2009 Shortlist, Atlantic Book Awards
2009 Shortlist, Atlantic Book Awards
Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing
Rise Again! The Story of Cape Breton Island, Book One
Robert J. Morgan
Breton Books
The first full-scale history of Cape Breton, Rise Again! Book One tells the story from geological roots and early Mi’kmaq life, to British and French battles for control, and the forced marriage of the Colony of Cape Breton to Nova Scotia-while Loyalists, Acadians, Irish, and Scottish pioneers prepare the ground for the emerging distinct Cape Breton personality.
Robert Morgan has devoted his life to Cape Breton. As senior historian at the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Park, director of the Beaton Institute archives, and professor of history at Cape Breton University, Dr. Morgan fought to preserve local heritage properties and to keep the island’s story alive.
Halifax At War: Searchlights, squadrons and submarines 1939-1945
William D. Naftel
Formac Publishing
From early September, 1939, Halifax was at war. For the next six years, the city was uniquely affected by the war’s events. Halifax at War explores this transformation of the city and civilian life, making use of a rich blend of historical, biographical, and archival sources. Bill Naftel describes the incredible demands placed upon the city due to the war, which far exceeded any other city in Canada. Drawing on primary documents, this lively history offers a new perspective on the impact of the war on Canada and Canadians, and on the many ways in which Halifax played a unique role in supporting Canada’s contribution to the allied war effort.
Born in 1940, Bill Naftel spent his first five years in Edmonton while his father, an officer in the RCN, shepherded convoys back and forth across the North Atlantic. His primary school education was in a one-room school south of Goderich, Ontario. In 1952 his family moved to Halifax where Bill eventually attended Kings College and Dalhousie University. He started working in 1963 at the Public Archives of Canada and then Parks Canada. In 1975, he transferred back to Halifax for the position of Senior Historian and Chief of History for the Atlantic Region. He retired in 1989. In 2005 he published Prince Edward’s Legacy (Formac), an account of the Halifax years of HRH Prince Edward Duke of Kent, and in 2006 he published a monograph, “The Building of All Saints Cathedral, Halifax, Nova Scotia” (St. Agnes Press, St. John’s Newfoundland).
Halifax at War is also nominated for the Evelyn Richardson Prize for Non-fiction, to be awarded Friday, May 8 at the Atlantic Ink Awards celebration.
Cibou
Susan Young de Biagi
Cape Breton University Press
Cibou is set in seventeenth-century Mi’kma’ki, territory of the Mi’kmaq of Maritime Canada. The story is that of a young Mi’kmaq woman and her relationship with Jesuit missionary Anthony Daniel-an historical figure who was stationed in Cape Breton-and his brother, Captain Charles Daniel, who had established a French fishing and trading post there.
Susan Young de Biagi holds a Master’s Degree in History from the University of New Brunswick. Born and raised in Cape Breton, she and her husband Mark now live in Powell River, where they are experiencing the empty-nest syndrome. Susan’s two passions are writing and teaching. In addition to Cibou-her first novel-Susan has written or co-written three books of non-fiction, as well as a number of educational CD-ROMs.
Atlantic Independent Booksellers’ Choice Award
Building New Brunswick: An Architectural History
John Leroux
Goose Lane Editions
A breathtaking exploration of the development of architecture in New Brunswick from pre-contact Mi’kmaq and Maliseet architecture through the late 20th century. Richly illustrated with photographs, drawings, architectural renderings, engravings, and an astonishing array of graphic material assembled to support and describe socio-economic and geopolitical factors, and artistic circumstances surrounding the province’s built heritage.
A native of Fredericton, New Brunswick, John Leroux has a BA in architecture (McGill) and an MA in Art History (Concordia). He has worked as an architect in Toronto, Atlanta, and Fredericton, and has won many awards for architectural and public art projects throughout Canada. He is an expert in historic building restoration and evaluation, teaching and lecturing on architecture, art history, and design at Concordia University and the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design. He is the author and photographer of two other books: A Fredericton Alphabet (2001), and Building Capital-a guide to Fredericton’s historic landmarks (2004). John is also a regular contributing architecture columnist for the Telegraph-Journal. In 2008 he curated the landmark exhibition “Building New Brunswick” at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.
