27 Feb

Call for nominations: 2024 Atlantic Legacy Award

The Atlantic Book Awards Society seeks nominations for the 2024 Atlantic Legacy Award. This award honours individuals who have made a lasting contribution to the development of the literary arts in Atlantic Canada, people who have gone above and beyond the call of duty and who have, through innovation, risk-taking, self-sacrifice, and/or creativity, provided opportunity or inspiration (or both) for those sharing Atlantic Canadian stories through writing and publishing.

The recipient might be from the field of publishing, writing, bookselling, or literary arts organizations, but people from all occupations, trades, and walks of life may be nominated—the most important consideration is that the person has made an extraordinary contribution to the advancement and encouragement of Atlantic books and writers. Particular consideration will be given to trailblazers, individuals whose work has had (or will have) a lasting impact. With this in mind, the award can be given posthumously.

If you would like to nominate someone, please send a brief biographical summary of the person, focusing on their contribution to the world of books and authors, and reasons why you feel they would be a worthy recipient of the Atlantic Legacy Award. Also include full contact information for your nominee. Send submissions to atlanticbookawardsfestival@gmail.com with the subject heading “Legacy Award nomination” by April 15, 2024.

Submissions will be assessed by a committee made of industry professionals from the home province of each of the nominees. The recipient of the Atlantic Legacy Award will be announced at the Atlantic Book Awards gala in Halifax, NS, on June 5.

11 Feb

Call for Expressions of Interest: ABAS Board Members

Are you passionate about promoting local authors? The Atlantic Book Awards Society, whose mandate is “to promote and acknowledge excellence in Atlantic Canadian writing and book publishing through an annual awards ceremony and related events,” is looking for new board members. The board meets once a month via Zoom and will be holding its AGM in March. Please send expressions of interest to atlanticbookawardsfestival@gmail.com by March 15, 2024.

12 Oct

2023-2024 Awards’ Submissions Are Open!

Submissions are now open for the 2024 Nova Scotia Book Awards and the 2024 Atlantic Book Awards. For information and submission guidelines for the awards managed by the Writers Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) — including the Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children’s Literature, the Evelyn Richardson Non-fiction Award, the J.M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award, and the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award — please visit the WFNS Book Awards page. And, note that the submission deadline for all award nominations is November 1, 2023!

For information and submission guidelines for the following Nova Scotia Book Awards — Dartmouth Book Award (Fiction), George Borden Writing for Change Award (Nonfiction), Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Fiction), and Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Nonfiction) — please visit the Dartmouth Book Awards Eligibility Criteria & Submission Requirements page. November 1, 2023 is also the submission deadline for all these Nova Scotia Book Awards.

07 Jun

Atlantic Book Awards Announces Six Winners and Presents 2023 Atlantic Legacy Award

Atlantic Canadian authors and publishers were celebrated at the 2023 Atlantic Book Awards gala on Wednesday, June 7, in Paul O’Regan Hall at Halifax Central Library. The recipients of six awards—including the $30,000 Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award, one of the largest literary awards in the country—were revealed at the evening gala, which was hosted by author and journalist Lindsay Ruck. 

At the top of the night, Dartmouth, NS, author Elaine McCluskey received the Alistair MacLeod Prize for Short Fiction for Rafael Has Pretty Eyes, published by New Brunswick’s Goose Lane Editions. The award was announced by Alistair MacLeod’s son, Alexander, who on Monday night took home a Nova Scotia Book Award for his collection of short stories, Animal Person

Nicola Davison, also a resident of Dartmouth, won the Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children’s Literature for her moving coming-of-age, young adult novel, Decoding Dot Grey, published by Nimbus Publishing of Halifax. The award was presented by Gavin Brimer, the son of the late Ann Connor Brimer, who was an educator and Atlantic Officer for the Canadian Children’s Book Centre

A feature of the evening was the presentation of the 2023 Atlantic Legacy Award to the Raddall Family of Liverpool, Nova Scotia. The award was established to honour those who have made a lasting contribution to the development of the literary arts in Atlantic Canada and have provided opportunity and inspiration for those sharing Atlantic Canadian stories through writing and publishing. The late Dr. Thomas Raddall, son of CanLit pioneer and bestselling author Thomas Head Raddall (1903–1994), was instrumental in creating the prestigious and generously funded Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize in his father’s honour. Valued at $30,000, “the Raddall” is the largest literary prize in Atlantic Canada and is intended to provide writers “the gift of time and peace of mind.” Three-time Raddall Award recipient Donna Morrissey paid tribute to the family, including Tom Raddall III, who accepted the award on the family’s behalf. The beloved Newfoundland author, who first received the Raddall in 2003 for her novel Downhill Chance, then  in 2006 for Sylvanus Now and 2017 for The Fortunate Brother, was also a finalist for the award in 2000 and in 2013. Morrissey, a longtime resident of Halifax, delighted the audience with her trademark humour.   

