Kids’ book prize finalists include trio of local scribes

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Three Winnipeg authors are among the finalists for this year’s Canadian Children’s Book Centre awards.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/10/2024 (734 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Three Winnipeg authors are among the finalists for this year’s Canadian Children’s Book Centre awards.

Colleen Nelson landed on the short list for the biggest prize, the $50,000 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, for her middle-years novel The Umbrella House, published in June 2023 by Pyjama Press.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

Joanna Cacao, meanwhile, secured one of the five finalist spots for the $5,000 Jean Little First Novel Award for her middle-years debut The Secret of the Ravens, published in November 2023 by Clarion Books, an imprint of HarperCollins.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

Last but not least, S.M. Beiko landed on the Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy, which comes with a $5,000 prize, for the novel The Stars of Mount Quixx, the first book of The Brindlewatch Quintet, published in April 2023 by ECW Press. (Beiko launches the second book in the series, The Door in Lake Mallion, on Oct. 15 at McNally Robinson Booksellers’ Grant Park location.)

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

The winners of all the English-language Canadian Children’s Book Centre awards will be announced Oct. 28; to see a complete list of finalists visit wfp.to/C7H.

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The Manitoba Writers’ Guild kicks off its fall series of member book launches on Sunday, with a self-help guide for women contemplating retirement.

Former public health nurse Shelly Dale launches Flourishing in Retirement: A 5-Step Guide to Joy for the Post-Career Woman at 2 p.m. in the fourth-floor boardroom at Artspace (100 Arthur St.).

● ● ●

During the Great Depression, most Canadian communities struggled to survive. Steinbach, meanwhile, found a way to prosper.

In his new book Prosperity Ever, Depression Never: Steinbach in the 1930s, Ralph Friesen collects interviews, diaries, articles, letters and more about the Manitoba city, highlighting how Steinbach evolved and thrived against all odds. The Steinbach-born author launches the book Wednesday at 7 p.m. at McNally Robinson’s Grant Park location.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

● ● ●

The top brass at local literary mag Prairie Fire think 50 (and beyond) is nifty, and their latest issue proves it.

Guest edited by Katherine Bitney, the 50 Over 50 issue features writing by women from Manitoba and the west. It launches Thursday at 7 p.m. at McNally Robinson’s Grant Park location at an event hosted by Plume Winnipeg’s Charlene Diehl and featuring readings by, among others, Deborah Schnitzer, Rowan McCandless, Daria Salamon, Di Brandt, Catherine Hunter and Margaret Sweatman.

● ● ●

Much-lauded local music historian John Einarson is doing some gigs of the literary variety over the next few weeks for his latest book Words and Music: The Stories Behind the Books, which offers insight and behind-the-scenes stories about his extensive rock-music bibliography.

Einarson has authored books about the history of the Winnipeg music scene as well as biographies of luminaries such as Neil Young, Randy Bachman, Ian and Sylvia Tyson and many others. He’ll bring Words and Music to Times Change(d) High and Lonesome Club (234 Main St.) on Saturday, Oct. 12 from 1-4 p.m. On Saturday, Oct. 19 he’ll be at Indigo St. Vital Centre from 1-4 p.m., and on Sunday Oct. 20 you can catch him from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Manitoba Music and Record Sale at the Caboto Centre (1055 Wilkes Ave.).

● ● ●

Winnipeg author katherena vermette’s first two acquisitions as senior editor at Simon & Schuster Canada have been announced, featuring a real-life account of the impact of the opioid crisis on Indigenous communities and a historical horror novel set in the American west in 1912.

Esther Tailfeathers’ Holy Bear Woman recounts her time as a doctor grappling with the opioid crisis, and will be published under the Scribner Canada imprint in fall 2026. Stephen Graham Jones’ The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, meanwhile, will appear in March 2025.

Vermette’s latest novel Real Ones is on the long list for the 2024 Giller Prize; the short list will be announced Wednesday.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

books@freepress.mb.ca

Ben Sigurdson

Ben Sigurdson
Literary editor, drinks writer

Ben Sigurdson is the Free Press‘s literary editor and drinks writer. He graduated with a master of arts degree in English from the University of Manitoba in 2005, the same year he began writing Uncorked, the weekly Free Press drinks column. He joined the Free Press full time in 2013 as a copy editor before being appointed literary editor in 2014. Read more about Ben.

In addition to providing opinions and analysis on wine and drinks, Ben oversees a team of freelance book reviewers and produces content for the arts and life section, all of which is reviewed by the Free Press’s editing team before being posted online or published in print. It’s part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.

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