What They Wanted
Donna Morrissey
Penguin
After Sylvanus Now suffers a heart attack, family tensions come to the fore-daughter Sylvie must deal with her feelings of estrangement from her mother, Addie, while her brother Chris, a natural artist, frustrates his dreams by going to work on an oil rig. A novel about guilt, responsibility, tragedy, and the enduring ties of family, this is vintage Donna Morrissey.
Donna Morrissey is the author of three vivid, award-winning novels about life in Newfoundland: Kit’s Law, Downhill Chance, and Sylvanus Now, which won the Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award and was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for the Carribbean and Canada region. She has also received awards in the US and England, and her fiction has been translated into several different languages. Donna’s screenplay, Clothesline Patch, was nominated for a Gemini Award for Best Writing, and won the Gemini for Best Production. Donna grew up in the Beaches, a small fishing outport in Newfoundland, and now lives in Halifax.
Before Green Gables
Budge Wilson
Penguin
Before she arrives at Green Gables, Anne Shirley has a difficult life. Orphaned as a baby, she is shuffled from one foster home to the next, where she is treated much like a servant. She escapes from her dark reality through the power of her vivid imagination. Curious, inventive, and outspoken, even at a young age, Anne battles to make a life for herself by searching out kindred spirits, finding solace in her books, and dreaming of the day she has a family of her own. Award-winning author Budge Wilson brings young Anne vibrantly to life in this fully authorized prequel to the much-loved Anne of Green Gables.
Budge Wilson was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and attended Dalhousie University and the University of Toronto. Since 1984, she has published twenty-nine books, with twenty foreign editions appearing in the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Romania, Germany, Italy, Greece, and Australia. Her stories appear in ninety anthologies, in Braille format, and as audio books. Her many prizes include seventeen Canadian Children’s Book Centre “Our Choice” awards, the Dartmouth Book Award, the Canadian Library Association’s Young Adult Canadian Book Award, the Marianna Dempster Award, the Ann Connor Brimer Award, and the Lilla Stirling Award. Her collection of short stories The Leaving was named a Notable Book by the American Library Association and was later included on the association’s list of “The 75 Best Children’s Books of the Last 25 Years.” Wilson is also the recipient of the Halifax Regional Municipality’s Mayor’s Award for Cultural Achievement in Literature and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Armbrae Academy, Halifax. In 2004, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada.
Best Atlantic Published Book Award
Building New Brunswick: An Architectural History
John Leroux
Goose Lane Editions
A breathtaking exploration of the development of architecture in New Brunswick from pre-contact Mi’kmaq and Maliseet architecture through the late 20th century. Richly illustrated with photographs, drawings, architectural renderings, engravings, and an astonishing array of graphic material assembled to support and describe socio-economic and geopolitical factors, and artistic circumstances surrounding the province’s built heritage.
A native of Fredericton, New Brunswick, John Leroux has a BA in architecture (McGill) and an MA in Art History (Concordia). He has worked as an architect in Toronto, Atlanta, and Fredericton, and has won many awards for architectural and public art projects throughout Canada. He is an expert in historic building restoration and evaluation, teaching and lecturing on architecture, art history, and design at Concordia University and the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design. He is the author and photographer of two other books: A Fredericton Alphabet (2001), and Building Capital-a guide to Fredericton’s historic landmarks (2004). John is also a regular contributing architecture columnist for the Telegraph-Journal. In 2008 he curated the landmark exhibition “Building New Brunswick” at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.
Goose Lane Editions is a small, lively company based in Fredericton, New Brunswick. As Canada’s oldest independent publisher, the company successfully combines a regional heart with a national profile to introduce readers to work by the best established and emerging authors.
Forget-Me-Not
Maxine Trottier, illustrated by Nancy Keating
Creative
A mysterious soldier comes to a small Newfoundland outport and hides away on a nearby island in the old lighthouse keeper’s cottage. It is Bridget Keats who learns the truth of what is inside the man when he’s forced to make a difficult decision.
