Cree artist Allen Sapp won a $15,000 Governor General's Literary award on Monday for his illustrations in the children's book The Song Within My Heart.
The English-language winner in the text category was Glen Huser of Edmonton for Stitches.
Sapp, who grew up on the Red Pheasant reserve in Saskatchewan in the 1930s, is a descendent of the Cree leader Poundmaker. He lives in North Battleford, Sask., and has exhibited his paintings at galleries throughout North America.
The paintings in the book “resonate with the rhythm of the drum, the rhythm of the heart,” the jury said.
Huser teaches library and information studies at the University of Alberta. He has written the adult novel Grace Lake and was shortlisted for the Mr. Christie's Book Award for his first novel for children, Touch of the Clown.
In his book, two resilient outcasts struggle to survive being different in a small town, and “Huser's story makes it impossible not to care,” the jury said.
“To give children an opening to the miraculous world of literature through the excellence of these winners is perhaps one of the most important things we can do for them,” Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson said in a statement.
“With a book, children can have access to their own world and their own contact with others through their imagination. To read and therefore become part of a good story helps children to live their lives more fully.”
Indeed, children were a key part of the ceremony Monday as the awards were being handed out at Rideau Hall. In a departure from tradition, the literary awards for children's books were presented separately — two days ahead of the poetry, fiction, non-fiction, drama and translation awards.
Schoolchildren from across the National Capital Region were invited to attend, and take part in discussions about books with the winners.
In the French-language category, Danielle Simard of Mercier won the text award for J'ai vendu ma soeur, or I Sold My Sister, while Virginie Egger of Montreal took the illustration prize for Recette d'elephant a la sauce vieux pneu, or Recipe for Elephant with Old Tire Sauce.
