speak of our freedom / to be kind / to be just / and to be in love.’ From Turtle Island to Gaza knows that the colonial experience is a global one. Groulx’s hope, that through these poems ‘we find that we, colonized peoples, are not alone,’ is very well-met.”

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Shortlist

2020 Children’s and Young Adult Book of the Year, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

The Law Is (Not) for Kids

Ned Lecic and Marvin A. Zuker

The Law Is (Not) for Kids: A Legal Rights Guide for Canadian Children and Teens by Ned Lecic and Marvin Zuker is the first handbook on Canadian law written specifically for kids and teens. Intended to educate and empower children and youth by teaching them their legal rights and responsibilities, this indispensable guide will help kids make informed decisions and learn how to advocate for themselves.

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Recognition

Special Acknowledgement, Wilson Institute Book Prize

An Ethnohistorian in Rupert’s Land

Jennifer S. H. Brown

The jury appreciated Jennifer Brown’s unique approach. Brown revisits old articles, book chapters, and talks – some unpublished – and provides further context and insight for each. The jury noted that we all evolve as historians and it is appreciated when academics reassess and critique their past work.

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Recognition

Honourable Mention, 2019 Scholarly and Academic Book of the Year, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

American Labour’s Cold War Abroad

Anthony Carew

The jury noted that this “remarkably researched book” will be a “landmark reference for years to come,” and has the potential to transcend the scholarly community.

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Shortlist

2019 Robert Kroetsch Award for Poetry, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

What We Are When We Are

Cvetka Lipuš, translated by Tom Priestly

Working within a postmodern style, this rhythmic and melodious bilingual collection of poems originally written in Slovenian by Cvetka Lipuš and translated here by Tom Priestly, blends the real with the surreal, dull urban lives with dreams.

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Award

Winner, 2019 Marshall McLuhan Award for Outstanding Book in the Field of Media Ecology

The Medium Is the Monster

Mark A. McCutcheon

“From dance culture to scifi to Big Oil, Mark McCutcheon traces the McLuhanesque Frankenphemes of technological monstrosity—and their threat of future mischief—with an intensity that won’t let you put this book down.” —Richard Cavell, author of Remediating McLuhan

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Presenter

2019 Eden Mills Writers’ Festival

Shape Your Eyes by Shutting Them

poems by Mark A. McCutcheon

Mark McCutcheon was invited to read from his debut collection of poetry, Shape Your Eyes By Shutting Them. McCutcheon read at The Fringe event alongside Anushka Ataullahjan, Dave Gregory, Liz Koblyk, Alison Stevenson, and Linda Walsh.

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Shortlist

2019 Trade Non-Fiction Book of the Year, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

Amma’s Daughters

Meenal Shrivastava

This richly detailed re-memory uncovers the history of the female foot soldiers of Gandhi’s national movement. Using her grandmother’s 1962 autobiography as a foundation, Meenal Shrivastava reclaims an important part of India’s history and gives voice and honour to the thousands of largely forgotten or unacknowledged women who, threatened with imprisonment, relentlessly and selflessly gave toward the revolution.

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Presenter

2019 Victoria Festival of Authors

Amma’s Daughters

Meenal Shrivastava

Meenal Shrivastava was invited to the Victoria Festival of Authors to speak about her memoir, Amma’s Daughters. Shrivastava spoke on a panel with Carla Funk, Yasuko Thanh, and Samra Zafar about the challenges and inspiration behind their memoirs.

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Award

Winner, 2018 Scholarly and Academic Book of the Year, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

Alberta’s Lower Athabasca Basin

edited by Brian M. Ronaghan

The jury noted that it was a miracle of editing for this title to be so accessible to the general public and noted the difficulty in delivering such a consistent quality throughout the book. They commented that the marketing and launch were very well thought out and executed well. Their final remarks were that Alberta’s Lower Athabasca Basin is clearly in a league of its own, the scope of the project is impressive, and it will be a landmark book in its field as a reference work as well as a scholarly work.

