Past Winners
2024
The Atlantic Book Awards was held on June 5, 2024 at Paul O’Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library, Halifax, NS.
Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children's Literature
WINNER: The Words We Share (Annick Press) by Jack Wong
APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book
WINNER: Goose Lane Editions for Mary Pratt: A Love Affair with Vision by Anne Koval
Atlantic Legacy Award
WINNER: Gloria Ann Wesley
J.M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award
WINNER: Soft Inheritance (Palimpsest Press) by Fawn Parker
Readers’ Choice Award
WINNER: Freddie the Flyer by Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail & Fred Carmichael, illustrated by Audrea Loreen-Wulf. Published by Tundra Books.
Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award
WINNER: A Grandmother Begins the Story (Viking Canada) by Michelle Porter
2023
The Atlantic Book Awards was held on June 7, 2023 at Paul O’Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library, Halifax, NS.
Alistair MacLeod Award for Short Fiction
WINNER: Rafael Has Pretty Eyes (Goose Lane Editions) by Elaine McCluskey
Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children's Literature
WINNER: Decoding Dot Grey (Nimbus Publishing) by Nicola Davison
APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book
WINNER: Goose Lane Editions with the Beaverbrook Art Gallery for Wabanaki Modern / Wabanaki Kiskukewey / Wabanaki Moderne by Emma Hassencahl-Perley & John Leroux
Atlantic Book Award for Scholarly Writing
WINNER: The Solidarity Encounter: Women, Activism, and Creating Non-Colonizing Relations (UBC Press) by Carol Lynne D’Arcangelis
J.M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award
WINNER: Hsin (Brick Books) by Nanci Lee
Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award
WINNER: Wonder World (Enfield & Wizenty/Great Plains Publications) by KR Byggdin
2022
The Atlantic Book Awards was held on June 9, 2022 at Paul O’Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library, Halifax, NS.
Alistair MacLeod Award for Short Fiction
WINNER: Chemical Valley (Biblioasis) by David Huebert
Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children's Literature
WINNER: Thanks a Lot, Universe (Amulet Books) by Chad Lucas
APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book
WINNER: Goose Lane Editions with The Rooms for Future Possible: An Art History of Newfoundland and Labrador by Mireille Eagan
Atlantic Book Award for Scholarly Writing
WINNER: Insurgent Love: Abolition and Domestic Homicide (Fernwood Publishing) by Ardath Whynacht
J.M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award
WINNER: Poisonous if Eaten Raw (Goose Lane Editions) by Alyda Faber
Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration
WINNER: Alea Marley, This is Ruby (Tundra) written by Sara O’Leary
Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award
WINNER: Constant Nobody (Goose Lane Editions) by Michelle Butler Hallett
2021
The 2021 Atlantic Book Awards Gala was held virtually on May 13, 2021, hosted by CTV’s Amanda Debson.
Alistair MacLeod Award for Short Fiction
WINNER: The Appendage Formerly Known as Your Left Arm (Boularderie Island Press) by Julie Curwin
Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children's Literature
WINNER: Keep This to Yourself (Albert Whitman and Company) by Tom Ryan
APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book
WINNER: Breakwater Books for Dirty Birds by Morgan Murray
Atlantic Book Award for Scholarly Writing
WINNER: A Long Journey: Residential Schools in Labrador and Newfoundland (ISER Books) by Andrea Procter
Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing
WINNER: Acadian Driftwood: One Family and the Great Expulsion (Goose Lane Editions) by Tyler LeBlanc
Evelyn Richardson Non-fiction Award
WINNER: Acadian Driftwood: One Family and the Great Expulsion (Goose Lane Editions) by Tyler LeBlanc
Jim Connors Dartmouth Book Award (Fiction)
WINNER: The Spoon Stealer (Nimbus Publishing) by Lesley Crewe
J.M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award
WINNER: Black Matters (Roseway Publishing) by Afua Cooper, with photographs by Wilfried Raussert
Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration
WINNER: Sydney Smith, illustrator for I Talk Like a River (Neal Porter Books), written by Jordan Scott
Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Non-fiction)
WINNER: The Dome Chronicles (Nevermore Press) by Garry Leeson
Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Fiction)
WINNER: Aftershock: A Novel (HarperCollins) by Alison Taylor
Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award
WINNER: Year of the Metal Rabbit (Gaspereau Press) by Tammy Armstrong (Gaspereau Press)
Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award (Non-Fiction)
WINNER: Blood in the Water: A True Story of Revenge in the Maritimes (Viking Canada) by Silver Donald Cameron
Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award
WINNER: Speechless (Freehand Books) by Anne Simpson
2020
2020 Atlantic Book Awards Gala was a virtual event held online on June 30, 2020.
Alistair MacLeod Award for Short Fiction
WINNER: Nosy White Woman (Biblioasis) by Martha Wilson
Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children's Literature
WINNER: EveryBody’s Different on EveryBody Street (Nimbus Publishing) by Sheree Fitch
Atlantic Book Award for Scholarly Writing
WINNER: Truth and Conviction: Donald Marshall Jr. and the Mi'kmaw Quest for Justice (UCB Press) by L. Jane McMillan
APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book
WINNER: Breakwater Books for Almost Feral by Gemma Hickey
Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing
WINNER: Dangerous Enemy Sympathizers: Canadian Internment Camp B, 1940-1945 (Goose Lane Editions) by Andrew Theobald
Evelyn Richardson Non-fiction Award
WINNER: Daughter of Family G: A Memoir of Cancer Genes, Love and Fate (Knopf Canada) by Ami McKay
Jim Connors Dartmouth Book Award (Fiction)
WINNER: The Difference (Knopf Canada) by Marina Endicott
J.M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award
WINNER: Belated Bris of the Brainsick (Nightwood Editions) by Lucas Crawford
Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration
WINNER: Sydney Smith for Small in the City, written by Sydney Smith (Groundwood Books)
Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Non-fiction)
WINNER: Almost Feral (Breakwater Books) by Gemma Hickey
Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Fiction)
WINNER: Crow (Goose Lane Editions) by Amy Spurway
Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award (Non-Fiction)
WINNER: Daughter of Family G: A Memoir of Cancer Genes, Love and Fate (Knopf Canada) by Ami McKay
Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award
WINNER: The Innocents (Doubleday Canada) by Michael Crummey
2019
The Atlantic Book Awards was held June 6, 2019 at the Sheraton Hotel in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
Alistair MacLeod Award for Short Fiction
WINNER: Something for Everyone (House of Anansi Press) by Lisa Moore
Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children's Literature
WINNER: Catching the Light (Nimbus Publishing and Vagrant Press) by Susan Sinnott
Atlantic Book Award for Scholarly Writing
WINNER: There’s Something in the Water: Environmental Racism in Indigenous and Black Communities (Fernwood Publishing) by Ingrid R. G. Waldron
APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book
WINNER: Boulder Books for Saltwater Mittens from the Island of Newfoundland: More than 20 heritage designs to knit by Christine LeGrow and Shirley A. Scott
Atlantic Book Awards’ Pioneer Award
WINNER: Tom Dawe
Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing
WINNER: Where Duty Lies: A New Brunswick Soldier in the Trenches of World War One (Pottersfield Press) by John Cunningham
Evelyn Richardson Non-fiction Award
WINNER: Notes for the Everlost: A Field Guide to Grief (Shambhala Publications) by Kate Inglis
Jim Connors Dartmouth Book Award (Fiction)
WINNER: A Circle on the Surface (Nimbus Publishing and Vagrant Press) by Carol Bruneau
J.M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award
WINNER: This Kind of Thinking Does No Good (Gaspereau Press) by Alison Smith
Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration
WINNER: Eva Campbell for Africville (Groundwood Books) written by Shauntay Grant
Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Non-fiction)
WINNER: Son of a Critch: A Childish Newfoundland Memoir (Viking Canada) by Mark Critch
Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Fiction)
WINNER: In the Wake (Nimbus Publishing and Vagrant Press) by Nicola Davison
Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award (Non-Fiction)
WINNER: The Blind Mechanic: The Amazing Story of Eric Davidson, Survivor of the 1917 Halifax Explosion (Nimbus Publishing) by Marilyn Davidson Elliott
Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award
WINNER: Something for Everyone (House of Anansi Press) by Lisa Moore
2018
The Atlantic Book Awards were held May 10, 2018 at Paul O’Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library.
Alistair MacLeod Award for Short Fiction
WINNER: Barrelling Forward by Eva Crocker (House of Anansi Press)
Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children's Literature
WINNER: The Painting by Charis Cotter (Tundra Books)
APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book
WINNER: Goose Lane Editions for Powered by Love: A Grandmothers’ Movement to End AIDS in Africa by Joanna Henry and Ilana Landberg-Lewis
Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing
WINNER: Nova Scotia at War, 1914-1919 by Brian Douglas Tennyson (Nimbus Publishing)
Evelyn Richardson Non-fiction Award
WINNER: The Long Way Home: A Personal History of Nova Scotia by John DeMont (McClelland & Stewart)
Jim Connors Dartmouth Book Award (Fiction)
WINNER: Peninsula Sinking by David Huebert (Biblioasis)
J.M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award
WINNER: All the Names Between by Julia McCarthy (Brick Books)
Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration
WINNER: Sydney Smith for Town is by the Sea, written by Joanne Schwartz (Groundwood Books)
Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Non-fiction)
WINNER: Just Jen: Thriving Through Multiple Sclerosis by Jen Powley (Roseway Publishing)
Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Fiction)
WINNER: All is Beauty Now by Sarah Faber (McClelland & Stewart)
Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award (Non-Fiction)
WINNER: The Sea Was In Their Blood: The Disappearance of the Miss Ally’s Five-Man Crew by Quentin Casey (Nimbus Publishing)
Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award
WINNER: Blood Fable by Oisin Curran (Book*hug)