Africa-Press – Gambia. Eight Canadians are in the running for the €100,000 (C$145,000) Dublin International Literary Prize, including four authors whose nominated books garnered relatively little attention upon release.
The Dublin prize is one of the world’s richest literary awards and is open to books written or translated into English. Featuring books nominated by libraries in many countries, the prize typically has a diverse longlist.
Lesser-known Canadian writers in the running this year are: Mark Blagrave for Lay Figures, a novel about artists in Saint John, N.B., during the Depression and Second World War; Carol Bruneau for Brighten the Corner Where You Are, a novel inspired by folk-art painter Maud Lewis; Heather Smith for her Billy Elliot-esque young adult novel Barry Squires, Full Tilt; and Karoline Georges, for her translated novel of fashion, anxiety and ’80s culture, The Imago Stage.
Shortlisted Canadian authors whose books garnered more attention upon release are Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, for Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies; Francesca Ekwuyasi, for Butter Honey Pig Bread; Thomas King, for Indians on Vacation; and Rachel Cusk, for Second Place.
They join a 79-book list that includes major international literary stars Marilynne Robinson, Susanna Clarke, Kazuo Ishigura, Jhumpa Lahiri and Patricia Lockwood. The contenders will be winnowed down to a short list in March and the winner will be announced in May.
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The long-running poetry open-mic series Speaking Crow returns for its monthly celebration of words Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a Zoom session featuring Winnipeg poet and software designer Julian Day.
Featured poet Day, originally from Saskatoon, published his debut poetry collection, Late Summer Flowers (Anstruther Press) last year.
Up to 25 participants can sign up for three-minute reading blocks by registering at wfp.to/julianday.
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Former Liberal MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes, who left the Liberal caucus in protest over the SNC-Lavalin scandal, will converse with a young African writer whose conflicts with political power have been even more fiery.
Caesar-Chavannes, who writes about her brief political career in her memoir Can You Hear Me Now?, will talk with Toufah Jallow about her memoir Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African #MeToo Movement. Jallow fled to Canada after accusing the dictator of Gambia of sexual assault.
The disucssion, held as part of Black History Month, runs Feb. 28 at 6 p.m. at wfp.to/toufah.
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It’s a North Atlantic women’s thriller summit on Tuesday at 1 p.m., when practitioners of the popular genre from the U.K. and Canada meet in an online discussion.
Louise Candlish, whose last novel, The House, won the U.K.’s crime and thriller book of the year award in 2019, is launching her 14th novel, The Heights. It’s a thriller that starts with a man who’s supposed to have been killed turning up alive on the rooftop of a London apartment building.
She’ll be joined by Canada’s Shari Lapena, author of a half-dozen thrillers, including The Couple Next Door. To watch the discussion on youtube, see wfp.to/candlish.
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Margaret Atwood ponders topics ranging from debt, technology and the climate crisis to the definition of granola and the challenge of giving advice to the young in a new essay collection entitled Burning Questions: Essays and Occasional Pieces 2004-2021.
She’ll discuss the new book Tuesday at 7 p.m. in an online session with Judy Blume, author of 29 books including the bestseller Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.Customers who order the new book at McNally Robinson Booksellers will receive a link to watch the discussion, which starts at 7 p.m.
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Toronto novelist Sheila Heti will discuss her new novel Pure Colour Thursday at 7 p.m. in an online session with two-time Giller Prize winner Esi Edugyen (Washington Black).
The discussion is part of Penguin Random House’s #IndieEventsWith series, in which people who buy the book in question from participating independent bookstores, including McNally Robinson Booksellers, get a link to watch.
Pure Colour is a novel of philosophical speculation, religious musing, friendship and mourning and, like Heti’s other recent books (Motherhood, How Should a Person Be?) it’s generating consider international buzz.
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