Maxine Trottier is the award-winning author of many picture books, non- fiction works, and novels for young people. She spent thirty-one years working as an educator in elementary classrooms, guiding children toward literacy. It was during that time that she began to write for her young audience. Maxine lives at Newman’s Cove, Newfoundland with her husband William and their two Yorkies. There she writes in a tiny, book-lined studio that overlooks the Atlantic. Her great grandfather was a lighthouse keeper, which was in part the inspiration for Forget-Me-Not.
Nancy Keating has worked as a graphic artist for twenty-five years. Her evocative illustrations have covered several Newfoundland books for adults and children.
Creative Book Publishing seeks to advance Newfoundland and Labrador’s publishing sector by producing works of literary and cultural excellence, and by actively promoting its authors and their books in national and international markets. Located in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Creative Book Publishing produces Canadian-authored tradebooks.
Up Home
Shauntay Grant, illustrated by Susan Tooke
Nimbus Publishing
This touching poem from spoken-word artist, poet, and CBC Radio personality Shauntay Grant portrays the Nova Scotian community of Preston. Short, staccato lines, musicality, and the use of real, spoken language paired with Susan Tooke’s breathtaking illustrations using real models from the community combine in a sensory experience that is sure to wow readers of all ages. Grant’s childhood memories reflect a magical place where landscape, food, history and, most of all, people come together in a community filled with love and beauty. A powerful story with positive images of one of Nova Scotia’s most important black communities.
Shauntay Grant is a Nova Scotian writer, spoken word performer, broadcast journalist, and musician who also conducts arts workshops for youth and adults. She has performed as a solo artist throughout Canada as well as in Europe, the Caribbean, and Australia. Her poetry and music have been featured nationally on CBC Radio, CBC Television, and Vision TV. Shauntay is the host of CBC Radio’s “All the Best” and the annual CBC National Poetry Face-Off.
Susan Tooke is an award-winning artist whose work has been exhibited across North America. Susan has illustrated numerous books for children, including A Fiddle for Angus and Brave Jack and the Unicorn. In 2003, she received the Halifax Mayor’s Award for Illustration for Full Moon Days, as well as the Lillian Sheppard Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration in Atlantic Canada. Susan paints murals, landscapes, and portraits, and creates digital montages. Born in New Jersey, she has lived in Canada since 1980 and calls Halifax home. She says, “Up Home was a pleasure to create-working with the community of North Preston-and Shauntay Grant was a joy.
Nimbus Publishing is the largest English-language publisher east of Toronto. Nimbus produces more than thirty new titles a year on a range of subjects relevant to the Atlantic provinces-children’s picture books and fiction, literary non-fiction, social and cultural history, nature photography, current events, biography, sports, and cultural issues.
Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction
Quintet
Douglas Arthur Brown
Key Porter Books
Adrian, Rory, and Cameron. Three brothers, identical triplets, are summoned home by the death of their parents in a freak accident. From Copenhagen, Toronto, and Halifax, they return to Cape Breton. Chef, artist, and carpenter, they wonder why they drifted apart. There was no fight, no falling out, just a slow and steady movement, step-by-step, away from each other. When the time comes to return to their separate lives, they agree to keep in touch. They create a journal in which each recounts the counterpoint of his life, the steps that led him away from the other two. And at every critical step, the triplets find themselves in the shadow of another brother-Talbot, the older brother, Tally, the Big B-and the family secrets he has hoarded for a generation.
Douglas Arthur Brown is the author of two novels (Quintet and A Deadly Harvest), a collection of short fiction (The Komodo Dragon and Other Stories), and two children’s books (The Magic Compass and Archibald’s Boo-boo). His short stories have appeared in various literary magazines and three anthologies, and his one-act play, It’s Better This Way, was produced as part of the Danish New Festival of Plays in Copenhagen. Douglas was also the publisher and managing editor of the Canadian literary magazine, Pottersfield Portfolio for several years. He is past-president of the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia and is an active participant in WFNS’ Writers in the Schools Program. For the past three years, he has been writer-in-residence at Boularderie Elementary School.
