Manitoba Book Awards nominations announced

The shortlists for the 24th annual Manitoba Book Awards have been announced with thirteen awards covering everything from book design, to poetry, to the big prize -- the McNally Robinson Book of the Year.

The most nominations have been grabbed by Bandit: A Portrait of Ken Leishman by Wayne Tefs (Turnstone Press), which is up for five awards including the Carol Sheilds Winnipeg Book Award and the McNally Robinson Book of the Year. Seven other titles, include Alison Preston's The Girl in the Wall (Signature Editions), have received nods in two categories.

The nominees for Book of the Year include Dancing, With Mirrors by George Amabile (Porcupine's Quill), King: William Lyon MacKenzie King by Allan Levine (Douglas and McIntyre), Esmé Claire Keith's Not Being on a Boat (Freehand Books), Dale Barbour's Winnipeg Beach (University of Manitoba Press) and the aforementioned Bandit by Wayne Tefs.
 
The winners will be announced at the Manitoba Book Awards gala on Saturday, April 28. The event will be held at the Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain and will be hosted by poet and performer Drek Daa. The gala is free and open to the public. 

The Manitoba Writers' Guild will post the full list of nominees later today.