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Recognition

Honourable Mention, 2018 Council on Museum Anthropology Book Award

Visiting With the Ancestors

Laura Peers and Alison K. Brown

In the pages of this beautifully illustrated volume is the story of an effort to build a bridge between museums and source communities, in hopes of establishing stronger, more sustaining relationships between the two and spurring change in prevailing museum policies.

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Recognition

The 2018 Hill Times’ 100 Best Political, History, Public Policy Books

Small Cities, Big Issues

edited by Christopher Walmsley and Terry Kading

The Hill Times is an Ottawa-based newsweekly that covers Canada’s politics and government and a must-read for political insiders. Small Cities, Big Issues looks at the effects of neoliberal policies on Canadian municipalities and argues that small cities can succeed in reconceiving community based on the ideals of acceptance, accommodation, and inclusion.

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Recognition

Grant Recipient, 2018 Manifold Pilot Project

Manifold is an open-source, mobile-friendly publishing platform that allows publishers to include archival documents, audio and video, and other elements into their publications, in addition to offering readers and users the opportunity to annotate, share, and comment. AU Press was selected as one of only ten organizations to receive a two-day, on-site training session, support for setting up a branded Manifold instance, and instruction on how to use Manifold to publish materials.

Award

Winner, 2017 AECT Division of Distance Learning Awards: Distance Education Book

Emergence and Innovation in Digital Learning

edited by George Veletsianos

Emergence and Innovation in Digital Learning analyzes the application of the latest technologies in both traditional and online universities. Edited by George Veletsianos, the Canada Research Chair in Innovative Learning and Technology, this collection is essential for understanding the changes occurring in the world of education delivery.

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Award

Winner, 2017 Independent Publisher Awards: Best Regional Non-Fiction

My Decade at Old Sun, My Lifetime of Hell

Arthur Bear Chief

My Decade at Old Sun, My Lifetime of Hell is an outspoken account of the sexual and psychological abuse that Arthur Bear Chief suffered during his time at Old Sun Residential school in Gleichen on the Siksika Nation.

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Recognition

2017 AAUP Book, Jacket, and Journal Show: Cover Design

Without Apology

edited by Shannon Stettner

Cover design by Marvin Harder. Harder notes that he wanted this cover to be strong, bright, and confident despite the somewhat sensitive nature of the subject matter. The image was selected from the visual material provided.

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Shortlist

2017 Alberta Book Publishing Awards, Book Design

Visiting With the Ancestors

Laura Peers and Alison K. Brown

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Recognition

The 2017 Hill Times’ 100 Best Political, History, Public Policy Books

Alberta Oil and the Decline of Democracy in Canada

edited by Meenal Shrivastava and Lorna Stefanick

The Hill Times is an Ottawa-based newsweekly that covers Canada’s politics and government and a must-read for political insiders. Many Athabasca University faculty members contributed a chapter to this book including Bob Barnetson, Joshua Evans, Jason Foster, Joy Fraser, Paul Kellogg, Manijeh Mannani, Jay Smith, and Karen Wall.

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Award

Winner, 2016 Lois Hole Award for Editorial Excellence, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

Alberta Oil and the Decline of Democracy in Canada

edited by Meenal Shrivastava and Lorna Stefanick

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Shortlist

2016 Scholarly and Academic Book of the Year, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

We Are Coming Home

edited by Gerald T. Conaty

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Award

Winner, 2015 Alberta Book Publishing Awards, Book Design

Film and the City

George Melnyk

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Award

Winner, 2015 Alberta Book Publishing Awards, Book Cover/Jacket Design

Film and the City

George Melnyk

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Recognition

2014 AAUP Book Jacket and Journal Show: Trade Typographic – Book

Film and the City

George Melnyk

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Award

Winner, 2014 Alberta Book Publishing Awards, Book Cover/Jacket Design

The Wages of Relief

Eric Strikwerda

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Award

Winner, 2014 Lois Hole Award for Editorial Excellence, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

Xwelíqwiya

Rena Point Bolton and Richard Daly

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Shortlist

Finalist, 2014 Canada Prize in the Humanities, Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences

