2025
The $5,000 City of Victoria Book Prize, now in its 22nd year, is awarded to a writer from the
Capital Regional District for the best book published in the categories of fiction and non-fiction.
Marilyn Bowering | McGill-Queen’s University Press
From the jury: Marilyn Bowering’s rhapsodic language weaves the sounds and imagery of the Hebrides in this rich work of memoir, history, and poetry, drawing out the life of 17th century poet Mary MacLeod.
Bowering invites her readers to take part in her journey, uncovering the past through conversations with poets, musicians, and historians, and examining the value and fallibility of oral histories and the art of storytelling. The author’s curiosity and enthusiasm are contagious and help to articulate how important these sources of local knowledge are for translating both language and history with the care they deserve.
Sarah Cox | Goose Lane
From the jury: Signs of Life: Field Notes from the Frontlines of Extinction, by Sarah Cox, is an urgent and compelling exploration of the looming dangers of species extinction. Cox vividly synthesizes aspects of the crisis, as well as its possible solutions, through multiples lenses: the personal, the historical, the cultural and the scientific. The narrative she crafts features evidential research and gritty field work, outlining the issues, but also showing us the personalities who are trying to pull us back from the brink of species loss in our time and region.
Barbara Black | Caitlin Press
From the jury:
Little Fortified Stories, Barbara Black’s collection of flash fictions, is a beautiful combination of powerful pocket-sized narratives and poetic sensibility. Lyrical and playful, each experience is distilled into a unique microcosmos, rich and colourful, deeply emotional, yet strong as a fortress, protective of the most fragile sensibilities. The author’s originality, subtle humour and gentle poetry are a delight for the reader.
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