User:AlexRCor/sandbox

Exposure and recognition for BC literary artists is very important to us. Given the size and cultural scope of Canada, the lived experiences and cultural histories of resident artists varies considerably from province to province. BC's unique Canadian position as the gateway to the pacific ocean has made it the natural entry point for those immigrating from Asia, and the home of a First Nations' tradition unlike any other. Therefore, we are interested in how these realities have shaped the literary tradition in BC, how works have been received, and the manner of exposure which great works of BC literature garner both in the province itself and abroad. As such, we hope that in undertaking an examination of the BC book prizes and more robustly filling out its page on wikipedia we can both find answers to the questions we have posed, and assist others who are interested in what sorts of literary art is produced and lauded in British Columbia.
 * 1) B.C. Book Prize ** (this is a definite yes, and if you find out more about your first choice re: my questions from Thursday, then we could revisit that option)
 * 2) * https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BC_Book_Prizes
 * 3) * Stub article which although linking to each specific award granted does not offer much information in regard of the organization, its criteria, or its history. This may indicate a bias toward national as opposed to regional or provincial literary awards in Canada. Further, it may play into an 'eastern bias' which does not take artistic contributions from Alberta, British Columbia, or the Territories seriously.

OUTLINE OF OUR CONTRIBUTIONS

1. General "about"

2. The organization itself and how it's structured

3. On tour

4. Blurb of each award

Leads:

- Technical: AlexRCor

- Reflection: Shared by Nomie and TheresaBod (As it is a 3-person group).

Possible addition segments:

- Judging history/criteria

- Inception of award(s)

- Any controversy?

- Social impact of the awards for both authors and communities.

- Effect of winning on exposure of the work.

Working Bibliography:

Arts Grant awarded to BC Book Prizes: http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/cbcacomplete/docview/941150782/F18B40721DAD4D0DPQ/6?accountid=14656

Traditional Procedure for some of the awards: http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/243021525/fulltext/458B9974AA5B4419PQ/1?accountid=14656

Finalists for 2016: http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/1771370949?pq-origsite=summon&accountid=14656

Criteria for awards consideration: http://www.bcbookprizes.ca/about/criteria

Board member information: http://www.bcbookprizes.ca/about/board

Being Short Listed boosting careers: http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/214491384?pq-origsite=summon&accountid=14656

2017 Nominees/Prize information: http://www.straight.com/arts/877776/shortlists-announced-2017-bc-book-prizes

REFLECTION: Group BC Book Prizes (Alex, Theresa and Noemi)
The Edit-A-Thon allowed us to not only observe but be actively involved in an online community of information which we regularly access, but had never directly contributed to previously. It taught us clearly the ever-changing nature of Web 2.0, and highlighted our agency as members of the Canadian academic community even as undergraduate students, which made for a rather exciting project. Yet it became clear upon working that we had to remain rigorously conscious over the constraints and specifications of a collaborative database like Wikipedia—style, grammar (as past or present tense is inappropriate when dealing with on-going subjects), maintaining an objective stance, and coherency despite the multiplicity of contributors, all had to be taken into consideration when working on our article. In addition, we were constantly reminded of the fact that nothing on Wikipedia is permanent, and that other editors can add and remove information as they see fit, which reminded us of Warner’s observation that “[a] public is a space of discourse organized by nothing other than the discourse itself” (413). Wikipedia as a democratic and ever-expanding public is highly organic in nature, and this meant that our contributions to the BC Book Prizes page not only entered an existing discourse composed by many voices, but helped to maintain it as well. Admittedly, however, our decision to “expand” on an obscure, Wiki “stub” that had little existing information meant that our contributions were not as externally regulated as they may have been had we worked on a more popular Wiki post.

The exigency we hoped to address was the importance of the BC Book Prizes, which we felt was especially articulated in the fact that that they have demonstrated charity efforts to combat literary censorship. Our group confidently believes we accomplished what we had set out to achieve, which was to enrich a pocket of Wikipedia concerning the Canadian literary sphere through proper research, while combatting what we noticed to be national or even “eastern bias” in Canadian literary traditions and their respective representations on the Web.

Fortunately as a group we had few frustrations—as we were a group of three people, our decisions were done speedily, making each of our editing sessions very efficient. Alex was specifically concerned with the technical aspects, including uploading our final contributions onto the existing BC Book Prizes page. Admittedly, although we learned a tremendous amount about the actual contributing process of Wikipedia, we were hoping to find information on potential controversies that were concerned with the prizes, but unfortunately found none. Yet that did not take away from our overall satisfaction with our Edit-A-Thon experience.

