Congratulations to Richard Van Camp who has been shortlisted for the ReLit Awards in short fiction for his collection of stories The Moon of Letting Go. The 10th Annual ReLit Awards Party is on October 20th at 8:30pm, Opening Night Event, Ottawa International Writers’ Festival.
Congratulations to Gail Sidonie Sobat, whose book Gravity Journal has been nominated for the B.C. Stellar Award. Students across British Columbia will read and vote on the Stellar Award nominees until April 2011.
Great Plains Teen fiction authors launched their books at well attended events last week. Susan Rocan launched Spirit Quest, the sequel to the MYRCA-nominated Withershins at McNally Robinson Booksellers in Winnipeg and on Tuesday, Craig Russell introduced an enthusiastic crowd to Black Bottle Man a fable that follows Rembrandt on the journey of a lifetime. The books are first and second on the McNally Robinson bestseller list.
Nelsa Roberto and Another Story bookstore launched Illegally Blonde at the Bloor-Gladstone Library in Toronto on Sunday. Check out Nelsa’s interview on Omni TV.
Several Great Plains and Enfield & Wizenty titles have been nominated for 2010 Manitoba Book Awards.
Impact: A History of Disasters in Manitoba by Brock Holowachuk is a finalist for the Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-Fiction, Jim Shilliday’s A Memory of Sky is up for the Best Illustrated Book of the Year Award, and Lisa Pasold’s Rats of Las Vegas is a nominee for the Manuela Dias Book Design of the Year Award.
Congratulations to Brock, Jim, and Lisa!
Lisa Pasold, author of the recent Enfield & Wizenty title Rats of Las Vegas, is one of the eight panelists on the National Post’s Canada Also Reads book competition. The event was created as a counterpoint to CBC’s Canada Reads and focuses on lesser-known but deserving titles. Pasold will be defending Jocelyne Allen’s You and the Pirates.
After only a few months in print, Richard Van Camp’s The Moon of Letting Go is now available in paperback! Not only is this the first Enfield & Wizenty title to make the transition from hardcover to softcover, but it among the few Canadian short story collections to do so.
Richard’s book has won some well-deserved praise from reviewers across the country. Read all about it here.
Acclaimed Peterborough author Michelle Berry is the winner of Enfield & Wizenty’s inaugural Colophon prize for fiction for her novel This Book Will Not Save Your Life. The $5,000 advance will lead to a fall 2010 publication and was awarded after the company’s editors reviewed dozens of manuscripts from around the country. Michelle Berry describes her novel as being about “morbid obesity, arson, attempted murder, magicians and Dr. Benjamin Spock.” Berry is represented by Hilary McMahon of Westwood Creative Artists.
Two other finalists for the Enfield & Wizenty contest were awarded a $1,000 advance and will also be published in 2010. These finalists are: Jeff Bursey’s debut, Verbatim: A Novel, and veteran short story writer Richard Cumyn’s The Young in Their Country.
Jeff Bursey, who is from St. John’s, Newfoundland, has written a political satire that uses the double-column Hansard format to depict the rollicking politics and bureaucratic in-fighting in a fictional province. Bursey now lives in Charlottetown where he is a Hansard editor for the provincial legislature.
In his first book in eight years, Richard Cumyn takes us deep into the lives of his characters, from the fringe of the tar sands to the rarefied world of drag burlesque. Cumyn lives in Kingston, Ontario. His previous books include the collections Viking Brides and The Obstacle Course, which were shortlisted for the ReLit Award for Short Fiction in consecutive years.
Maurice Mierau, editor of the fledgling imprint of Great Plains Publications, was overwhelmed by the number of high quality submissions for E & W’s 2010 list. “More work came in from professionals than ever before,” Mierau says. “It was very tough for us to decide on the final list.”
Enfield & Wizenty remains committed to producing beautifully designed, collectible hardcover books. “Readers buy these kinds of books both for the quality of the fiction and because they want to own the physical object, something you can’t get in an e-book,” says publisher Gregg Shilliday. “We are proud to present these fine authors in a form that matches their talent.”
As part of the celebration of Canada’s centenary of flight, Great Plains is donating 25% of the list price of Jim Shilliday’s A Memory of Sky, purchased through our website, to the Canadian Air Cadet programme. Jim’s book is available through our website and at bookstores across the country.
Congratulations to Gail Sidonie Sobat, whose book Gravity Journal has won a gold medal at the 2009 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards in the US. Gravity Journal beat out books submitted from around North America in the mature category. It is also a 2009 Ontario Library Association White Pine Award Honour Book, and a Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Best Book for Teens selection.
