The winners of the 2026 High Plains International Book Awards were recently announced. Canadian authors Arnolda Dufour Bowes and Wilfred Burton took home the honours in their respective categories.
Bowes received the Children's Middle Grade Book prize for Maggie Lou Meets Her Match, illustrated by Karlene Harvey (Groundwood Books), and the Indigenous Writer prize was awarded to Burton for his picture book Kohkum's Royal Bannock, illustrated by Hawlii Pichette (Thistledown Press).
Established in 2007, the High Plains International Book Awards celebrate literary works that examine and reflect life in the High Plains region, which includes the states of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas, and the Canadian Provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
To revisit the shortlist, click here. For more information, visit highplainsbookawards.org.