Join us online for the 2022 Atlantic Book Awards Gala hosted by CTV’s Lataevia Beezer. Seven awards honouring excellence in writing, illustration, and publishing will be presented by past winners. Discover who will take home this year’s Atlantic Legacy Award honouring an individual who has made an extraordinary contribution to the advancement and encouragement of the literary arts in Atlantic Canada, and who will win the $30,000 Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize.

Thursday, June 9 at 7:00 p.m.

Nova Scotian books took centrestage at the inaugural Nova Scotia Book Awards ceremony held Monday night at Halifax City Hall. 

“Well, everyone looks so nice,” said Lindsay Ruck, an author herself and the evening’s emcee, as she surveyed the packed room of mask-wearing attendees.

The event started with the presentation of the Margaret and John Savage First Book Awards for Nonfiction and Fiction. Named for his parents, the first book awards were introduced by Mayor Mike Savage. “Books in our house were a big deal,” he said.

Joanne Gallant received the debut non-fiction prize for her memoir about miscarriage and motherhood, A Womb in the Shape of a Heart, while Colin Sweets Arsenault claimed the debut fiction prize for his novel, Short Mercy. The win starts off a busy week for Sweets Arsenault; he’s getting married on Saturday. 

The new event introduced a new award: the George Borden Writing for Change Award. Previously the Dartmouth Book Award for Non-fiction, this award is for an outstanding non-fiction book by a Nova Scotian author that inspires others and challenges the status quo and is named for the late George Borden (1935–2020). 

The first winner of the George Borden Writing for Change Award is Glen Canning for My Daughter Rehtaeh Parsons. “It has a special meaning to me, to know a tragic story can inspire others to take a stand against injustice and commit to making our communities a safer place for us all,” said Canning.

Sharon Robart-Johnson received the Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction for her meticulously researched novel Jude and Diana, inspired by the true story of an enslaved teenager’s murder in 19^th century Nova Scotia. A delighted Robart-Johnson said she couldn’t believe she was even nominated when she first got the news. “When I got the email, I forwarded it to my editor to ask if it was real,” she said. “This means the world to me.”

Veteran journalist Stephen Kimber took home the Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award for his biography of Alexa McDonough, Alexa! Changing the Face of Canadian Politics. Jury remarks praised Kimber’s storytelling in presenting “the remarkable journey of a legend.”

Until now, 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.

The new event separates Nova Scotia-only literary awards from those awards open to writers from all four Atlantic provinces, shining a more focused spotlight on Nova Scotia authors and books and bringing the province in line with the other three Atlantic provinces, each of which has its own provincial book awards celebration. 

Literary events continue all week, culminating with the Atlantic Book Awards Gala on Thursday, June 9, 7 pm at Paul O’Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library. For tickets, please see www.atlanticbookawards.ca

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 the Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism, and Heritage, Support4Culture, and the University of King’s College.

Here is the full list of winners as presented:  

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

Joanne Gallant, A Womb in the Shape of a Heart: My Story of Miscarriage and Motherhood (Nimbus Publishing)

Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Fiction)

Colin Sweets Arsenault, Short Mercy (Pottersfield Press)  

George Borden Writing for Change Award

Glen Canning (with Susan McClelland), My Daughter Rehtaeh Parsons (Goose Lane Editions)

Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award (Fiction)

Sharon Robart-Johnson, Jude and Diana (Fernwood Publishing)  

Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award

Stephen Kimber, Alexa!: Changing the Face of Canadian Politics (Goose Lane Editions)  

2022 Nova Scotia Book Awards

The 2022 Nova Scotia Book Awards take place at Halifax City Hall on Monday, June 6 at 7:00 p.m. The event will feature readings by Nova Scotia actors from the five award-winning books.

The inaugural Nova Scotia Book Awards celebrates those prizes open only to Nova Scotian authors. These provincial awards were previously awarded as part of the regional Atlantic Book Award ceremony.

