MacEwan University’s Book of the Year for 2023/24 is Bad Cree by MacEwan alumna Jessica Johns.

This annual interdisciplinary celebration of a work of Canadian literature reaches into classrooms across the university. Students and faculty members explore a piece of contemporary Canadian literature through workshops, author readings, a Wall of Fame reception, a student contest and more. Events typically include opportunities for students to engage with the author, including classroom visits.

Since its inception in 1997, the Book of the Year program has been guided by a committee of faculty, staff and students. The book is chosen by the committee, from nominations made by the university community. 

This year’s book

How to Pronounce Knife

Bad Cree

By Jessica Johns

Mackenzie, a Cree millennial, wakes up in her one-bedroom Vancouver apartment clutching a pine bough she had been holding in her dream just moments earlier. When she blinks, it disappears. But she can still smell the sharp pine scent in the air, the nearest pine tree a thousand kilometres away in the far reaches of Treaty 8.

Haunting, fierce, an ode to female relations and the strength found in kinship, Bad Cree is a gripping, arresting debut by an unforgettable voice.

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Have you read a great book recently? Nominate your choice for the next MacEwan Book of the Year.

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Add them to your night table stack, read them at your book club, linger over your favourite passages at the lake this summer. Current and previous books of the year are available at the MacEwan Bookstore.
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