Tag: award

Darren Bernhardt wins Manitoba Day Award!

Posted on by Mel

Congratulations to Darren Bernhardt who won the 2025 Manitoba Day Award for his book, Prairie Oddities: Punkinhead, Peculiar Gravities and More Lesser Known Histories.

The Manitoba Day Award is presented by the Association of Manitoba Archives and honours books which have utilized archives to help contribute to understanding the province’s history. The 2025 Finalists were: Darren Bernhardt for Prairie Oddities: Punkinhead, Peculiar Gravities and other Lesser Known Histories; Patricia Bovey for Western Voices in Canadian Art; John Einarson for Words and Music: The Stories Behind the Books; Gerald Friesen for The Honourable John Norquay: Indigenous Premier, Canadian Statesman; Alison Gillmor, Serena Keshavjee and Susan Algie for Henry Kalen: Photographer; Kimberly Moore and Janis Thiessen for mmm…Manitoba, The Stories Behind the Foods We Eat; Kevin Nikkel for Establishing Shots, An Oral History of the Winnipeg Film Group; Michael Parke-Taylor for Bertram Brooker: When We Awake!; David Pentland with H.C Wolfart and Will Oxford for Proto-Algonquian Dictionary: A Historical and Comparative Dictionary of the Algonquian Language; James Urry for On Stony Ground, Russländer Mennonites and the Rebuilding of Community in Grunthal; and Anton Wagner for The Spiritualist Prime Minister: Vol. I Mackenzie King and the New Revelation; and Vol. II Mackenzie King and His Mediums.

In reflecting upon his nomination, Darren said:

The vast and varied archives in Manitoba and across Canada are an incredibly invaluable resource of our rich history, and without them I would never be able to put these stories onto the pages of a book.

Congratulations to all of the 2025 nominees, and thank you to the Association of Manitoba Archives for all of their work to ensure Manitoba has access to these collections for years to come.

Michel Leboeuf Shortlisted for Hubert-Reeves Prize

Posted on by Mel

Biologist Michel Leboeuf is once again a finalist for the Hubert-Reeves Prize for popular science!

The nominees for the Quebec’s Hubert-Reeves prize have been announced and we are thrilled to see Les chants perdus de la nature by Michel Leboeuf has made the short-list. Great Plains Press will publish the English translation, Lost Songs of Nature, this June.

Below, find our media release for Lost Songs Of Nature and reach out to our marketing director, Angeline, to arrange any interviews at marketing@greatplainspress.ca

Media Release

Biologist Michel LeBoeuf Explores the Disconnect of Humans and Nature Through Our Senses

This is an invitation to listen, to discover and rediscover the planet’s ecosystems—its forests, marshes, swamps, bogs and shorelines. 

February 25, 2025 – Lost Songs of Nature is a nonfiction book by biologist and writer Michel Leboeuf. As the Editor-in-chief of the journal Nature sauvage for ten years, Michel has published some fifteen works and has earned two Hubert-Reeves awards, which honour the best popular science book in Quebec. Great Plains Press acquired rights to bring you an English translation of Lost Songs of Nature as part of their Spring 2025 season. 

Drowned out by airplanes, cars, construction and other sound polluters, we often forget what nature actually sounds like. The birds, bodies of water, even the rustling trees and their importance are looked over. Translated by Neil Macmillan, Lost Songs of Nature delves into how different organisms connect with the environment through their own symphony. Referring to a vast number of  species from across eastern North America, Leboeuf demonstrates how these symphonies can be altered through human interaction.

“As birdwatchers and nature lovers already know, there is a profound relationship between humans and Mother Earth,” says Catharina de Bakker, editorial director. “We’re thrilled to present Michel Leboeuf’s work exploring this theme to English-language readers. A scientist and nature writer, Leboeuf has written a meticulously researched and powerfully lyric elegy to humanity’s increasing disconnect from nature.” 

“We know our readers share this passion and will be drawn to Lost Songs Of Nature, a text that is both well-researched while remaining accessible to all. We hope that readers across North America share this call to save nature’s symphony,” says Mel Marginet, publisher.

By explaining acoustic ecology through descriptive imagery and sounds, readers will find this book fascinating and approachable. The French to English translation of Lost Songs of Nature will extend Michel’s research to a broader audience. As a result, bringing attention to the sounds we often ignore and more importantly, how we can preserve them.

Lost Songs of Nature is available for pre-order now across North America!

Two Titles on the Shortlist

Posted on by marketing

Congratulations to Katherine Koller and Natasha Deen, who have both made the Alberta Readers’ Choice Awards shortlist. Natasha Deen’s Gatekeeper is the second book in her Guardian series. Watch for the final book, Game’s End, this fall! Art Lessons by Katherine Koller is a crossover fiction title, appropriate for teenage audiences as well as adults. Art Lessons is a novel about art and growing up on the outside.

Voting opens in July!