The Manitoba Book Awards, a longstanding program that celebrated literary talent in the province for over three decades, has come to an end. The decision to disband the awards program has left organizers „heartsick,“ as they grapple with the challenges that made the program unsustainable.
For years, the Manitoba Book Awards were organized by a coalition of Plume Winnipeg, the Association of Manitoba Book Publishers, the Winnipeg Public Library, and the Manitoba Writers‘ Guild. The awards offered about 10 prizes annually in categories such as non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and illustration, as well as specialized honors for emerging, francophone, and Indigenous writers.
However, a commissioned feasibility study report revealed that the program was struggling to stay afloat. The report, released publicly on Thursday, recommended that the coalition be dissolved and the awards program be disbanded. Charlene Diehl, executive director of Plume Winnipeg, expressed the challenges faced by the organizers, citing a lack of resources and manpower to sustain the program.
Kayla Calder, the consultant hired to conduct the feasibility study, compared the Manitoba Book Awards to similar programs across Canada and found that the program operated on a significantly lower budget. Changes to provincial arts funding in 2021 and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated the challenges faced by the program.
Despite the program’s popularity and the support it garnered from the community, organizers acknowledged that the current system was not working. The decision to disband the awards program opens up opportunities for new initiatives to emerge and for new approaches to be explored.
Matt Joudrey, president of the Association of Manitoba Book Publishers, expressed hope that sponsored awards would continue to be administered by their respective funders. The possibility of merging with the Saskatchewan and Alberta book award programs to create a new „Prairie Book Award“ program was also explored in the feasibility study.
While the end of the Manitoba Book Awards is a significant loss for the literary community in the province, organizers remain optimistic about the future. They hope that something new and innovative will emerge from the ashes of the awards program, providing a platform for Manitoba writers to continue to be recognized and celebrated.
In response to the disbandment of the awards program, Culture Minister Glen Simard stated that his department has been working with members of Manitoba’s publishing industry to find solutions for recognizing local authors. Two community sessions will be held in Winnipeg to discuss the feasibility study report and explore potential paths forward for the literary community in Manitoba.