CARSTAIRS – A local publisher is optimistic about the possibility of one of her latest titles picking up yet another award after being shortlisted alongside only one other finalist in two categories for the upcoming 2024 Alberta Book Publishing Awards.
“We’ve been very fortunate to win with three other books,” said Ayesha Clough, founder of Red Barn Books Publishing, which is based out of the Carstairs area.
“So, we already have a hat trick – definitely hoping for a fourth if we can pull it off,” Clough told the Albertan.
The winners of this year’s event, which is put on by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta, will be announced at a gala reception at the Varscona Theatre in Edmonton on Sept. 24. Jurors evaluated 107 submissions from Alberta publishers across 15 categories, according to a presser issued by the association.
The shortlist contenders for both the categories of Children’s and Young Adult Book of the Year as well as Book Illustration of the Year came down to Red Barn Books for Flip Flop Flapjack: Wildhorse Jack and the First Stampede Breakfast, written by Calgary-based author Brenda Joyce Leahy and illustrated by Airdrie-based artist Melissa Bruglemans-LaBelle, as well as Renegade Arts Entertainment for Secrets of Jarrow, written and illustrated by Bill Slavin.
“I think it’s amazing,” she said when asked how being named as a finalist felt.
“I feel like we’re doing something so unique in making Alberta books for Alberta kids, and it’s just wonderful that people are recognizing they’re at a level of quality that’s worthy of attention.”
Although Clough is pursuing other professional endeavours, she also remains committed to finding time to continue working on the next publishing project that’s been on the docket for some time – the third instalment in the child-friendly, illustrated Howdy series that introduces young readers to the breadth and diversity of Alberta’s history.
The first is called Howdy, I’m John Ware, and tells the story about a former slave who emigrated to Alberta from the U.S. to become a well-respected pioneer rancher.
Next up was Howdy, I’m Flores LaDue, which recounts the tale of Canada’s little-known rodeo queen, who despite a rather short physical stature nevertheless managed to forge a revered reputation as a world champion trick roper as well as a co-founder of the Calgary Stampede.
Clough said on July 16 that although delayed, work on the third book in the Howdy series remains ongoing. That story will place the spotlight on Harnam Hari, the first Indo Canadian to set foot in Calgary and who went on to become a hog farmer and rancher.
Originally anticipated for release this coming fall, she said the new timeline at this point will more likely be in the spring of 2025.
“We’re really hoping to get it out in time for Asian Heritage Month and Sikh Heritage Month, which is like April-May next year,” she said.
“That’s our target. But unfortunately all three of us – you know the artist, myself, the author, even our layout person – we all have full-time jobs.
“So it’s just been taking longer than we might hope, but it’s definitely still in the works.”
In a previous interview, Clough had said “the script is all locked down” and added the next step involved working on the illustrations with a young Edmonton-based artist named Ravina Toor, who was born in Alberta’s capital but has Punjabi Sikh roots.
The author, Kelly Kaur, from Calgary, is an instructor at Mount Royal University who also has a Punjabi Sikh background, said Clough.
Although Hari had initially arrived in the country with nary a cent to his name, he built from scratch a legacy that endures to this day, she said at the time.
“When he sold his farm land, which is kind of near Chinook Mall (in Calgary), he became one of the richest men in southern Alberta,” she said.
“And the fifth generation of that Hari family is still farming in the High River area and his descendants work in various parts of the province doing various occupations. So, they’re a very well-established, well-known family.”
The Book Publishers Association of Alberta’s annual awards gala receives funding from multiple sources, including but not limited to the provincial and federal governments as well as the cities of Edmonton and Calgary and other organizations including the Edmonton Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.
