Calder’s non-fiction novel A Hero for the Americas: The Legend of Gonzalo Guerrero is a tale of the first contact between Spanish explorers and the Mayan natives, resulting in Guerrero becoming a hero to the Mayan people for his time with the tribes in the area and subsequent fight against the conquistadors in the battle for the Yucatan peninsula.
Calder spent 15 years researching Guerrero and his time with the Maya, with his investigation aiming to uncover the myths and legends surrounding one of the new world’s ancient heroes.
The book has caught notice, earning Calder – who won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction in 1989 for Willie: The Life of W. Somerset Maugham – a host of Saskatchewan Book Award honours. The novel won the City of Saskatoon and Public Library Saskatoon Book Award in addition to being shortlisted for the University of Saskatchewan Non-Fiction Award and the Regina Public Library Book of the Year Award.
Hanley’s book Man of the Trees: Richard St. Barbe Baker, the First Global Conservationist tells the story of Baker and the environmentalism that led him to saving and planting billions of trees. Baker’s efforts to raise the alarm about deforestation and find ways to create a more peaceful and greener work attracted plenty of attention over the years, with Hanley’s book including a foreword by Prince Charles and an introduction by Jane Goodall as a testament to his pioneering work.
Like A Hero, Hanley’s novel drew plenty of attention provincially, having been shortlisted for the Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport Publishing Award, the University of Saskatchewan Non-Fiction Award and the Public Library Saskatoon Book Award.