These awards include:

• The Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award
• The George Borden Writing for Change Award
• The Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Fiction)
• The Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Non-Fiction)
• The Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award

Find the shortlist of nominees here.

Enjoy the show!

Tickets for the 2022 Atlantic Book Awards Gala are now available for purchase.

Details:

Thursday, June 9 at 7:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.)
Paul O’Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library
The culmination of the Atlantic Book Awards Festival is the Atlantic Book Awards Gala. Seven book awards, including one of Canada’s biggest book prizes, 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 gala includes live music, light refreshments, cash bar, and special guest authors will be in attendance. Hosted by CTV’s Lataevia Beezer.

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/atlantic-book-awards-gala-tickets-342234772417.

The awards ceremony will also be live streamed so book lovers across the region and beyond can join in the celebration. Find the live stream here on our website or find us on Facebook.

A week of awesome book events (full schedule) culminates in the Awards Gala June 9th — the first time we’ve been able to do this in-person since 2019!

The 36 books shortlisted for awards to be presented during the 2022 Atlantic Book Awards and Festival were revealed today during the Atlantic Spotlight at the Frye Festival in Moncton, NB. The nominated titles represent a wide range of books from Atlantic Canada, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and children’s books.

The books shortlisted for 12 different prizes comprise 28 authors and three illustrators across 16 publishers, representing the best in Atlantic Canadian writing and publishing.

This year features the inaugural Nova Scotia Book Awards gala, celebrating those prizes open only to Nova Scotian authors. These provincial awards were previously awarded as part of the regional Atlantic Book Awards.

The Atlantic Book Awards Festival, a hybrid of in-person and virtual events featuring shortlisted authors and illustrators, runs June 2–9. A highlight this year is the Nova Scotia Book Awards ceremony, which will take place at Halifax City Hall on Monday, June 6.

The Atlantic Book Awards Gala takes place on Thursday, June 9, at Paul O’Regan Hall in Halifax Central Library. The awards ceremony will also be live streamed so book lovers across the region and beyond can join in the celebration.

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, will also be presented at the Atlantic Book Awards Gala on June 9.

2022 Nova Scotia Book Awards

Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award

• Stephen Kimber, Alexa!: Changing the Face of Canadian Politics (Goose Lane Editions)
• Susan MacLeod, Dying for Attention: A Graphic Memoir of Nursing Home Care (Conundrum Press)
• Donna Morrissey, Pluck: A Memoir of a Newfoundland Childhood and the Raucous, Terrible, Amazing Journey to Becoming a Novelist (Penguin Random House Canada)

George Borden Writing for Change Award

• Glen Canning (with Susan McClelland), My Daughter Rehtaeh Parsons (Goose Lane Editions)
• Stephen Kimber, Alexa!: Changing the Face of Canadian Politics (Goose Lane Editions)
• Don Oliver, A Matter of Equality: The Life’s Work of Senator Don Oliver (Nimbus)

Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Fiction)

• Alexandra Harrington, The Last Time I Saw Her (Nimbus)
• C. S. Porter, Beneath Her Skin (Nimbus)
• Colin Sweets Arsenault, Short Mercy (Pottersfield Press)

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

• Joanne Gallant, A Womb in the Shape of a Heart: My Story of Miscarriage and Motherhood (Nimbus)
• Susan MacLeod, Dying for Attention: A Graphic Memoir of Nursing Home Care (Conundrum Press)
• Don Oliver, A Matter of Equality: The Life’s Work of Senator Don Oliver (Nimbus)

Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award (Fiction)

• Hannah Moscovitch, Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes (Playwrights Canada Press)
• Sharon Robart-Johnson, Jude and Diana (Fernwood Publishing)
• Colin Sweets Arsenault, Short Mercy (Pottersfield Press)

2022 Atlantic Book Awards Shortlist

Alistair MacLeod Prize for Short Fiction

• David Huebert, Chemical Valley (Biblioasis)
• Amber McMillan, The Running Trees (Goose Lane Editions)
• Claire Wilkshire, The Love Olympics (Breakwater Books)

Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children’s Literature

• Jodie Callaghan, The Train (Second Story Press)
• Chad Lucas, Thanks a Lot, Universe (Amulet Books)
• Rebecca Thomas, Swift Fox All Along (Annick Press)

APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book Award

• Breakwater Books, My Indian by Saqamaw Mi’sel Joe & Sheila O’Neill
• Goose Lane Editions, Alexa! Changing the Face of Canadian Politics by Stephen Kimber
• Goose Lane Editions with The Rooms Corporation, Future Possible: An Art History of Newfoundland and Labrador by Mireille Eagan

Atlantic Book Award for Scholarly Writing

• Matthew W. Betts & M. Gabriel Hrynick, The Archaeology of the Atlantic Northeast (University of Toronto Press)
• George Elliott Clarke, Where Beauty Survived: An Africadian Memoir (Knopf Canada)
• Ardath Whynacht, Insurgent Love: Abolition and Domestic Homicide (Fernwood Publishing)

J. M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award

• Alyda Faber, Poisonous if Eaten Raw (Goose Lane Editions)
• Triny Finlay, Myself a Paper Clip (Goose Lane Editions)
• Rebecca Salazar, Sulphurtongue (Penguin Random House)

Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration

• Marie Lafrance, Gemma and the Giant Girl, written by Sara O’Leary (Tundra)
• Alea Marley, This is Ruby written by Sara O’Leary (Tundra)
• Réjean Roy, Le Géant du Nord Canadien written by Réjean Roy (Bouton d’or Acadie)

Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award

• Michelle Butler Hallett, Constant Nobody (Goose Lane Editions)
• David Huebert, Chemical Valley (Biblioasis)
• Sharon Robart-Johnson, Jude and Diana (Fernwood Publishing)

The Atlantic Book Awards Society extends a big congratulations to all of this year’s nominees.

The board of the non-profit Atlantic Book Awards Society is made up of representatives of the Atlantic Canadian book and writing community. We’d like to thank the Frye Festival for presenting this year’s shortlist. The 2022 Atlantic Book Awards and Festival gratefully acknowledges the support of our partners and sponsors: the Canada Book Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, Atlantic Books Today, Halifax Public Libraries, New Brunswick’s Frye Festival, and the Writer’s Federation of Nova Scotia.

The Atlantic Book Awards Society is excited to soon present the outstanding books shortlisted for the 2022 Atlantic Book Awards. 

The nominees for this year’s 12 book prizes will be announced during the Frye Festival’s event Spotlight on Atlantic Authors, an evening of readings celebrating great Atlantic Canadian writing from the past year. The event takes place at Bernard-LeBlanc Hall in Moncton, NB on Friday, April 22 at 8 p.m. 

You will be able to find the complete shortlist online here as well as on Facebook and Twitter, where you can stay up-to-date on the Atlantic Book Awards Festival events. 

We look forward to celebrating the Atlantic region’s literary excellence. We hope you can join us online and in-person for this year’s festival and awards from June 2- 9, 2022. Stay tuned for more information on this year’s festival programming. 
We’d like to thank the Frye Festival for presenting this year’s shortlist, as well as our partners and sponsors for their support: the Canada Book Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, Atlantic Books Today, Halifax Public Libraries, and the Writer’s Federation of Nova Scotia.

The Atlantic Book Awards Society seeks nominations for the 2022 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. Please send submissions to Heather MacKenzie (mackenh@halifax.ca) by April 15, 2022.

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.

The Call for Nominations for the Atlantic Book Award for Scholarly Writing has just been issued. The nomination deadline is December 01, 2021 — further information about the Award and the nomination process is available here.

The Call for Nominations for the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration has just been issued. The nomination deadline is December 10, 2021 — further information about the Award and the nomination process is available here.