Sask Book Awards

Last night I attended the Sask Book Awards, at the Connexus Arts Centre here in Regina. It was a wonderful evening, and definitely gave me some new material to add to my ever-expanding recreational reading list! The tickets were $65, but lucky for me, Jason had an extra ticket so I was able to attend for free. We had a really nice time and I talked to lots of interesting people, including the News Editor at the Regina Leader Post, whom I sat beside at dinner.

The guest speaker was Sandra Birdsell, author of The Russlander. She was an excellent speaker: funny, smart, passionate - all of those good things. She's also fairly new to Saskatchewan so it was sort of neat to get an "outsider" perspective of the writing community here, which is an impressive one.

My top pics for books I now want to read as a result of last night:

I Am Hutterite
by Mary-Anne Kirby
In 1969, Mary-Ann Kirkby's parents did the unthinkable. They left a Hutterite colony near Portage la Prairie, Manitoba with seven children and little else, to start a new life. Overnight, the family was thrust into a society they did not understand and which knew little of their unique culture. The transition was overwhelming. Her book details her painful and often humourous attempts to adapt to popular culture as she comes to terms with the heart-breaking circumstances that led her family to leave community life.

Frontier Farewell: The 1870s and the End of the Wild West
Garrett Wilson
He graciously thanked his research assistant for all of his hard work on the project. Big thumbs up from me for that!

Life On The Refrigerator Door
Alice Kuipers
Explores the relationship between a mother and daughter by their communication through sticky notes on the refrigerator door!

All in all, a great night. Next to The Gillers, I think Saskatchewan does it up in style!