The Manitoba Book Awards/Les Prix du livre du Manitoba Announces FEASIBILITY STUDY REPORT and PUBLIC MEETINGS
August 22, 2024
The Manitoba Book Awards/Les Prix du livre du Manitoba has been celebrating excellence in Manitoba writing, publishing, storytelling, book design and illustration for more than three decades, and under many challenging circumstances.
Over the past six years, a coalition made up of Plume Winnipeg (formerly the Winnipeg International Writers Festival), Association of Manitoba Book Publishers, Winnipeg Public Library, and Manitoba Writers’ Guild has been responsible for the book awards, and together we have worked hard to create new efficiencies while navigating emerging challenges, from pandemic disruptions to changes in available resources.
In November 2023, after many years of demanding work in challenging circumstances, the coalition placed the awards on hiatus and secured funding from The Winnipeg Foundation to underwrite a detailed study by Kayla Calder, an Ottawa-based consultant with experience in the not-for-profit and writing and publishing sectors. After several months of sectoral research and significant input from the local community, Calder has created a comprehensive report which we are now making available to the public.
While Calder’s study recognizes the uncommon strength of the coalition, it also recognizes the impossibility of maintaining course, and recommends disbanding the coalition currently managing the Manitoba Book Awards/Les Prix du livre du Manitoba as well as the awards program itself. The study notes that “the current system is not working, and the landscape has become increasingly unstable. Disbanding the umbrella program creates an opportunity to explore new approaches to some awards and allows space for new initiatives to emerge.”
All four members of the Manitoba Book Awards/Les Prix du livre du Manitoba coalition know first-hand how important book awards are to writers’ careers, the local publishing industry, and the profile of Manitoba in the country’s literary ecosystem. We also know that the current structure has become untenable and after careful consideration, including discussions with our boards of directors, all four organizations have accepted the recommendation to disband the program and to dissolve our coalition.
This news is difficult for everyone in the writing and literary community. We encourage everyone to read the report and its supporting appendices (available at manitobabookawards.ca) to gain a full understanding of the circumstances underlying this difficult but necessary decision.
We are prepared to discuss the report and its implications more fully at two open meetings at the Carol Shields Auditorium (Millennium Library) on Wednesday, August 28 and Thursday, August 29, from 6:30 – 7:30pm. If you are interested in attending either of these meetings, please pre-register through Eventbrite.
While our organizations are formally dissolving the Manitoba Book Awards/Les Prix du livre du Manitoba, we recognize that various sponsors, community groups, or levels of government may decide to take up the challenge and administer current prizes or establish a new version of the book awards. These conversations will happen outside of the next week’s scheduled meetings, but we want to underscore that coalition members are willing to provide transitional support and training should this be the case.
We wish to express our deep gratitude for the community’s enthusiastic support for the book awards over the years, as well as the financial support of the many sponsors and funders who have made so many specific awards possible. It has been an honour to contribute to this important endeavour.
Sincerely,
Coalition Members
Manitoba Book Awards/Les Prix du livre du Manitoba
Coalition Media Contacts:
Charlene Diehl, Director of Plume Winnipeg
Matt Joudrey, President, Association of Manitoba Book Publishers
NOTE: due to limited resources, we regret that the report, appendices, and this announcement are available in English only.