Quintet is also nominated for the Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize, to be awarded Friday, May 8 at the Atlantic Ink Awards celebration.
Falling
Anne Simpson
McClelland & Steward Ltd.
On a late summer day along the shores of Nova Scotia, a young woman makes a mistake that will claim her life, while at the other end of the beach her brother, Damian, is unaware that she is drowning. Beginning with this shattering event, Anne Simpson unfolds a mesmerizing tale of love, loss, and the possibilities of redemption, vividly capturing the contradictions of Niagara Falls and evoking the elemental bonds that tie us to the ones we love.
Anne Simpson is the author of three award-winning books of poetry: Light Falls Through You, Loop– a finalist for the Governor General’s Award, and winner of the 2004 Griffin Poetry Prize-and, most recently, Quick, winner of the Pat Lowther Award. Her first novel, Canterbury Beach, was shortlisted for the Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award. Simpson has been a writer-in-residence at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton and an artist-in-residence at the Medical Humanities Program at Dalhousie University in Halifax. She has recently completed The Marram Grass: Poetry and Otherness, a collection of essays to be published this spring by Gaspereau Press. She lives in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, where she helped establish the Writing Centre at St. Francis Xavier University.
Cibou
Susan Young de Biagi
Cape Breton University Press
Cibou is set in seventeenth-century Mi’kma’ki, territory of the Mi’kmaq of Maritime Canada. The story is that of a young Mi’kmaq woman and her relationship with Jesuit missionary Anthony Daniel-an historical figure who was stationed in Cape Breton-and his brother, Captain Charles Daniel, who had established a French fishing and trading post there.
Susan Young de Biagi holds a Master’s Degree in History from the University of New Brunswick. Born and raised in Cape Breton, she and her husband Mark now live in Powell River, where they are experiencing the empty-nest syndrome. Susan’s two passions are writing and teaching. In addition to Cibou-her first novel-Susan has written or co-written three books of non-fiction, as well as a number of educational CD-ROMs.
Dartmouth Book Award for Non-fiction
Loyalists and Layabouts: The Rapid Rise and Faster Fall of Shelburne, Nova Scotia, 1783-1792
Stephen Kimber
Doubleday Canada
A compelling journey through the history of Shelburne, Nova Scotia during a time of ambitious development. Shelburne was going to be cosmopolitan, but more refined and more royal than New York City. With the rapid rise came an even faster fall, and within a decade the city was a wasteland of abandoned homes and shops.
Stephen Kimber-the author of one novel and seven books of nonfiction, including the best-selling Flight 111: The Tragedy of the Swissair Crash and Sailors, Slackers and Blind Pigs: Halifax at War-is an award-winning writer, journalist, and broadcaster. A former Director of the School of Journalism at the University of King’s College, he presently holds the Rogers Communications Chair in Journalism at King’s. He lives with his wife Jeanie in Halifax.
Loyalists and Layabouts is also nominated for the Evelyn Richardson Prize for Non-fiction, to be awarded Friday, May 8 at the Atlantic Ink Awards celebration.
Rise Again! The Story of Cape Breton Island
Robert J. Morgan
Breton Books
The first full-scale history of Cape Breton, Rise Again! Book One tells the story from geological roots and early Mi’kmaq life, to British and French battles for control, and the forced marriage of the Colony of Cape Breton to Nova Scotia-while Loyalists, Acadians, Irish, and Scottish pioneers prepare the ground for the emerging distinct Cape Breton personality.
Robert Morgan has devoted his life to Cape Breton. As senior historian at the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Park, director of the Beaton Institute archives, and professor of history at Cape Breton University, Dr. Morgan fought to preserve local heritage properties and to keep the island’s story alive.
