2023 WCJBA SUBMISSIONS
An integral part of the Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival, The Western Canada Jewish Book Awards initiative is designed to celebrate excellence in writing on Jewish themes / subject and showcase the achievements of authors from Western Canada.
Geographical delineation: for the intent of this award, Western Canada covers the area from West of the Manitoba-Ontario border, including the Northern regions, to the BC coast.
As we are aware of many delays in publications because of supply chain issues, we have decided to extend the deadline for this next round of the awards by one year and allow books of 2022 to be submitted. We’re looking forward to what this additional year will bring!
Authors are invited to submit their books by December 15, 2022.
Books published in 2020, 2021 and 2022 will be accepted.
Categories
- Fiction – The Nancy Richler Memorial Prize
- Non-Fiction – The Pinsky Givon Family Prize
- Memoir/Biography – The Cindy Roadburg Memorial Prize
- Poetry – The Betty Averbach Foundation Prize
- Children & Youth – The Diamond Foundation Prize
- Holocaust – The Kahn Family Foundation Prize
Context
There are currently 2 national Canadian Jewish Book Awards based in Toronto. It is our hope that a Western Canada geographically based awards will achieve our goal of enhancing the literary scene west of the Ontario Manitoba border and will encourage more authors to enter their books into the competition.
Geographical delineation: for the intentions of this award, Western Canada is considered from West of the Manitoba-Ontario border, including the Northern regions, to the BC coast.
Eligibility
The author must have lived in Western Canada for the past 12 months or have lived in Western Canada for at least 3 of the past 5 years.
A book written by a non-Jewish author is eligible if in accordance with the following criteria.
Eligible books:
Containing significant Jewish content or theme.
• Written by an eligible author (see above).
• Written in English or available in English.
• Published in English or in the English translation between the dates published on this site.
• Have a 13 digit ISBN, including eBooks.
• Books with Jewish content written by non-Jewish authors are eligible.
• Graphic books are eligible.
Judging Prize information
The books will be judged by independent industry professionals. The jury will be comprised of 5 judges, to be drawn from a larger pool including judges from all Western provinces. The winners will be announced by mid-April. An Awards soiree and event will take place at a later date in the spring. There will be a monetary award of $2,000 for each winning author.
How to submit a book for the award
1. Download the WCJBA Submission form 2022
2. Mail or deliver in person the following items for each book submitted:
• A complete entry form
• 5 copies of the book
• $50 entry fee per prize category
Send to:
JCC Jewish Book Festival
Attn: Dana Camil Hewitt
950 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 2N7
Questions?
Contact Dana Camil Hewitt, JBF director at: 604-257-5156 or jbf@jccgv.bc.ca