This year’s recipient of the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award is Halifax author K. R. Byggdin, for their first novel, Wonder World (Enfield & Wizenty), a refreshing coming-of-age story that challenges stereotypes of rural life. Of the book, the Raddall jury said, “As funny and sassy as it is poignant and observant, Wonder World is a virtuoso exploration of love and hope, a story of building bridges to family and community while staying true to oneself.”  

After the announcements of the winners of the J. M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award (Nanci Lee, for Hsin, published by Brick Books) and the Atlantic Book Award for Scholarly Writing (Carol Lynne D’Arcangelis, for The Solidarity Encounter: Women, Activism and Creating Non-Colonizing Relations, published by UBC Press) came the presentation of the APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book Award, which goes to an Atlantic Canadian publisher whose book best exemplifies excellence and achievement in publishing. The 2023 award went to New Brunswick’s Goose Lane Editions with The Beaverbrook Art Gallery for Wabanaki Modern / Wabanaki Kiskukewey / Wabanaki Moderne by Emma Hassencahl-Perley and John Leroux. The production values of this timely retrospective truly impressed the jury, who felt it was not only beautiful, but of historic and cultural significance and a crucial contribution to the Canadian identity. 

The 2023 Atlantic Book Awards were presented by last year’s award winners, including Michelle Butler Hallet, David Huebert, Chad Lucas, and Alyda Faber, with some authors joining live and in-person and others via video. Attendees also enjoyed listening to excerpts of each of the winning titles, read by representatives of the close-knit literary community, including one of the two new Halifax Youth Poet Laureates, fifteen-year-old Damini Awoyiga. A live stream of the awards show allowed viewers to enjoy the ceremony online; it is available for viewing online.

The winners of the 2023 Atlantic Book Awards are:

Alistair MacLeod Prize for Short Fiction

Elaine McCluskey, Rafael Has Pretty Eyes (Goose Lane Editions)

Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children’s Literature
Nicola Davison, Decoding Dot Grey (Nimbus Publishing)

APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book
Goose Lane Editions with the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Wabanaki Modern / Wabanaki Kiskukewey / Wabanaki Moderne by Emma Hassencahl-Perley & John Leroux 

Atlantic Book Award for Scholarly Writing
Carol Lynne D’Arcangelis, The Solidarity Encounter: Women, Activism and Creating Non-Colonizing Relations (UBC Press) 

J. M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award 

Nanci Lee, Hsin (Brick Books)

Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award
K. R. Byggdin, Wonder World (Enfield & Wizenty) 

07 Jun

Atlantic Book Awards Livestream

Wednesday, June 7, 2023 at 7:00 p.m.

Join us online for the Atlantic Book Awards Gala! The ceremony will be hosted by author and journalist Lindsay Ruck (Amazing Black Atlantic Canadians). Six book awards, including one of Canada’s biggest book prizes, the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award, valued at $30,000, will be presented, along with this year’s Atlantic Legacy Award, honouring those who have made an extraordinary contribution to the advancement and encouragement of the literary arts in Atlantic Canada.

05 Jun

Nova Scotia Book Award Winners Announced

Five Nova Scotian authors win literary awards

Activists Sister Dorothy Moore and El Jones were among the five Nova Scotia writers recognized with Nova Scotia Book Awards at a ceremony held Monday evening at Brightwood Golf and Country Club in Dartmouth. Best-selling author Charlene Carr, who lives in Dartmouth, was the host. 

Mi’kmaw Elder Sister Dorothy Moore was presented with the George Borden Writing for Change Award for A Journey of Love and Hope (Nimbus Publishing), a collection of talks, presentations, prayers, and ceremonies by the human rights activist. Named for the late George Borden (1935–2020), the Writing for Change Award is for an outstanding non-fiction book by a Nova Scotian author that inspires others and challenges the status quo. 

Poet, professor, and activist El Jones took home the Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award for Abolitionist Intimacies (Fernwood Publishing). In this book, Jones employs both poetry and prose to examine the movement to abolish prisons. From the jury citation: “El Jones packs meaning into every word and phrase, intertwined with unwavering undertones of cultural genocide, Black annihilation, and the institutionalized trauma that continues to smother and suppress a people and their intimate and necessary cultural connections.”

The first award of the evening, the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Non-Fiction), went to Yarmouth native Mandy Rennehan for The Blue Collar CEO: My Gutsy Journey from Rookie Contractor to Multi-Millionaire Construction Boss (HarperCollins). The book is the “respectfully uncensored” story of how Rennehan’s business savvy and innovative thinking led her to the top of the male-dominated construction industry before she turned thirty. 

