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Regina author Sandra Birdsell walked away with triple gold at the ninth annual Saskatchewan Book Awards held Friday, Nov. 30 in Regina.

Birdsell, who commented on her Giller nomination, "To be nominated is wonderful; to win would be divine," heard her name called for the Regina Book Award, the Fiction Award and Book of the Year. Her novel, The Russländer (McClelland & Stewart) is a tapestry of friendship, betrayal, love and loss within a Mennonite community leading up to and during pre-revolutionary Russia.

The Native Law Centre, University of Saskatchewan, won both the Award for Publishing and the Publishing in Education Award for their book Emerging Justice? Essays on Indigenous Rights in Canada and Australia by Kent McNeil.

With an unprecedented seven nominations to this year's Saskatchewan Book Awards, the monumental book Ahtahkakoop won the First Peoples Publishing Award, which was accepted by Chief Barry Ahenakew on behalf of Ahtahkakoop Publishing. Researched and written by Deanna Christensen, the book is the epic account of a Plains Cree Head Chief and his people's struggle for survival.

Arthur Slade's young adult novel, Dust (HarperCollins), recent winner of the Governor General's Award, won the Saskatchewan Children's Literature Award. Dust is set on a prairie farm during the depression.

Saskatchewan poets excelled this year with poetry collections garnering three of the six Book of the Year nominations. This year the Poetry Award has been dedicated in honour of Saskatchewan's beloved poet and playwright, Anne Szumigalski. The Award went to Ken Howe for his collection Household Hints for the End of Time (Brick Books).

Poetry books also won both the Brenda Macdonald Riches First Book Award and the Saskatoon Book Award. In Ring Finger, Left Hand (Coteau Books), winner of the Riches Award, first-time author Katherine Lawrence crystallizes the nuances of human relationships as if frozen in a flash of lightning. The Saskatoon Award went to poet and retired publisher, Glen Sorestad for Leaving Holds Me Here (Thistledown Press). To open the 2001 Book Awards gala, Sorestad read one of his recent poems and reported on his busy but interesting initial term as Saskatchewan's first Poet Laureate.

Warren Goulding's treatment of multiple murders in Just Another Indian (Fifth House) received the Nonfiction Award. The Scholarly Writing Award went to Peter Phillips and George Khachatourians for their timely publication, The Biotechnology Revolution in Global Agriculture (CABI Publishing).

The audience of 400 was treated to a publisher's eye view of the Canadian book scene by guest speaker Anna Porter, Publisher and President of Key Porter Books. Herself an author, Porter's books include The Bookfair Murders and The Storyteller.

Growing interest in the Saskatchewan Book Awards drew enthusiastic crowds to annual Shortlist brunches in Regina and Saskatoon featuring readings by nominees. A Shortlist brunch was hosted this year by the Swift Current Public Library and the University Women's Club. Luther College held Shortlist readings on the U of R campus. Bookstores note increased sales for books nominated for Saskatchewan Book Awards, and book sales at the Book Awards gala have increased 160 per cent in the last six years.

Saskatchewan Book Awards Inc., a non-profit, charitable organization, celebrates the best in Saskatchewan writing and publishing and gratefully acknowledges funding from the City of Regina, the Saskatchewan Arts Board, and SaskCulture.