| Raffi

15th Annual B.C. Book
Prizes Gala, Canada Place,
Saturday, April 24th.

Katharine Hamer
Contributing Vriter

WITH regulation issue
black turtlenecks and
ponytails in abundance,
the B.C. book commu-
nity gathered last
Saturday at Canada
Place to applaud the
achievements of the
local industry.

Almost everyone at the
15th As:nual B.C. Book Prizes
Gala seemed to be a budding
author. Affable host Raffi
(who sadly declined to enter-
tain the assembled crowd with
a rendition of Baby Beluga)
took the opportunity to plug
his new autobiography, Raffi:
The Life of a Cinidren’s
Troubadour (Homeland
Press).

“It's a wonderful evening
to celebrate books in B.C.,”
said the singer. “I’m thrilled
to be your host tonight.”
Raffi added that penning his
own title had “challenged me
to the max, I have a new
appreciation of full-time
authors, Ir takes discipiine,
courage, and endurance.”

After perusing a photo
exhibition by Barry Peterson
and Blaise Enright-Peterson
called Lit Happens, which fea-
tured the portraits of numer-
ous local scribes, guests
tucked in to Belgian endive;
roasted sea bass; and the
sounds of the Yaletown String”
Quartet. Of the dessert
course, a poet tu my left said,
“Lychee fruit are incredibly

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erotic, don’t you think?”
Proot, perhaps, of the obser-
vational skills unique to those
in the literary trade.

When the awards proper
commenced, Peter Newman
swiftly became the first prize-
winner uf the evening for his
book Titans: How the New
Canadian Establishment
Strsed Power, Wearing his
trademark sailor’s cap ata
jaunty angle, Newman praised
local readers for their loyalty.

“In B.C. we're competing
with God,” he said. “Nature
provides us with so many
diversions. It’s a real commit-
ment to sit down and read a
book.” Proving his 18 years in
the province had turned him
into a knowledgeable local,
Newman also nffed thar in
B.C. it took “one person to
change a lightbulb and 12 to
do an environmental impact
study.”

Political matters were
never far from the surface at
the gala. Craig Jones, presi-
dent of the B.C. Civil
Liberties Association, urged
the audience to donaze to the
Little Sisters’ fund. Phe gay
and lesbian bookshop 1s cur-
rently fighting Canada
Customs for the right to
import censored material.

“The censorship of books
is the assassination of ideas,”
said Jones, adding that “con-
tinued vigilance” was necded
among the local book com-
munity. $1,700 in donations
poured in by the end of the
evening. ;

Meanwhile the Hon. Ian
Waddell, Minister of Small
Business, Tourism and
Culture, who presented the
Roderick Haig-Brown
Regional Prize, was the sub-

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ject of subdued hissing from
the crowd over his involve-
ment with the Burns Bog
development. Unfortunately
Waddell, who is “also writing
a book,” had to seek assis-
tance from gala organizers
when it transpired that he had
arrived at the podium without
the name of the chosen
prizewinner.

The North Shore’s own
David Zicroth won the
Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize
tor How [ Joined Humanity
At Last (Harbour), 3 book
about “the rich interior life of
middle age.” Zieroth
appeared surprised but pleased
to have won. “Terrific,” he
said, “this is good news.”

“Over there in North Van,
where not a lot of things hap-
pen, poetry happens,”

Zieroth added.
Praising the “vibrant litera-

ture that thrives here in B.C.,”

fan Waddell announced that
the book industry was the
province’s most important,
with 700 books published
yearly and an annual turnover
of $60 million.

Poet and presenter Gary
Geddes joked, “Robertson
Davies said that to be a writer
in Canada was about as
important as being a yogurt
manufacturer — perhaps
that’s changed in these health
food times.”

Following is a complete list
of prizewinners:
@ The Hubert Evans Non-
Fiction Prize — Peter
Newman, Titans: How the
Canadian Establishment
Seized Power (Penguin
Books).
B The Sheila A. Egoff
Chilaren’s Literature Prize —

oe

Friday, April 30, 1999 — North Shore News — 19

bok Prizes gala

Ron and Sandra Lightburn,
Drifnwood Core (Doubleday).
@ The Dorothy Livesav
Poetry Prize — David
ZAieroth, How f Joined
Hiananity At Last (Harbour).
@ The Roderick Haig- Brown

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Ground (McClelland &
Stewart).

B The Bill Duthie B.C.
Booksellers’ Choice Award -—
Tom Henry, Wesrcuasters:
Boats that Built B.C.
(Harbour).

Regional Prize — Mark
Hume with Harvey
Thommassen, River of the
Anary Moon: Seasons on the
Bella Coola (Grevstone ).

@ The Ethel Wilson Fiction
Prize — Jack Hodgins, Broken

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