Greg Bechtel wins big at Alberta Book Awards

For Greg Bechtel, winning an Alberta Book Award for Best Trade Fiction Book means encouragement to keep going in the unpredictable world of fiction writing.

Bechtel, who splits his time between writing and teaching at the University of Alberta, won the award for Boundary Problems, a collection of short stories. Also winning big was the U of A Press, which won publisher of the year at September’s award ceremony.

“It feels good, it’s nice to have the work out there and being recognized,” Bechtel said. “Especially when I was up against other books that were all so good.”

Bechtel has taken a roundabout path to publishing his first novel, living everywhere from Quebec City to Jamaica and working as everything from a semiconductor laser lab tech to a cab driver. Recently, Bechtel has found a home in Edmonton at the U of A’s Department of English and Film Studies.

Lecturing on everything from Creative Writing to Multimedia Studies, Bechtel said Boundary Problems arose from the time crunch associated with constructing a PhD dissertation.

“I didn’t have the sustained time to work on a novel, so I decided to focus on writing short stories,” Bechtel said.

“It turned out, I had enough of them to make a book.”

Bechtel also pointed to the tight-knit group of writers which populate the U of A and Edmonton.

He said that the feeling of solidarity and commiseration within that group can help push each other to their best.

“It helps to know you’re not the only one trying to do this ridiculous thing, publishing books for money,” Bechtel said.

“But there’s still something in the back of your head that says ‘now get off your ass and finish the book,’ because you see it being done.”

Freehand Books, a small press from Calgary, were responsible for the editing, design, and printing of the book, and Bechtel said they were integral to getting the book done. In addition, Bechtel credits the editing team at Freehand for making Boundary Problems better than he ever thought it could be.

“In terms of the writing process, I thought the book was done when I sent it to them,” Bechtel said.
“But they ended up helping me make a lot of changes that I think made the book better. They put a lot of attention into their books, which I hear can be rare at bigger publishers.”

Though it may have just won the award last month, Boundary Problems has been out for almost a year and a half, and Bechtel said he is already working on his sophomore book. This time, a novel that he’s been working on intermittently for over seven years.

“I have a draft, and I’m happy with it for the first time in a few years,” Bechtel said.

“So I feel like in about a year, I’ll have it as perfect as I can make it, and start sending it to publishers.”