Halifax At War: Searchlights, squadrons and submarines 1939-1945
William D. Naftel
Formac Publishing
From early September, 1939, Halifax was at war. For the next six years, the city was uniquely affected by the war’s events. Halifax at War explores this transformation of the city and civilian life, making use of a rich blend of historical, biographical, and archival sources. Bill Naftel describes the incredible demands placed upon the city due to the war, which far exceeded any other city in Canada. Drawing on primary documents, this lively history offers a new perspective on the impact of the war on Canada and Canadians, and on the many ways in which Halifax played a unique role in supporting Canada’s contribution to the allied war effort.
Born in 1940, Bill Naftel spent his first five years in Edmonton while his father, an officer in the RCN, shepherded convoys back and forth across the North Atlantic. His primary school education was in a one-room school south of Goderich, Ontario. In 1952 his family moved to Halifax where Bill eventually attended Kings College and Dalhousie University. He started working in 1963 at the Public Archives of Canada and then Parks Canada. In 1975, he transferred back to Halifax for the position of Senior Historian and Chief of History for the Atlantic Region. He retired in 1989. In 2005 he published Prince Edward’s Legacy (Formac), an account of the Halifax years of HRH Prince Edward Duke of Kent, and in 2006 he published a monograph, “The Building of All Saints Cathedral, Halifax, Nova Scotia” (St. Agnes Press, St. John’s Newfoundland).
Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration
The Terrible, Horrible, Smelly Pirate
Carrie Muller and Jacqueline Halsey, illustrated by Eric Orchard
Nimbus Publishing
Set in the misty waters around Halifax Harbour, this fun, read-a-loud pirate story follows the adventures of a terrible, horrible, smelly pirate named Sydney and his friend, Parrot Polly. After answering a riddle set by a tricky mermaid, the rascals dig for treasure by the old lighthouse on McNab’s Island. Children will enjoy the anticipation as the chest is raised to the surface and the surprise as its unexpected contents are revealed. The clean and dirty theme will make this book a circle-time favourite with many daycare and library programmers. Parents will love it too!
Eric Orchard grew up in Halifax where he attended the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design to study painting and art history, graduating in 2006. Eric’s first picture books-A Forest for Christmas by Michael Harris (Nimbus Publishing) and Anything But Hank by Zachery Wells and Rachel Lebowitz (Biblioasis Publishing)-were released in the fall of 2007. Eric lives in Halifax with his wife, Julie.
Up Home
Shauntay Grant, Illustrated by Susan Tooke
Nimbus Publishing
This touching poem from spoken-word artist, poet, and CBC Radio personality Shauntay Grant portrays the Nova Scotian community of Preston. Short, staccato lines, musicality, and the use of real, spoken language paired with Susan Tooke’s breathtaking illustrations using real models from the community combine in a sensory experience that is sure to wow readers of all ages. Grant’s childhood memories reflect a magical place where landscape, food, history and, most of all, people come together in a community filled with love and beauty. A powerful story with positive images of one of Nova Scotia’s most important black communities.
Susan Tooke is an award-winning artist whose work has been exhibited across North America. Susan has illustrated numerous books for children, including A Fiddle for Angus and Brave Jack and the Unicorn. In 2003, she received the Halifax Mayor’s Award for Illustration for Full Moon Days, as well as the Lillian Sheppard Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration in Atlantic Canada. Susan paints murals, landscapes, and portraits, and creates digital montages. Born in New Jersey, she has lived in Canada since 1980 and calls Halifax home. She says, “Up Home was a pleasure to create-working with the community of North Preston-and Shauntay Grant was a joy.
Little Toy Shop
Frances Wolfe
Tundra Books
Come and explore Mr. Kringle’s special little toy shop, where he spends his days helping every customer find just the right toy. When a box arrives at the shop with a small stuffed bunny inside, Mr. Kringle determines to find him a loving home in time for Christmas. Meet Teddy, the stuffed bear who befriends Bunny, and watch their friendship deepen as, one by one, the other toys leave the shop. Will the little girl who stared at Bunny through the window ever come back to claim him? Frances Wolfe’s vibrant paintings complement her poignant prose in this heartwarming tale of love lost and found for the young and the young at heart.