Sylvia D. Hamilton won the Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award for her poetry collection Tender (Gaspereau Press). The book chronicles the experiences of Black people, Black women in particular, in their desire to live full, complex, unencumbered lives. According to the jury: “Tender is bursting at the seams with love, compassion, and vulnerability.”

Alexander MacLeod received the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction for Animal Person (McClelland and Stewart), a short fiction collection exploring love, compromise, and the idea of self. “Lagomorph,” one of eight short stories in this collection, previously won the prestigious O. Henry Award and the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia’s Masterworks Art Award. 

This is the second year for the Nova Scotia Book Awards. Until last year, Nova Scotia didn’t have its own provincial literary awards celebration, as all the book awards for Nova Scotia authors were presented as part of the Atlantic Book Awards.

Literary events continue this week, culminating with the Atlantic Book Awards Gala on Wednesday, June 7, at 7:00 p.m. at Paul O’Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library. For tickets, click here.

The Nova Scotia Book Awards is a partnership between the Dartmouth Books Awards Committee and the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia, with support from the Atlantic Book Awards Society. The Society for the Nova Scotia Book Awards is grateful for generous funding from Nova Scotia Gaming Support4Culture and the University of King’s College.

Here is the full list of winners, in the order presented:  

Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Non-Fiction)

Mandy Rennehan, The Blue Collar CEO (HarperCollins)

Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award
Sylvia D. Hamilton, Tender (Gaspereau Press)

George Borden Writing for Change Award

Elder Sister Dorothy Moore, A Journey of Love and Hope (Nimbus Publishing)

Dartmouth Book Award (Fiction)

Alexander MacLeod, Animal Person (McClelland & Stewart)

Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award

El Jones, Abolitionist Intimacies (Fernwood Publishing)

23 May

2023 Atlantic Book Awards Gala – Tickets Available Now

Wednesday, June 7 at 7:00 p.m. (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.) 

Atlantic Book Awards Gala Paul O’Regan Hall,  Halifax Central Library
The culmination of the Atlantic Book Awards Festival is the Atlantic Book Awards Gala. Six book awards, including one of Canada’s biggest book prizes, the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award, valued at $30,000, will be presented. Live music, light refreshments, cash bar, and special guest authors will be in attendance. The ceremony will be hosted by author and journalist Lindsay Ruck (Amazing Black Atlantic Canadians). Nominated books will be available for sale from Bookmark Halifax. This is a ticketed event. Tickets are $20: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/atlantic-book-awards-tickets-609529317597
The awards ceremony will also be live-streamed so book lovers across the region and beyond can join in the celebration. Find the live steam at www.atlanticbookawards.ca.

12 Apr

Announcing the 2023 Atlantic Book Award Nominees  

Hold onto your hats, book lovers, the Atlantic Book Awards are back, showcasing the finest in Atlantic Canadian writing and publishing. 

The books shortlisted for the 2023 Atlantic Book Awards are a testament to the incredible diversity and richness of Atlantic Canadian literature, with everything from poetry to scholarly writing, books for young adults, short stories, adult fiction, and three titles in contention to be named the best Atlantic-published book. 

The winners of the six Atlantic Book Awards will be revealed at the Atlantic Book Awards Gala at Halifax Central Library on Wednesday, June 7. Here are the nominees: 

Alistair MacLeod Prize for Short Fiction

Meghan Rose Allen, The Summer the School Burned Down (Indie-published)
Bridget Canning, No One Knows About Us (Breakwater Books)
Elaine McCluskey, Rafael Has Pretty Eyes (Goose Lane Editions)

Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children’s Literature 

Nicola Davison, Decoding Dot Grey (Nimbus Publishing)
Vicki Grant, Tell Me When You Feel Something (Penguin Random House)
Jo Treggiari, Heartbreak Homes (Nimbus Publishing)

APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book Award

Goose Lane Editions with the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Wabanaki Modern / Wabanaki Kiskukewey / Wabanaki Moderne by Emma Hassencahl-Perley & John Leroux 
Flanker Press, Operation Masonic by Helen C. Escott
Boulder Books, Food, Culture, Place: Stories, Traditions, and Recipes of Newfoundland by Lori McCarthy and Marsha Tulk

Atlantic Book Award for Scholarly Writing

Carol Lynne D’Arcangelis, The Solidarity Encounter: Women, Activism, and Creating Non-Colonizing Relations (UBC Press) 
Mark David Turner, Inuit TakugatsaliuKatiget / On Inuit Cinema (Memorial University Press)
Elizabeth Yeoman, Exactly What I Said: Translating Words and Worlds (University of Manitoba Press)

J. M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award 

Luke Hathaway, The Affirmations (Biblioasis)
Nanci Lee, Hsin (Brick Books) 
Annick MacAskill, Shadow Blight (Gaspereau Press)

Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award

K. R. Byggdin, Wonder World (Enfield & Wizenty) 
Bobbi French, The Good Women of Safe Harbour (HarperCollins) 
Lisa Moore, This Is How We Love (House of Anansi) 

Nine of the eighteen nominations are for books published by Atlantic publishers. New Brunswick’s Goose Lane Editions and Nova Scotia’s Nimbus Publishing have two nominations each. Other regional publishers are Breakwater Books, Boulder Books, and Flanker Press, all based in Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia’s Gaspereau Press.

