Prizes, prizes, prizes... NeWest Press and its authors made off with a lot of lofty accolades at the 2010 Alberta Book Awards on May 14. (The Alberta Book Awards, by the way, is a catchall title for a ceremony that actually combined three separate awards: the Alberta Book Publishing Awards, which are handed out to publishers by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta; the Alberta Literary Awards, which go to authors and are administered by the Writers Guild of Alberta; and the brand-new Alberta Readers' Choice Award, which is the creation of the BPAA and the Edmonton Public Library.)

In fact, it's impossible to say which award made us proudest. It was wonderful to see Rosie Chard's Seal Intestine Raincoat win the Trade Fiction Book Award, for instance. And we definitely burst a few shirt buttons upon hearing that NeWest Press had been named 2010's Alberta Publisher of the Year — an award, by the way, that comes with a very heavy, very handsome sculpture which will be the first weapon we'll reach for if our office is ever invaded by marauding book thieves.

However, in the end, it was especially gratifying to see Michael Davie's Fishing for Bacon nab the Alberta Readers' Choice Award and its accompanying oversized novelty cheque for $10,000 — not just because the prize was voted on by the reading public, and not just because Fishing reflects NeWest Press' commitment to first-time authors, and not even just because we're tickled by the idea of a prestigious award like this one going to a book that concludes with the main character fondly imagining someone "smearing tea tree oil on some dog's anus." We're pleased because Michael's acceptance speech so graciously acknowledged his fellow nominees (which included fellow NeWest author Myrna Kostash for The Frog Lake Reader). "There are five outstanding titles that were shortlisted here," he told the crowd at the Delta South Hotel in Edmonton, "and with the summer coming, that would be a great recommended reading list for every Albertan."

Amen, Michael. The fact that Fishing for Bacon also won the Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction that same night is just gravy. (Do people put gravy on their bacon? If they do, they should probably cut it out, because it sounds really unhealthy.)

NeWest Press congratulates Michael, Rosie, and all the other very worthy winners and nominees at Friday's ceremony. You couldn't ask for a more vivid demonstration of the diversity and excellence of the Alberta publishing scene, and NeWest is honoured to be part of it.