Works Cited

Warner, Michael. “Publics and Counterpublics (abbreviated version)”. Quarterly Journal of Speech. 88.4 (2002). 413-425

= BC Book Prizes = The BC Book Prizes, established in 1985, celebrate the achievements of British Columbia writers and publishers.

The seven Prizes, as well as The Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence, are presented annually at the Lieutenant Governor’s BC Book Prize Gala in April.

The Prizes are administered and awarded by the West Coast Book Prize Society. Publicity, organization of the awards and fundraising for the Gala and prize pool is handled by Vancouver marketing and publicity firm, Rebus Creative.

Core Board Members
The current president is Brian Burtch, an author and professor of Criminology at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. Vi Hughes, children’s author and instructor at Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia holds the position of secretary. And, the present treasurer of the non-profit organization overseeing the BC Book Prizes is Rob Taylor, a poet who coordinates several poetry events within the greater Vancouver area.

Members At Large
Michael Hayworth, a former University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University IT services employee who holds a degree in publishing from the latter university. Digby R. Leig, a lawyer practicing in North Vancouver, British Columbia who has a history of community sports involvement. Frances Peck, a teacher of editing at Douglas College and Simon Fraser University, who volunteers with Editors Canada. Kathryn Shoemaker, an author and illustrator of children’s literature, and former president of The Endeavour Society and The Canadian Mental Health Association, who presently holds a position as an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia. And, Grant T. Smith, a chartered professional accountant with previous experiences working in theatrical revitalization across Canada.

Nomination Criteria
Although not a requirement on all of the prizes, the Bill Duthie, Sheila A. Egoff, Hubert Evans, Dorothy Livesay, and Ethel Wilson awards stipulate that in order to be nominated one must be either a current resident of British Columbia, or have resided in the province for three of the previous five years.

Annual Prizes
Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize

The Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize is annually awarded to the best original work of poetry produced by a resident of British Columbia or the Yukon. Originally established in 1986 as the BC Poetry Prize, the award was renamed to its current title in 1989 after the poet Dorothy Livesay.

Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize

The Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize is annually awarded to the best original work of fiction produced by a resident of British Columbia or the Yukon. Established in 1985, it is currently supported by Friesens.

Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize

The Roderick Haig-Brown Regional prize is annually awarded to the best original work which contributes “the most to the enjoyment and understanding of the province of British Columbia”. Its holds no specific subject requirement (the work can depict the province’s history, geography, people, etc.) and may be published anywhere. It is supported by Marquis, Victoria Bindery, and First Choice Books.

Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize

The Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize is annually awarded to the best original work of non-fiction produced by a resident of British Columbia or the Yukon. Supported by the BC Teacher’s Federation, its respects a broad range of subjects as long as the work reflects “quality of research and writing along with insight and originality”.

Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize

The Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize is annually awarded to the best children’s work produced by a resident of British Columbia or the Yukon. Though the work can be either fiction or non-fiction (including biography), it cannot be “highly” illustrated. Carrying a cash value of 2,000 CAD, the prize has been supported by the British Columbia Library Association since its inception in 1987.

Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize

The Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize is annually award to the best children’s illustrated work produced by a resident of British Columbia of the Yukon. The work can be either fiction or non-fiction and the prize is jointly shared by the author and illustrator.

Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award

The Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award is annually awarded for “best book in terms of public appeal, initiative, design, production and content”, and is shared by the author and publisher.

Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence

The Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence is annually awarded to “recognize British Columbia writers who have contributed to the development of literary excellence” and is supported by the Government House Foundation.

Raising Money to Fight Censorship
During the year of the 15th annual BC Book Prizes Gala, over $2,250 was raised to initiate the B.C. Civil Liberties Defence Fund. This was in the efforts of stopping censorship to help protect the freedom of ideas.

Background On Tours
There is a tradition built up for selected authors who were finalists for the BC Book Prizes to go on tour giving free readings at BC schools and public venues. Each year they go on a couple of different legs, each one consisting of two authors and taking anywhere between 2-5 days on each route. These routes include Northern BC Leg, Southern BC Leg, Peace River Leg, Vancouver Island Leg, Kootenays Leg, Peace Country Leg, BC Interior Leg, Vancouver Island Leg, Okanagan Leg, and the Lower Mainland Leg.

Lieutenant Governor's BC Book Prizes Gala
The winners for the 2017 BC Book Prizes is announced at the Lieutenant Governor’s BC Book Prizes Gala, which takes place on Saturday April 29 in Vancouver. The winners are collectively awarded with $19,000 in cash prizes and are sponsored by the West Coast Book Prize Society.

The 2017 Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence is announced on April 4, recognizing BC writers who have contributed and helped develop literary excellence in BC, originally established by The Honourable Iona Campagnolo in 2003.