Crummey, Hogan square off for N.L. literary prize

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This article was published 02/03/2024 (586 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Newfoundland marine biologist and first-time author Holly Hogan has landed on the three-book short list for the 2023 BMO Winterset Award, and faces some stiff competition — including from her husband.

The BMO Winterset Award celebrates writing in any genre by residents of Newfoundland and Labrador; Hogan landed on the list for her book Message in a Bottle: Ocean Dispatches from a Seabird Biologist, which was also a finalist for the 2023 Governor General’s Literary Award for non-fiction.

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Her husband, novelist and poet Michael Crummey, made the BMO Winterset short list for his latest work of fiction, The Adversary; the third finalist is William Ping for his novel Hollow Bamboo.

The winner will be announced on March 14 and will receive a prize of $12,500; the shortlisted authors each get $3,000.

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Manitoba’s longest-running open-mic poetry event returns, as Speaking Crow once again moves to an in-person event on Saturday, March 9.

The event, co-presented by the Winnipeg International Writers Festival, will take place at the Millennium Library (251 Donald St.) from 1-3 p.m. This month’s featured poet is Christine Stewart-Nuñez, whose work includes the collections The Poet & The Architect, Bluewords Greening and Untrussed.

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Whodunit? Mystery Bookstore has partnered with long-running dinner theatre group Murder on the Menu for a frighteningly good time taking place Saturday, March 9.

The event, dubbed Murder in the Dark, harkens back to mysteries of the 1950s but with a modern-day twist; fans of true-crime podcasts take note.

The event takes place at the Garrick Hotel Bar (287 Garry St.) starting at 8:30 p.m. — tickets are $25 plus fees at wfp.to/j7t.

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The Canadian Museum for Human Rights will host the 2024 Kobzar Book Award ceremony on March 21, with the winning author receiving the $25,000 prize. (Runners-up each get $1,500, while the winning publisher also receives $5,000.)

Administered by the Shevchenko Foundation, a national, chartered philanthropic institution, the prize is presented every second year to a book that offers themes connected to the Ukrainian Canadian experience. This year’s finalists include fiction, non-fiction, a graphic novel and a book for younger readers.

The six-book short list for 2024: Ukrainian Ritual on the Prairies: Growing a Ukrainian Canadian Identity, by Natalie Kononenko; Ghosts in a Photograph: A Chronicle, by Myrna Kostash; Five Stalks of Grain, by Adrian Lysenko, illustrated by Ivanka Theodosia Galadza; The Taste of Hunger, by Barbara Joan Scott; Winterkill, by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch; and Valley of the Birdtail: An Indian Reserve, a White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation, by Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii).

Jurors are Kate Edwards, Carol Holmes and Maria Reva, winner of the 2022 prize for her book Good Citizens Need Not Fear.

The awards ceremony will once again be hosted by Terry McLeod and all authors save Kostash will be on hand. Tickets for the ceremony are $150 and include a cocktail reception and dinner; get yours at wfp.to/j75.

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Don’t forget to tune in this coming week for the latest instalment of CBC’s Canada Reads, which runs Monday through Thursday starting at 9:05 a.m. daily on CBC Radio and online.

With a theme of “one book to carry us forward,” the finalists for this year’s top prize are Jessica Johns’ Bad Cree, Christina Wong’s Denison Avenue, Carley Fortune’s Meet Me at the Lake, Catherine Leroux’s The Future (translated by Susan Ouriou) and Téa Mutonji’s Shut Up You’re Pretty.

Beyond bragging rights, the winning book often sees a significant sales boost.

books@freepress.mb.ca