3 Calgary writers up for W.O. Mitchell Prize
A musical odyssey, a book of prairie poetry, and a personal story of a writer's mother — those are the three works nominated for the W.O. Mitchell Book Prize this year.
The City of Calgary announced the short list on Wednesday:
Glenn Dixon for Tripping the World Fantastic (Dundurn).
Juleta Severson-Baker for Incarnate (Frontenac House).
Tyler Trafford for Almost a Great Escape: A Found Story (Goose Lane Editions).
Dixon is an author, musician and documentary filmmaker. Her book Tripping the World Fantastic takes readers on a journey searching for the origin of the world's music.
Juleta Severson-Baker teaches poetry and performance at Mount Royal University. Incarnate is a collection of poetry rooted in the Prairie landscapes.
And in Almost a Great Escape: A Found Story, journalist and writer Typer Trafford reconstructs the extraordinary life of his mother from her Montreal childhood to her love affair with a Norwegian war prisoner in the early 1940s.
The city established the prize in honour of the late Calgary writer W.O. Mitchell to recognize the literary achievements of local authors.
The $5,000 award is administered in partnership with the Writers Guild of Alberta. A three-person jury judges all the entries and selects a winner.
The prize will be handed out on June 11 as part of The Calgary Awards.
