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

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