Raven’s Witness: The Alaska Life of Richard K. Nelson wins Grand Prize in the 2020 Banff Mountain Book Competition

November 5, 2020 (Banff, AB) – Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival is excited to announce Raven’s Witness: The Alaska Life of Richard K. Nelson by Hank Lentfer wins the coveted Grand Prize in the 2020 Banff Mountain Book Competition.

The winning work is an intimate portrait of Richard K. Nelson - one of Alaska’s leading nature writers and conservationists set against the backdrop of Alaska’s wilderness, Indigenous cultures, and friendships rooted in nature.
 

“This book makes me want to ponder over our connections with nature and the meaning of spirituality for each one of us. Such is the power of its quality of writing and the subject of the book, Richard K. Nelson. There can never be enough of books like this.
A lifetime spent in wilderness must be written about, and celebrated, read by young people everywhere.

For this universality alone, Raven’s Witness is deserving of a Grand Prize. Congratulations to Hank!”

- Nandini Purandare, 2020 Banff Mountain Book Jury

The 2020 Grand Prize winner and eight category award winners were selected by our international jury: Helen Rolfe (CAN), Nandini Purandare (IND), and Pete Takeda (USA). Book category award winners were chosen from the best in mountain and adventure literature, mountain fiction, mountain image, mountain articles and mountaineering history, and guidebooks. This year the Banff Mountain Book Competition jury reviewed 137 book submissions from authors in 11 countries. 

Don’t miss the ‘Best of the Festival’ presentations on November 7 and 8 where the 2020 award winning films and award presentations will be screened. For more information on the 2020 Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival and to view the schedule, please visit: https://www.banffcentre.ca/virtual-festival.

2020 Category Award Winners: 

Grand Prize
$4000 – Sponsored by Rab
 
Raven’s Witness: The Alaska Life of Richard K. Nelson
Hank Lentfer, Mountaineers Book (USA, 2020)
 

Mountain Literature (non-fiction) - The Jon Whyte Award
$2000 - Sponsored by the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies 

Raven’s Witness: The Alaska Life of Richard K. Nelson
Hank Lentfer, Mountaineers Book (USA, 2020)
 

Mountain Fiction and Poetry 
$2000 - Sponsored by the Town of Banff 

The Bear
Andrew Krivak, Bellevue Literary Press (USA, 2020)

Mountain Environment and Natural History 
$2000 - Sponsored by Canadian Mountain Network 

Wild Himalaya: A Natural History of the Greatest Mountain Range on Earth
Stephen Alter, Aleph Book Company (India, 2019)

Adventure Travel 
$2000 - Sponsored by World Expeditions 

Labyrinth of Ice: The Triumphant and Tragic Greely Polar Expedition
Buddy Levy, St. Martin’s Press (USA, 2019)
 

Mountain Image
$2000 - Sponsored by Banff and Lake Louise Tourism 

The Wild Coasts of Canada
Scott Forsyth, Rocky Mountain Books (Canada, 2019)
 

Guidebooks 
$2000 - Sponsored by Association of Canadian Mountain Guides

Crack Climbing: The Definitive Guide
Pete Whittaker, Vertebrate Publishing (UK, 2020)/ Mountaineers Books (USA, 2020)
 

Mountaineering Article 
$2000 - Sponsored by the University of Alberta and the Alpine Club of Canada 

Leper Chai
Jeff Long, Rock & Ice Magazine (USA, March 2020)
 

Climbing Literature 
$2000 - Sponsored by RMB (Rocky Mountain Books) 

Emilio Comici: Angel of the Dolomites
David Smart, Rocky Mountain Books (Canada, 2020)