September.19.2016.
Freehand at the 2016 Alberta Book Awards
The 2016 Alberta Book Awards were given out on Friday, September 16 in Calgary. Freehand was very honoured to receive two awards:
- Publisher of the Year
- Trade Fiction Book of the Year, for The Mystics of Mile End by Sigal Samuel
Congratulations to the other winners and shortlisted publishers and books, in particular to the Athabasca University Press, who were deservedly nominated alongside Freehand in the Publisher of the Year category.
About the Publisher of the Year Award, the jury said: “The jury noted the large difference in mission between the two shortlisted publishers and found it a difficult comparison. They found good points and strengths about both. When it came to the winner, though, there was one word to describe how the jury felt: impressed. They were impressed with how the books reflected the stated mission of the press. They were impressed with the writing. They were impressed with the prizes the Publisher keeps winning and with the quality of the authors (from across North America) that they are attracting. They were impressed that that this publisher does this year after year, that they publish books that are bold and fantastically quirky and that there is always something outstanding and important coming out. The key was the depth of the reviews that the publisher received for their books and the excellence of the books themselves. The jurors want this publisher to continue its work and continue to be excellent year after year. And so do we all.”