The Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award is one of the most lucrative in Canada. For more information about it and the writer it's named for, visit my Thomas Raddall page. Two of the nominated books for this award are set in contemporary Halifax, and one in an isolated nineteenth century Newfoundland cove. Crocuses Hatch From … Continue reading Atlantic Book Awards 2020: Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award
The Alistair MacLeod Prize for Short Fiction celebrates excellent short story collections by writers who are either from the Atlantic Provinces, or live here now. This prize is named for beloved short story writer Alistair MacLeod. Here are the 2020 nominees... A Dark House and Other Stories by Ian Colford, Vagrant Press - a … Continue reading Atlantic Book Awards 2020: Alistair MacLeod Prize for Short Fiction
2020 ATLANTIC BOOK AWARDS and FESTIVAL SHORTLIST (The highlighted titles will take you to reviews written by myself or some of my other blogging friends. More to come!) 1. Alistair MacLeod Prize for Short Fiction A Dark House and Other Stories by Ian Colford (Vagrant Press – a Nimbus imprint) DIG by Terry Doyle(Breakwater Books) … Continue reading Atlantic Book Awards Shortlist 2020
The Atlantic Book Awards took place last night, June 6th, in St. John's Newfoundland. Here’s the list of all the categories and nominated books and authors. The books I’ve read are linked to my reviews. As well, there are several links that will take you to books read and reviewed at The Miramichi Reader. Twenty-three of … Continue reading Atlantic Book Awards 2019
"Memory plays tricks. Memory is another word for story, and nothing is more unreliable." -- Ann-Marie MacDonald, Fall on Your Knees Emily and Daniel have moved back home to Nova Scotia, with their 3-year-old son Ryan, after living in Alberta for ten years. Emily is excited to be back by the ocean, but it also … Continue reading In the Wake by Nicola Davison
In March 2015, Sandra Phinney was reading a blog post by Melanie Chambers that explained her summer plans to explore her city of Toronto as a tourist. Sandra contacted her to let her know she was inspired to do the same in her home town of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. And that's how The July Project … Continue reading Waking Up in My Own Backyard by Sandra Phinney
Trucks play a big part in this story of a rural Acadian couple who have been together for almost 20 years. The only thing Réjean seems to love more than his wife, Agathe, is his black Chevy Silverado. The Silverado was reported sitting next to the highway with the driver-side door open just eight hours … Continue reading Giller Shortlist: I Am a Truck by Michelle Winters
Carol Bruneau has been getting some standout reviews recently for her new story collection, A Bird on Every Tree. James at The Miramichi Reader says that Ms. Bruneau "writes with a graceful precision and has a deftness with words and their cadences". A reviewer at The Coast calls Ms. Bruneau "a master of imagery". A … Continue reading A Bird on Every Tree: A Collection of Short Stories by Carol Bruneau
Jacob has a fulfilling job in Toronto as a counsellor at a men's outreach centre; men living with HIV. When he is asked to come home to Advocate, the small town in Nova Scotia where he grew up, to say good-bye to his dying grandmother, he has severe misgivings. He remembers the events of 1984 … Continue reading Advocate by Darren Greer
Last year I read Genevieve Graham's Tides of Honour, a love story set in Halifax during the time of WWI and the Halifax Explosion. Her new book, Promises to Keep is a love story set in 1755 l'Acadie (in the Grand Pré area of Nova Scotia), during the time of the deportation of the Acadians … Continue reading Promises to Keep by Genevieve Graham
