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.

Students respond to 2022/23 Book of the Year

Each year, students from the Department of Design respond to MacEwan's Book of the Year. Enjoy this gallery of creative projects on Rivka Galchen’s Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch.

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Max Abriotti created a book design for Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch. She says, “Winding rope twists and turns to represent the rumours and their travel. The rope ends with a noose, alluding to the main character's mortality and imminent execution.”
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Raquel Afflek created the branding and packaging for Witch Mother, an all-natural remedy line inspired by the book’s main character, Katharina Kepler. The product names reflect concepts found in the book.
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Suzanne Burwash focused on the rumour motif through her “rumours" edition of backgammon, a game of strategy and chance. The game is a metaphor for the gossip and rumours that swirl around us in the game of life.
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In her book design, Brooke Lunt addresses the way that simple words have the potential to cost someone their life. She says, “When rumours get passed along, something might get embellished. Emphasizing certain words over others can change the way people interpret a message.”
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Jennifer Onwudinjo’s design of herbal remedy flashcards incorporate the accusations made against Katharina, like digging up her father’s skull or causing a storm.
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These natural products, created by Susanna Woudstra, provides a modern take on the herbs that Katharina, the main character in Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch, uses in many of her remedies. The packaging describes the importance and benefits of learning about the natural world.
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San Juson designed “Hearsay” postcards, playing on the idea of how rumours spread. An invented character communicates with someone outside of the village through the postcards. 
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Megan Ord imagines the way Ursula defaces a harmless recipe book in a fit of anger. She says, “The book’s blackletter typeface looks tame in comparison to the abusive writings of Katharina’s main accuser.” 
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Connor Thomson designed wine labels that are named after Katharina’s enemies: the Cabbage, the Werewolf,and the False Unicorn. He says, “The modern and clean style of the wine labels was inspired by the modern nature of the author’s storytelling.”
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Delaney Caldwell designed an alternate cover for Rivka Galchen's novel. Delaney says, “Rumours and peer pressure are a vital aspect of this book. This design uses the Atlas figure as a symbol of Katharina’s push back against the rumours that, ultimately, bring her down.” 
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Daenya Hussein designed a horoscope wheel in which the astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler foretells his mother’s future. The Kepler’s Horoscopes use good and bad events that happen to Katharina Kepler throughout the novel. 
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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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