Imperfection

Patrick Grant

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Award

Winner, 2014 Stanford M. Lyman Distinguished Book Award

Sociocultural Systems

Frank W. Elwell

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Recognition

2013 AAUP Book Jacket and Journal Show: Scholarly Typographic – Book

Hard Time

Ted McCoy

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Shortlist

Runner-up, 2013 Canadian Authors Association Exporting Alberta Award

Man Proposes, God Disposes

Pierre Maturié, translated by Vivien Bosley

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Recognition

Honourable Mention, 2013 Canadian Authors Association Exporting Alberta Award

Reel Time

Robert M. Seiler and Tamara P. Seiler

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Shortlist

2012 Canadian Aboriginal History Book Prize, Canadian Historical Association

Goodlands

Frances W. Kaye

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Award

Winner, 2012 Canadian Aboriginal History Book Prize, Canadian Historical Association

Recollecting

edited by Sarah Carter and Patricia A. McCormack

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Award

Winner, 2012 Willa Literary Award for Scholarly Non-Fiction

Recollecting

edited by Sarah Carter and Patricia A. McCormack

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Shortlist

2012 Margaret McWilliams Award (Scholarly History), Manitoba Historical Society

Recollecting

edited by Sarah Carter and Patricia A. McCormack

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Award

Winner, 2012 Scholarly and Academic Book of the Year, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

Recollecting

edited by Sarah Carter and Patricia A. McCormack

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Award

Winner, 2012 Armitage-Jameson Prize for Western Women’s History

Recollecting

edited by Sarah Carter and Patricia A. McCormack

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Award

Winner, 2011 Charles A. Wedemeyer Award (Research & Publication)

Accessible Elements

edited by Dietmar Kennepohl and Lawton Shaw

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Award

Winner, 2011 Felicia A. Holton Book Award, Archaeological Institute of America

Imagining Head-Smashed-In

Jack W. Brink

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Award

Winner, 2011 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction

Letters from the Lost

Helen Waldstein Wilkes

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Award

Winner, 2011 Alberta Readers’ Choice Awards

Letters from the Lost

Helen Waldstein Wilkes

Champion comments: “This is a very moving story about the holocaust, immigration to Canada, denial, survival and guilt. Helen Wilkes fled Czechoslovakia with her parents in 1939 at the age of two. At the age of sixty, she finally opened her father’s red Eaton’s box full of letters from family in Europe. She discovered a family she never knew, never talked about, and a history of daily life under the Nazis. Translating the letters was not enough, so she embarked on a journey back to Europe to piece together the family history and learn about her grandparents, her aunties, uncles and cousins, and what happened to each of them. It is a rather unique approach to the telling of a holocaust story.”

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Recognition

2011, AAUP Book Jacket and Journal Show: Covers and Trade Typographic

Roy & Me

Maurice Yacowar

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Shortlist

2011 Book Cover/Jacket Design Award, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

Roy & Me

Maurice Yacowar

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Shortlist

2011 Margaret McWilliams Award (Scholarly History), Manitoba Historical Society

The West and Beyond

edited by Alvin Finkel, Sarah Carter, and Peter Fortna

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Award

Winner, 2010 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction

A Very Capable Life

John Leigh Walters

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Award

Winner, 2010 Charles A. Wedemeyer Award

Mobile Learning

edited by Mohamed Ally

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Award

Winner, 2009 Public Communications Award, Canadian Archaeological Association

Imagining Head-Smashed-In

Jack W. Brink

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Award

Winner, 2009 City of Edmonton Book Prize

Imagining Head-Smashed-In

Jack W. Brink

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Award

Winner, 2009 Best Archaeology Book, Society for American Archaeology

Imagining Head-Smashed-In

Jack W. Brink

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Award

Winner, 2009 Charles A. Wedemeyer Award

The Theory and Practice of Online Learning

edited by Terry Anderson

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Award

Winner, 2009 Clio, Regional History, Canadian Historical Association

The Importance of Being Monogamous

Sarah Carter

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Award

Winner, 2009 Scholarly and Academic Book of the Year, Alberta Book Publishing Awards

The Importance of Being Monogamous

Sarah Carter

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Award

Winner, 2008 Margaret McWilliams Award for Scholarly History

The Importance of Being Monogamous

Sarah Carter

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