Correction: An earlier version of this article referred to Lesley Choice, publisher of Pottersfield Press, as ‘she’ instead of ‘he’. The Coast regrets the error.
On June 9, the red carpet unfurled at Halifax Central Library’s Paul O’Regan Hall, as the first Atlantic Book Awards ceremony since 2019 took place. Past winners—like former Halifax poet laureate Afua Cooper, lauded illustrator Sydney Smith and decorated writer Anne Simpson—doled out statuettes in what is the biggest celebration of books in the region.
The vibe was luxe and literary—and some of the biggest names in the local scene saw relative newcomers taking home awards in their categories. Here’s a full rundown of what authors took home trophies for their tomes, and what category upsets caught our attention:
Author David Huebert lead the nominations pack, with his short story collection Chemical Valley up for both the Alistair MacLeod Prize for Short Fiction and the prestigious Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award. He won the former, while the Raddall—one of the country’s top prizes—went to Michelle Butler Hallett’s novel Constant Nobody. Butler Hallett’s novel, set in Civil War-era Spain, focuses on the unexpected dynamic between a British intelligence officer and the Soviet spy who saves her life.
Lesley Choyce, publisher of Pottersfield Press and the author of more than 100 books himself, took home the 2022 Atlantic Legacy Award, which aims to celebrate those who’ve changed the literary landscape in Atlantic Canada.
The coffee-table-bound Future Possible: An Art History of Newfoundland and Labrador won the APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book Award, while Ardath Whynacht’s Insurgent Love: Abolition and Domestic Homicide beat out George Elliott Clarke’s lauded memoir, Where Beauty Survives, in the Scholarly Writing category.
In the run for the Atlantic Poetry Award, Alyda Faber’s Poisonous if Eaten Raw took home top honours, while Sharon Robart-Johnson’s historical re-imagining of the life of two enslaved Nova Scotian sisters, Jude and Diana, won the Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award—ahead of Hannah Moscovitch’s Governor General Award-winning play, Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Class. You can watch a saved livestream of the 2022 awards on the ABA website.
This article appears in Jun 1-30, 2022.
