Medicine Wheel Publishing and Marisa Alps won Books BC Honors

Discover award-winning Medicine Wheel Publishing and honored industry veteran Marisa Alps in BC's prestigious Books BC Honors.

on May 01, 2024

Medicine Wheel Publishing and Marisa Alps won Books BC Honors | Frontlist

Books BC has revealed the winners of two awards recognizing the best in the province's publishing business.

Medicine Wheel Publishing is slated to win the Jim Douglas Publisher of the Year award, while industry veteran Marisa Alps will be honored with the Gray Campbell Distinguished Service Award.

Teddy Anderson (Ye√≠l S‚Äôaghi), an adopted member of the Carcross Tagish First Nations of the Tlingit Community, founded Medicine Wheel Publishing. The company aims to publish authentic, informative Indigenous literature, governed by a council of Elders and knowledge keepers. The firm has produced over 40 books and is a publishing partner of the Orange Shirt Society. It has also given more than 15,000 books to Indigenous schools and communities.

According to a release from Books BC, the Jim Douglas award honors a company that has "earned the respect and applause of the community of publishers for a specific publishing project, an extraordinary contribution to the BC publishing community, and/or its extended commitment to excellence in publishing."

Marisa Alps, the current creative director of the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts, has over 30 years of publishing experience. Alps has worked at Harbour Publishing, Nightwood Editions, and Douglas & McIntyre, where she educated dozens of interns and co-op students. She prioritizes activism and mentoring industry newcomers.

The Gray Campbell Award honors "an individual or individuals who have made a significant contribution to the book publishing industry in the province."

The winners will be honored during a bi-annual industry reception on May 8 in Vancouver.