Frances Wolfe makes her home on the Nova Scotia shore, where her family has lived for more than a century. Wolfe is a self-taught artist / illustrator and an accomplished storyteller, puppeteer, and children’s programmer. She has more than thirty years of experience working with children in a library setting. Her first book, Where I Live, was awarded the Ann Connor Brimer Award for an outstanding contribution to Canadian children’s literature, as well as the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award for illustration. Her second book, One Wish, was awarded the Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Book Illustration, presented by the Halifax Regional Municipality. Both books are currently available in English and Spanish.
Margaret and John Savage First Book Award
Bone Cage
Catherine Banks
Playwrights Canada Press
Bone Cage is a poetic and darkly humorous portrayal of life in rural Nova Scotia, where stripping the environment means stripping your soul. Jamie is twenty-two years old and works twelve-hour shifts operating a wood processor, clear-cutting for pulp. At the end of each shift, he walks through the destruction he has created looking for injured birds and animals, and rescues those he can. Jamie’s desire to escape this world is thwarted by his fear of leaving the place where he has some status. Bone Cage examines how young people in rural communities, employed in the destruction of the environment they love, treat the people they love at the end of their shift, and explores the difficulty in hanging on to dreams in a world where dreams are seen as impractical or weak. It is funny. It is tragic. It is about different kinds of escaping. It is about a soul trapped in its own rib cage, a cage of bone.
Governor General’s Award-winning playwright, Catherine Banks has had her plays performed from Manitoba to St. John’s. Her previous plays include The Summer of the Piping Plover, Three Storey Ocean View, and Bitter Rose, which aired on Bravo! in 2005. Bone Cage won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama in 2008. Catherine’s work is poetic, darkly humorous, courageous, and beautifully theatrical, and has been described as “Atlantic Gothic.” She is currently writing two new plays: Missy and Me, about a hairdresser from Bridgewater who is so obsessed with the rapper Missy Elliot she steals her husband’s plumbing van and travels to NYC to lie her way into meeting her; and It Is Solved By Walking, which examines great loss that comes around twice. Catherine lives and writes in Sambro, Nova Scotia.
Silver Salts
Mark Blagrave
Cormorant Books
Silver Salts is set in the burgeoning early years of the twentieth century, whereLillie Dempster’s life plays out like that of the distressed damsels from the silent films she loves. When a group of filmmakers comes to town to shoot a movie, she finds she has the opportunity to live her fantasies. Realizing she has a future in film, Lillie makes her way to Hollywood, but as she quickly learns, life in the spotlight is not always as glamorous and glitzy as she thought it would be.
Mark Blagrave is currently Professor of English and Director of the Drama Programme at Mount Allison University, where he teaches dramatic literature, theatre, and film studies. He has published academic articles on the subjects of Canadian drama, theatre, and film, and his short fiction has appeared in national literary journals such as The Fiddlehead, Antigonish Review, New Quarterly, and The Dalhousie Review. Playwriting credits include thirteen scripts produced at university theatres in the Maritimes, as well as the professionally-produced We Happy Few. Silver Salts, set in early twentieth-century Saint John, is his first novel.
Evidence
Ian Colford
The Porcupine’s Quill, Inc.
Ian Colford’s stories are unified by the similarities of the protagonists and by the consistent tone of the storytelling, remarkable in its lack of emotion, yet creating a melancholy mood that is strangely addictive. One is dazzled by the ingenuity of the plots, each one so different, so imaginative, so intriguing. Disappearances, abandonment, betrayals, revenge, these are remarkable stories told by a writer who has mastered his craft.
Ian Colford’s stories and commentary have appeared regularly in Canadian literary periodicals over the past fifteen years. One of his stories was shortlisted for the 1998 Journey Prize, and in 2001 he won the H.R. (Bill) Percy Prize for unpublished novel. He has received several Canada Council grants, participated in workshops, and been awarded writing residencies at Hawthornden Castle in Scotland and the Yaddo artists community in Saratoga Spring, New York. The stories in Evidence draw upon travels in Italy, Turkey, Greece, and Portugal. He lives in Halifax.
Evidence is also nominated for the Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize, to be awarded Friday, May 8 at the Atlantic Ink Awards celebration.