Robertson lands six nominations for book awards

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Prolific author David A. Robertson has landed a leading six Manitoba Book Award nominations, including three for his memoir Black Water.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/05/2021 (1964 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Prolific author David A. Robertson has landed a leading six Manitoba Book Award nominations, including three for his memoir Black Water.

In addition to being nominated for the Alexander Kennedy Isbister award for non-fiction, Robertson’s memoir is up for the Carol Shields Winnipeg book award as well as for the top prize, the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award.

The 2021 Manitoba Book Awards short list was released April 30; awards in 11 categories will be announced online on Thursday, May 20, at 11 a.m.

Author David Alexander Robertson (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Author David Alexander Robertson (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press files)

Other books vying for the McNally Robinson book of the year award are Dragonfly by Lara Rae, Here the Dark by David Bergen, My Claustrophobic Happiness by Jeanne Randolph, Tablet Fragments by Tamar Rubin and The World Is Mostly Sky by Sarah Ens.

In addition to the three nominations for Black Water, Robertson’s graphic novel Breakdown: The Reckoner Rises, Vol. 1 and children’s book Ghosts are both up for prizes. Other multiple nominees include Tasha Spillett with four nods for her graphic novel From the Roots Up: Surviving the City, Vol. 2 (with illustrations by Natasha Donovan), Ariel Gordon’s TreeTalk and Randolph’s My Claustrophobic Happiness with three each and Bergen and Rae with two apiece.

For the complete list of finalists, see manitobabookawards.ca.

ben.sigurdson@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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