Nominee Meghan Rose Allen (The Summer the School Burned Down) is also nominated for a New Brunswick Book Award. The winners of the NBBAs will be revealed at an awards ceremony at Lily Lake Pavillion in Saint John on Saturday, June 3. 

Nominees Bobbi French (The Good Women of Safe Harbour), Nanci Lee (Hsin), and Jo Treggiari (Heartbreak Homes) are all also nominated for Nova Scotia Book Awards. Winners of the NSBAs will be revealed at a gala ceremony at Brightwood Golf & Country Club in Dartmouth on Monday, June 5. 

The Nova Scotia Book Awards and the New Brunswick Book Awards take place during the Atlantic Book Festival, along with a range of online and in-person events featuring authors shortlisted for awards in the week leading up to the Atlantic Book Awards Gala.

On Wednesday, June 7, the six Atlantic book awards, including one of Canada’s biggest book prizes, the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award valued at $30,000, will be presented along with the Atlantic Legacy Award, honouring an individual who has made an extraordinary contribution to the advancement and encouragement of the literary arts in Atlantic Canada.

The 2023 Atlantic Book Awards Gala takes place at Paul O’Regan Hall in Halifax Central Library at 7:00 p.m. and will be hosted by journalist, author, and editor Lindsay Ruck (Amazing Black Atlantic Canadians). Tickets ($20) are available online now: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/atlantic-book-awards-tickets-609529317597

The awards ceremony will also be live-streamed so book lovers across the region and beyond can join in the celebration. 

The Atlantic Book Awards Society extends a big congratulations to this year’s nominees. Visit www.atlanticbookawards.ca and find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, where you can stay up-to-date on the Atlantic Book Awards Festival events. 

05 Apr

Shortlists announced for 2023 Nova Scotia Book Awards

Thirteen Nova Scotian authors are in the running for the five Nova Scotia Book Awards being handed out this year. The winners of the awards, covering poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, will be revealed at a gala ceremony at Brightwood Golf & Country Club on Monday, June 5. This is the second year for the Nova Scotia Book Awards, which bring together all the book awards that are open only to authors who were born in or reside in Nova Scotia. These include the Dartmouth Book Awards and awards administered by the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia. Here is this year’s slate of awards and the three titles shortlisted for each:


Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction
Bobbi French, The Good Women of Safe Harbour (HarperCollins)
Alexander MacLeod, Animal Person (McClelland & Stewart)
Jo Treggiari, Heartbreak Homes (Nimbus Publishing)

Evelyn Richardson Nonfiction Award
Kate Beaton, Ducks (Drawn & Quarterly)
El Jones, Abolitionist Intimacies (Fernwood Publishing)
Kim Pittaway & Toufah Jallow, Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African #MeToo Movement (Penguin Random House)

George Borden Writing for Change Award
El Jones, Abolitionist Intimacies (Fernwood Publishing)
Elder Sister Dorothy Moore, A Journey of Love and Hope (Nimbus Publishing)
Wanda Thomas Bernard, A Child of East Preston (Delmore “Buddy” Daye Learning Institute)

Margaret and John Savage First Book Award for Nonfiction
Kate Beaton, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands (Drawn & Quarterly)
Martha Paynter, Abolition to Abortion (Fernwood Publishing)
Mandy Rennehan, The Blue Collar CEO (HarperCollins)

Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award
Sylvia D. Hamilton, Tender (Gaspereau Press)
Sue Goyette, Monoculture (Gaspereau Press)
Nanci Lee, Hsin (Brick Books)

Two authors are double nominees: Halifax activist, journalist, and poet El Jones for her book Abolitionist Intimacies, and Cape Breton’s Kate Beaton, whose nominated title, Ducks, won Canada Reads last week.

The 2023 Nova Scotia Book Awards gala will be hosted by Dartmouth author Charlene Carr, whose latest novel, Hold My Girl, was named by the Globe and Mail as one of “The top 30 Canadian books to read in 2023” and has been released internationally. Carr says, “I’m incredibly pleased to host this year’s event, which celebrates a fantastic and diverse group of Nova Scotian writers and books.”

The gala will be held June 5 at Brightwood Golf & Country Club in Dartmouth; tickets are $10 and are available now through Eventbrite:

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-nova-scotia-book-awards-tickets-589815262327.

The Nova Scotia Book Awards gala is part of the Atlantic Book Awards Festival, running the first week of June.