Knopf Canada
Author Ami McKay
The Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia announced its shortlist for the 2017 East Coast Literary Awards last Wednesday. This year, a record 79 Atlantic Canadian titles were submitted to a peer jury of professional writers. The jury whittled down the list to a selection of three nominees in each category: fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Eight of the 10 nominees are from Nova Scotia.
The Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award is the most valuable Atlantic Canadian award for writers, worth $25,000. This year’s nominees are all Nova Scotian writers:
-Darren Greer’s book Advocate, is a novel about one man’s return home to face his past,
-Donna Morrissey’s The Fortunate Brother is a murder mystery and family drama.
-Ami McKay’s The Witches of New York delves into the strange world of three witches in 1880.
The J.M. Abraham Poetry Award, worth $2000 will be awarded to one of the following:
-Patrick Woodcock, for his poetry collection exploring hope and horror, You can’t bury them all
-Margo Wheaton, for her collection The Unlit Path Behind the House, which tries to find light in the darkness
-Jennifer Houle, the sole nominee from New Brunswick, for her debut collection The Back Channels.
The following three writers were nominated for the Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award, also worth $ 2000:
-John Tattrie, for his book Redemption Songs, the story about how one of Bob Marley’s most famous songs originated in Nova Scotia
-Erin Wunker’s Notes From a Feminist Killjoy: Essays on Everyday Life, which explains why everyone should be a feminist killjoy
-Burnley “Rocky” Jones and James W. St. G. Walker and their book Burnley Rocky Jones: Revolutionary, tells the story of Jones’ life and accomplishments and his dedication to social justice.
The three winners will be announced on May 31 at 6:30pm at Halifax Central Library, and the event is open to the public.
