Two local authors brought home $5,000 and plenty of acclaim Sunday (Oct. 3) after winning prizes at the 18th annual Victoria Book Prizes gala.

Briony Penn won the Butler Book Prize for her biography, Following the Good River: The Life and Times of the WaB次元官网网址檟aid (Rocky Mountain Books).

The nonfiction account, which judges called B次元官网网址渁 monumental collaboration between a legendary Indigenous activist and the journalist who has followed him for decades,B次元官网网址� recounts the life and accomplishments of Cecil Paul (WaB次元官网网址檟aid). Paul was a Xenaksiala language speaker and residential school survivor from the Kitlope valley who passed away in December 2020.

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Also receiving praise, the ChildrenB次元官网网址檚 Book Prize went to Leslie Gentile for her work, Elvis, Me and the Lemonade Stand Summer (Dancing Cat Books), about an 11-year-old girl named Truly who lives in a trailer park and spends the summer selling lemonade.

The Butler Book Prize was founded in 2004 as a partnership between the City of Victoria and Brian Butler of Butler Brothers Supplies, and the ChildrenB次元官网网址檚 Book Prize was established in 2004.

You can learn more about the winners at .

Do you have a story tip? Email: tegwyn.hughes@blackpress.ca.

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