Esi Edugyan won for Out of the Sun: On Race and Storytelling, while Wendy Proverbs won for Aggie & Mudgy: The Journey of Two Kaska Dena Children.

Esi Edugyan and Wendy Proverbs have won top honours at the 2022 Victoria Book Prizes, which include the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize and City of Victoria Children’s Book Prize.

Edugyan won the former for Out of the Sun: On Race and Storytelling, while Proverbs took home the latter for Aggie & Mudgy: The Journey of Two Kaska Dena Children. The winners were announced Wednesday night by Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps and co-sponsor Brian Butler during a gala at the Union Club of British Columbia. Both winners received $5,000 prizes for their work.

“These two awards honour their exceptional work in addressing important and complex topics in such a thought provoking and creative way,” Helps said in a statement. “I would like to offer my sincere gratitude for their contributions to Victoria’s literary community.”

Barry Gough, Arleen Paré, Gregor Craigie, Amanda Swinimer, and Edugyan were among the local authors who made the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize shortlist, which includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry released between April 2021 and March 2022. Proverbs was joined by Frances Backhouse and Teoni Spathelfer on the City of Victoria Children’s Book Prize shortlist.