Dafoe short list includes books on fire, Franklin

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The list of finalists for the J.W. Dafoe Book Prize just got a little bit shorter.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/05/2024 (833 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The list of finalists for the J.W. Dafoe Book Prize just got a little bit shorter.

On May 9 the J.W. Dafoe Foundation revealed the five-book short list for the prize, which is awarded to the best book on Canada, Canadians and/or Canada’s place in the world.” Dafoe was editor of the Manitoba Free Press, later renamed the Winnipeg Free Press, from 1901-44.

There were 49 submitted titles for the prize, with a new-for-this-year 10-book long list revealed in mid-April. The five remaining authors in contention for the prize are:

  • Leo Baskatawang for Reclaiming Anishinaabe Law: Kinamaadiwin Inaakonigewin and the Treaty Right to Education;
  • the late Ed Broadbent with Frances Abele, Jonathan Sas and Luke Savage for Seeking Social Democracy: Seven Decades in the Fight for Equality;
  • Kristin Burnett and Travis Hay for Plundering the North: A History of Settler Colonialism, Corporate Welfare, and Food Insecurity;
  • Ken McGoogan for Searching for Franklin: New Answers to the Great Arctic Mystery; and
  • John Vaillant for Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast.

The winner of the $12,000 prize will be named June 10.


Saskatchewan-born, Montreal-based author Matthew A. Anderson makes the trek to Winnipeg to launch his book on old Prairie paths tonight at 7 p.m. at McNally Robinson Booksellers’ Grant Park location.

In The Good Walk: Creating New Paths on Traditional Prairie Trails, Anderson chronicles the treks he and friends of all backgrounds took on two historic trails — the Traders’ Road and Battleford Trail — along with the history of the trails and the people they met along the way.

The event will be available to watch on McNally Robinson’s YouTube channel.


Looking for something to do with Mom this weekend? Bring her (and your favourite four-legged friend) to Whodunit? Mystery Bookstore (163 Lilac St.) for the launch of a new mystery novel by Winnipeg veterinarian Dr. Philipp Schott.

Schott launches Eleven Huskies, his latest novel to feature fictional rural vet Dr. Bannerman, tomorrow at Whodunit? from 3-5 p.m. The event, hosted by Michael C. Bumsted of Whodunit?, will feature tea and dainties, as well as treats for animals in attendance.

The event is free, but space is limited; to reserve a seat visit wfp.to/yOV.


Winnipeg romance novelist and historical fiction writer Kelly Bowen launches her latest wartime novel, Tomorrow is for the Brave, on Thursday at 7 p.m. at McNally Robinson’s Grant Park location.

Set in France in 1939, the book follows a socialite who defies her parents’ wishes and joins the war effort against the Nazis, working in North Africa to help the French Foreign Legion ferry crucial information through enemy territory. When her commanding officer is murdered, she must determine who did it and whether a spy is in their midst.

Bowen’s last two books, 2023’s The Garden of Lost Secrets and 2021’s The Paris Apartment, were also mysteries set during the Second World War.


University of Victoria professor Gina Starblanket will launch the third edition of Making Space for Indigenous Feminism (Fernwood Publishing) at McNally Robinson’s Grant Park location on Friday at 7 p.m.

The book brings together Indigenous feminist voices from a number of communities and generations, offering a range of perspectives on “anti-colonial struggle and theory.”

Starblanket will be joined in conversation with University of Manitoba Franco-Métis prof Mylène Yannick Gamache.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com


In her forthcoming novel, Winnipeg author katherena vermette brings the story of two Michif sisters whose worlds are turned upside down when their estranged white mother, whose art draws on Indigenous styles, is called out as a “pretendian.”

The next novel by the author of The Break, The Strangers and The Circle is called real ones, and will be published on Sept. 3 by Hamish Hamilton.

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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