Marisa Alps

Medicine Wheel Publishing and Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts artistic director Marisa Alps will be honoured by Books BC (British Columbia’s book publishers association) for their contributions to the province’s publishing industry.

Medicine Wheel Publishing has been named the winner of the Jim Douglas Publisher of the Year Award. The award is presented when a B.C. publisher has “earned the respect and applause of the community of publishers for a specific publishing project, an extraordinary contribution to the BC publishing community, and/or its extended commitment to excellence in publishing,” Books BC said in a press release. The citation for Medicine Wheel notes that the publisher has donated more than 15,000 books to Indigenous schools and communities.

Alps, a 30-year industry veteran, has been named the recipient of the biannual Gray Campbell Distinguished Service Award. Appointed artistic director of the Sunshine Coast festival in 2022, Alps previously worked as director of marketing at Harbour Publishing and Douglas & McIntyre. Books BC lauded Alps for her commitment to both B.C. authors and their books as well as to newcomers to the industry. “It is estimated that Alps has trained over a hundred interns and co-op students over the years, many who are still working in the industry,” Books BC said.

The awards will be presented at a reception in Vancouver on May 8.