Harbour Publishing at the BC Historical Writing Awards
This Place is Who We Are Takes Second Place Alongside Two Other Harbour Publishing Honourable Mentions
The British Columbia Historical Federations (BCHF) has released the winners for this year’s BC Historical Writing Award, with second place going to Harbour Publishing’s This Place is Who We Are by Katherine Palmer Gordon. Also on the list was The Wild Horses of the Chilcotin (Harbour Publishing) by Wayne McCrory and The Curious Passage of Richard Blanshard (Harbour Publishing) by Barry Gough, both earning honourable mentions.
This Place is Who We Are profiles Indigenous communities in central and northern coastal BC that are reconnecting to their lands and waters—and growing and thriving through this reconnection. The volume includes a collection of 10 inspiring stories across this vast region that tell of restoration efforts by First Nations people to repair what has been lost through environmental depredation and healing what has been devastated by colonization. The book illustrates what can be accomplished when conservation and stewardship are inextricably intertwined with the prosperity and well-being of communities.
Katherine Palmer Gordon is the author of eight books of non-fiction, including several BC bestsellers: We Are Born with the Songs Inside Us, The Slocan: Portrait of a Valley, The Garden That You Are, and Made to Measure: A History of Land Surveying in British Columbia, which won the 2007 Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Book Prize. This Place is Who We Are also won the Jeanne Clarke Local History Award, and is shortlisted for the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Book Prize. Gordan is an award-winning freelance journalist and lives on Gabriola Island, BC.
The Wild Horses of the Chilcotin gathers two decades of research to make a case for the “intrusive” wild horses of the Chilcotin, who are often seen as competition for range land with native species and domestic cattle and aren’t officially protected. McCrory chronicles their genetic history and significance to the Tŝilhqot’in people and juxtaposes the community’s efforts to protect the horses against movements to cull them. This bestselling book is the winner of the 2024 Basil Stuart-Stubbs Book Prize, the co-winner of the George Ryga Award for Social Awareness in Literature, and is a finalist for the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Book Prize.
Wayne McCrory is a registered professional biologist specializing in the study of wild horses, bears and western toads. He has published more than ninety scientific reports on wildlife and conservation, including two technical reports on wild horses in BC and Alberta and, with horse genetics expert Dr. Gus Cothran, two reports on the genetics of wild horses in the Chilcotin. McCrory lives on a small farm in Hills, BC with his wife, conservationist and journalist Lorna Visser.
The Curious Passage of Richard Blanshard explores the history behind the first governor of Vancouver island, illuminating with intriguing detail the genesis and early days of Canada’s westernmost province. While James Douglas is remembered, for better or worse, as a founding father of British Columbia, Richard Blanshard’s name is now largely forgotten, despite his vitally important role in warning London of American cross-border aggressions, including a planned takeover of Haida Gwaii. However, his failures highlight the fascinating struggles of the time—the supreme influence of commerce, the disparity between expectations and reality, and the bewildering collision of European and Pacific Northwest culture.
Barry Gough is one of Canada’s premier historians and biographers and has won several awards for his writing, including the Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing for Possessing Meares Island. He is a Fellow of the Society for the History of Discoveries, and lives in Victoria, BC with his wife Marilyn.
The BC Historical Writing Award is an annual competition that gathers the books and authors who have made significant contributions to the historical literature of BC across the province. First place winner receives $2,500, with first runner-up winning $1,500 and second runner-up winning $500. The 2024 winner was Jennifer Bonnell, author of Stewards of Splendour: A History of Wildlife and People in British Columbia.