All I Ask by Eva Crocker Melt came to mind as I read this book - the characters in All I Ask are friends who live and work in St. John's, NL. Unlike Jess and Cait, Stacey and Viv are younger and only just starting to move from school to careers and long-term relationships. Soon … Continue reading From the Giller Longlist: All I Ask, Consent, The Pull of the Stars, Clyde Fans
Congratulations to Souvankham Thammavongsa, winner of BOTH the Shadow Giller and the Scotiabank Giller Prize for her book How to Pronounce Knife! I don't know about the real Giller jury, but for the Shadow jury it was unanimous. You can read more about it at Shadowing the Best of CanLit (here and here), as well … Continue reading Scotiabank Giller Prize Winner 2020
After many years, and a conscious effort on Priya's part to cut ties between them, it all came flooding back when she received this message from Prakash on her new Twitter account: Hi. Write me. She doesn't want him to think there might be any reason not to, so she does. And then she goes … Continue reading #ShadowGiller: Polar Vortex by Shani Mootoo
All of the stories in Dominoes at the Crossroads are written in first person; some have overlapping characters, many feature music in some way, many include historical descriptions or scenarios, and all feature a character or characters from the African Diaspora. Kaie Kellough, himself, is a character in one of his own stories. One of … Continue reading Giller Longlist: Dominoes at the Crossroads by Kaie Kellough
I think most of us have heard of The Glass Hotel by now, after the huge success of Mandel's previous novel Station Eleven. That also means readers are expecting a lot from this novel, and I think Mandel was able to deliver. What a joy to experience the story and characters through her intricately woven … Continue reading #ShadowGiller: The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
The Giller Prize shortlist was announced this morning. Between now and November 9th, the Shadow Jury will be reading and reviewing these books, as well as picking a winner in advance of the official winner. Will we be any better at predicting the winner than we were at predicting the shortlist? You can find all … Continue reading Scotiabank Giller Prize Shortlist 2020
Every story in this collection is strong. David Chariandy calls it "one of the great short story collections of our time." Madeleine Thien calls it "a major work and a lasting one". And Sharon Bala calls it a "masterful collection." Susan (@ A Life in Books) says all the stories are "remarkable in their eloquent … Continue reading #ShadowGiller: How To Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa
The Scotiabank Giller Prize was founded in 1994 by the late Jack Rabinovitch in honour of his wife, the late literary journalist Doris Giller. The prize awards $100,000 annually to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story collection published in English, and $10,000 to each of the finalists. The 2020 Giller Prize jury members … Continue reading Scotiabank Giller Prize 2020: Longlist
If you follow the shadow jury at Kevin from Canada, you may already know that we chose two shadow winners this year - The Innocents by Michael Crummey and Reproduction by Ian Williams. I am happy to say that Ian Williams took home the Giller Prize this year for Reproduction! Congratulations to all the finalists … Continue reading 2019 Prize Lists and Prize Winners
I didn't get far into Lampedusa before realizing why this book was selected as one of the finalists. For someone who has never been to Sicily (1950s Sicily), I felt completely immersed in it - the atmosphere, the architecture, the societal structure. Aristocracy in Sicily? I hadn't given it a thought. And that's what this … Continue reading Giller Shortlist: Lampedusa by Steven Price
Consumed by Ink 