Graphic novels now eligible for Giller

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This article was published 01/02/2020 (2420 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The literary world has demonstrated again that graphic novels are an accepted art form with the decision to allow the illustrated works to be eligible for this year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize.

The rule change for the $100,000 Giller Prize, Canada’s most lucrative literary award, follows the first nomination of a graphic novel for the Booker Prize in 2018.

This year’s Giller jury was also announced, with novelists David Chariandy, Tom Rachman and Eden Robinson joined by memoirist Mark Sakamoto and British critic Claire Armitstead.

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Starting with Expo 67 in Montreal and extending to Winnipeg and beyond, a wave of modern architecture transformed many cities in Canada.

A panel of architects and scholars will discuss those transformations and more recent developments at a McNally Robinson event launching the book Canadian Modern Architecture: 1967 to the Present.

Graham Livesey, one of the book’s editors, will be joined by Brent Bellamy, Ryan Gorrie, Lisa Landrum and Lindsay Oster for the discussion, starting Monday at 7 p.m. at the store’s Grant Park location.

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The country’s national writers’ organization, the Writers’ Union of Canada, has changed a long-standing rule to make it easier to join.

From its founding in 1973 until this year, the union was open only to authors with published books. In 2013, that rule was tweaked to allow authors with self-published books to join, provided they were professionally edited and there was evidence of a plan for selling them.

This month, the union announced it was changing membership criteria to allow writers without published books to join. Applications will now be assessed on a point system. A published book will provide enough points to join, but writers without a book can accumulated enough points through a creative writing degree, winning a juried literary contest, journal and magazine articles or co-authorship of books.

Executive director John Degen says the rule change will mean the union can now offer contract advice to members before they sign a first book deal, a time when emerging writers can most use the assistance.

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February is chocolate season, so author Doreen Pendgracs is sharing her knowledge of the magical bean Feb. 21 at the McNally Robinson Booksellers Community Classroom at the Grant Park location.

Pendgracs, who has travelled to 20 countries to learn about the history and production of chocolate for her Chocolatour books, will share what she’s learned from growers and chocolatiers, as well as provide samples of artisanal chocolate. Registration and details on the two-hour session are available at mcnallyrobinson.com/classes.

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Stanley Cup-winning former NHL player and coach Eddie Olczyk takes readers through highlights of his career, starting with his place on the U.S. hockey team at the 1984 Olympics in Eddie Olczyk: Beating the Odds in Hockey and in Life.

In addition to his hockey career, the book focuses on his passion for horse racing and his broadcasting career, as well as his battle with colon cancer since his diagnosis in 2017.

He’ll meet fans and launch the book Sunday, Feb. 9, at 1 p.m. at McNally Robinson’s Grant Park location.

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Readers with a passion for Manitoba’s history can get a first-hand account of the fur trade in the first few decades of the 19th century in Friends, Foes and Furs: George Nelson’s Lake Winnipeg Journals, 1804-1822.

Nelson, a clerk with the North West Company, kept detailed records of his interactions with voyageurs, Ojibwe and Swampy Cree communities during his time with the fur trade. The book, edited by retired University of Manitoba chemistry professor Harry Duckworth, makes his journals available for the first time. He’ll launch the book Monday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. at McNally Robinson’s Grant Park location.

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