Arts and Science authors make Sask Book Awards shortlist

Alumni and faculty members of the University of Saskatchewan (USask) College of Arts and Science have earned more than 20 mentions on the shortlist for the 2026 Saskatchewan Book Awards.

The Saskatchewan Book Awards are an annual celebration of the best work by Saskatchewan writers. This year’s finalists were announced on March 6.

Seventeen alumni from across USask made the shortlist. Read the full list of alumni finalists on the Green & White website.

The following College of Arts and Science alumni and faculty were shortlisted.

Book of the Year Award

• How I Bend Into More (Palimpsest Press) by Tea Gerbeza (MFA’21)
• Touching Grass (HarperCollins Press Ltd.) by Kristy Jackson (BA’02)
• The Paper Birds (HarperCollins Press Ltd.) by Jeanette Lynes (Professor of English, Director of MFA in Writing Program)

Children’s Literature Award

• Mortified (HarperCollins Press Ltd.) by Kristy Jackson (BA’02)
• Touching Grass (HarperCollins Press Ltd.) by Kristy Jackson (BA’02)
• Butterfly on the Wind (Roaring Brook Press) by Adam Pottle (PhD’16)

Fiction Award

• Theories of Everything (Shadowpaw Press) by Dwayne Brenna (BA’77, MA’83, Professor Emeritus of Drama)
• The Paper Birds (HarperCollins Press Ltd.) by Jeanette Lynes (Professor of English, Director of MFA in Writing Program)

First Book Award

• How I Bend Into More (Palimpsest Press) by Tea Gerbeza (MFA’21)
• Seventhblade (ECW Press) by Tonia Laird (MFA’20)

Indigenous Peoples Publishing Award

• Something For the Dark (University of Regina Press) by Randy Lundy (BA’94, MA’00)

Indigenous Peoples Writing Award

• Touching Grass (HarperCollins Press Ltd.) by Kristy Jackson (BA’02)
• Putting Down Roots (University of Manitoba Press) by Cheryl Troupe (BA’01, MA’10, PhD’19, Associate Professor of History)

Non-Fiction Book Award

• Saskatchewan Superwomen: Challengers and Champions (Owl Imprints) by Vera Pezer (BA’62, MA’64, PhD’77)
• Putting Down Roots (University of Manitoba Press) by Cheryl Troupe (BA’01, MA’10, PhD’19, Associate Professor of History)

Poetry Book Award

• How I Bend Into More (Palimpsest Press) by Tea Gerbeza (MFA’21)
• Green (Radiant Press) by Zachari Logan (BFA’05, MFA’09)

City of Saskatoon Book Award

• Standing Up To Big Nickel (McGill-Queen’s University Press) by Elizabeth Quinlan (BSc’89, ARTS’93, PhD’04, Professor of Sociology)

Scholarly Writing Award

• Habiba Djahnine (Edinburgh University Press) by Sheila Petty (BA’82)
• Standing Up To Big Nickel (McGill-Queen’s University Press) by Elizabeth Quinlan (BSc’89, ARTS’93, PhD’04, Professor of Sociology)
• Putting Down Roots (University of Manitoba Press) by Cheryl Troupe (BA’01, MA’10, PhD’19, Associate Professor of History)

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