Check out the 2019 Atlantic Book Awards Festival Lineup!
New Brunswick
Sunday, June 2 at 1:00 pm
Café C’est la Vie, 785 Main St, Moncton
Take a walking tour of downtown Moncton with journalist Lezlie Lowe exploring how the city measures up in terms of access to public washrooms in support of her nominated book No Place to Go: How Public Toilets Fail our Private Needs. Tour will start at C’est la Vie and conclude with a Q&A at the café. Books will be for sale by Tidewater Books.
Newfoundland
Wednesday, June 5 at 7:00 pm
Johnson GEO CENTRE, 175 Signal Hill Rd, St. John’s
To celebrate the arrival of warm weather, new books, and the Atlantic Book Awards, Breakwater Books presents an evening of great literature, featuring readings by Breakwater authors Terry Doyle, Susie Taylor, and Kevin Major, and Atlantic Book Award shortlisted authors Sharon Bala, Elisabeth de Mariaffi, and Mark Critch. Shortlisted authors Christine LeGrow and Shirley Anne Scott, of Saltwater Mittens fame, will also be on hand with a display of Newfoundland knitwear and knowledge.
Nova Scotia
Thursday, May 30 at 5:00 pm
New Scotland Brewing, 91 Alderney Dr, Dartmouth
Celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Dartmouth Book Awards and hear from 2019 nominees RC Shaw (Louisbourg or Bust: A Surfer’s Wild Ride Down Nova Scotia’s Drowned Coast) and Marilyn Davidson Elliott (The Blind Mechanic: The Amazing Story of Eric Davidson, Survivor of the 1917 Halifax Explosion). Kris Bertin, nominated for the 2017 Alistair MacLeod Prize for Short Fiction, will read from his new book, Use Your Imagination! Books will be for sale by Bookmark Halifax.
Thursday, May 30 at 7:00 pm
Lane’s Privateer Inn, 27 Bristol Ave, Liverpool
Join us for readings by the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award nominees for 2019: Sharon Bala (The Boat People), Elisabeth de Mariaffi (Hysteria) and Lisa Moore (Something for Everyone).
Friday, May 31 at 10:00 am
Paul O’Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Rd, Halifax
The 20th annual Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award ceremony. The Hackmatack program encourages children in grades 4 to 6 in Atlantic Canada to read from pre-selected lists of Canadian books then cast their votes to determine the award winners. The event is free, but seating for the general public will be limited.
Saturday, June 1 at 1:00 pm
Open Book Coffee, 3660 Strawberry Hill St, Halifax
Discover Halifax’s newest bookstore and coffee shop along with this year’s nominees for the Jim Connors Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction. Carol Bruneau will be reading from A Circle on the Surface, Lesley Crewe from Beholden and Nicola Davison from In the Wake.
Saturday, June 1 at 7:00 p.m.
Drs. Coady & Tompkins Memorial Library, 7972 Cabot Trail, Margaree Forks
Please join us for a special presentation by the authors shortlisted for this year’s Alistair MacLeod Prize for Short Fiction. Featuring readings by Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour winner Bill Conall from Some Days Run Long, Scotiabank Giller Prize winner Johanna Skibsrud from Tiger, Tiger and CBC’s Canada Reads winner Lisa Moore from Something for Everyone. This free event is co-presented with the Cabot Trail Writers’ Festival. All are welcome.
Sunday, June 2 at 2:00 pm
Musquodoboit Valley Bicentennial Theatre, 12390 Hwy. 224, Middle Musquodoboit
Please join us for a special afternoon with Nova Scotia author Lesley Crewe. She will be reading from her new novel Beholden, which is nominated for the 2019 Jim Connors Dartmouth Book Award. Presented in partnership with Halifax Public Libraries.
Monday, June 3, at 4:30 pm
President’s Lodge, University of King’s College, Halifax
University of King’s College President William Lahey and the King’s MFA in Creative Nonfiction program will host a celebration of the 2019 nonfiction finalists. Copies of the finalists’ books will be available for sale and signing. To enquire about joining us for this event contact festival coordinator Laura Carter at abafcoordinator@gmail.com.
Tuesday, June 4 at 6:30 pm
Paul O’Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Rd, Halifax
Join nominated authors as they explore the challenge of turning a difficult subject into a compelling read. Kayla Hounsell chronicles one of our city’s most shocking homicides in First Degree: From Medical School to Murder, Lorri Neilsen Glenn brings to life the role of her grandmothers and other Indigenous women in 19th Century in Following the River: Traces of Red River Women and Kate Inglis will share her experience as a grieving mother and how it allowed her to create an invaluable resource for others navigating tremendous loss with Notes for the Everlost: A Field Guide to Grief. Hosted by Kim Pittaway, Executive Director of the MFA in Creative Nonfiction program at the University of King’s College.
Books will be for sale by King’s Co-op Bookstore.
Tuesday, June 4 at 6:30 pm
Kentville Library, 440 Main Street, Kentville
An evening of poetry readings featuring the winner of the 2018 J.M. Abraham Poetry Award, Julia McCarthy (All the Names Between) and 2019 nominees Basma Kavanagh (Ruba’iyat for the Time of Apricots), Annick MacAskill (No Meeting Without Body) and Alison Smith (This Kind of Thinking Does No Good).